New Delhi: ‘The Great Tech Game’ by tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist Anirudh Suri has been launched as arguably the first book with limited edition NFTs (non-fungible tokens) collectible cards.
According to a report in PTI, this initiative is aimed at promoting tech inclusion with the proceeds from the NFT collection. The proceeds will go to groups that are disadvantaged in their access or use of tech, which is a key pillar and recommendation of the book.
Probably Suri, managing partner at India Internet Fund, is the first author to create NFTs. “While artists and athletes have taken to creating NFTs, no author has done so. I wanted to change that, not least because my book, ‘The Great Tech Game: Shaping Geopolitics and the Destinies of Nations' (HarperCollins India), is about how technology is changing our economic and cultural paradigms and the need for us to adapt,” Suri said.
Around 10 per cent of profits will be donated to a range of charities promoting tech education for young girls and women, and an equal quantity will be used to donate books and other digital items to public libraries and community centres in small towns and cities in India.
Recipients of the donations will be selected in collaboration with the The Great Tech Game Discord Community for tech and geopolitics enthusiasts. Each card in the series is unique memorabilia digitally hand-signed and numbered by Suri, the creator of the NFTs.
“Moreover, I believe the tech community needs to come together to promote tech inclusiveness, and this will hopefully be a step towards that. I am incredibly excited to see how NFTs will transform the book industry and reader community as well. I hope this inspires other authors to launch their own NFTs and engage creatively with the vast reader community,” he added.
In ‘The Great Tech Game’, Suri presents an account of the numerous and surprising ways in which technology and geopolitics interact to shape our world. The book aims to help readers understand the scale, depth, and breadth of the impact of technology and how it is shaping our politics, our foreign policy, and our world.
Suri said that authors must use this technology fully to engage directly and actively with the vast global community of readers.
One of the new age-tech tools that enable creators to engage more actively with their patrons, NFTs are blockchain-based digital certificates that certify that the digital asset tied to them is unique and not interchangeable.
The NFTs can represent photos, videos, audio, or any type of digital file and are now being widely used to purchase and validate ownership of digital artwork, collectibles, in-game assets and memes.