Imperatives for India

Having looked at technology in the context of life, living and living systems, now, let me look at the imperatives for India in the context of technology and a changing world.

Talking of India and technology, I am reminded of the encounter between communication specialists from America, Europe and India. The American boasted that 100 years ago if you had dug 100 metres into the ground in America, you would have found optic fibre cables, because Americans pioneered them. The European countered that 1000 years ago, if you dug 1,000 metres into the earth in Europe, you would have found copper cables, because Europeans pioneered copper cables. The Indian thought hard. He told the others that 10,000 years ago, if you dug 10,000 metres into the earth in India, you would not have found anything. Why? The others asked. We were already using wireless systems those days, he said.

There is probably an element of truth in this joke. For thousands of years, India was in a commanding position in technology and innovation.

1. Ayurveda was practised 2,500 years ago and is today gaining a rightful place in civilisation as an alternative school of medicine.

2. Sushruta conducted surgeries 2,600 years ago for cataract, fractures and urinary stones.

3. The art of navigation was born in the river Sindh 6,000 years ago. The very word ‘navigation’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Navgatih’.

4. Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by earth to orbit the sun in the 5th century, hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Interestingly, he calculated this to 9 decimal places.

5. Budhayana first calculated the value of pi in the 6th century.

6. Algebra, trigonometry and calculus came from India. Sridharacharya formulated quadratic equations in the 11th century.

7. The world’s first university was established in Takshashila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied about 60 subjects.

8. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

I can go on with more such evidence of the glory of science, technology and education in ancient Indian civilisation.

What strikes me about life in ancient India is its omniscience. Knowledge was an overriding theme and a way of life in ancient India. It was like an ecosystem driven by the thirst for knowledge. Unfortunately, we do not see the same zeal for technology in modern India.

Somewhere along the historical journey, we slipped up. Consequently, we missed the industrial revolution. It is now time to catch up with the more advanced nations in the world and take advantage of the huge technical changes sweeping our planet. Our generation can ensure this by building and nurturing a technology centric mindset.

In my view, India has the opportunity to create a whole new ecosystem driven by the quest for knowledge and technology.

What does it take to create such an ecosystem?

First, gaining knowledge.

Unlocking the human mind through education is the first step on the path to progress. The competitiveness of Indian enterprise in the twenty first century will be significantly affected by the number of scientists and engineers graduating from universities and their retention in India. The 70,000 odd engineers that we produce today is not enough. A strong science and technology education infrastructure is like a cradle for growth in the new age. If education is not addressed, deficiencies in the supply side, in the form of an inadequately educated resource base, can throttle growth.

Unfortunately, rigid state control on higher education is imposing serious limitations on India’s ability to turn out high quality professionals. If this situation does not change we may miss the opportunity to leverage information technology trends in the developed world with people power.

We must recognise the ruthless ‘winner takes all’ environment of the ‘online age’. In my view we are already getting late in bringing about sweeping reforms in education. It is time that India’s education policy planners liberalise higher education and concentrate on providing free and compulsory primary education.

Second, creating knowledge.

We must also invigorate research in order to leverage technology. Progressive nations are spending significantly on research. Sweden spends about 8 billion US dollars, which is 3.8 % of its GDP, on research and tops the list. America is next at 208 billion US dollars, which is about 2.6 % of its GDP. In contrast, India spends a very poor 3 billion US dollars at 0.73 % of GDP. Science has to be placed at the vanguard of our society if we have to let knowledge and technology lead our growth.

Third, applying knowledge.

India needs to pursue the application of technology in every sphere. For example, we may apply biotechnology in a significant way to enhance yields and break the root cause of poverty, which prevails in our towns and villages. We must liberate our farmers from the trap of low investment, low yield, low income model of agriculture production. The western world is caught in an emotive bind on genetically modified foods. India must see the issue dispassionately and give transgenic crops a chance.

Also, given her skill sets in information technology, India has the unique opportunity to apply information technology solutions to agriculture. To my mind, after e-governance, it is agriculture that will present a challenge to the information technology industry from a social contract perspective.

We are among a select few countries that have the ability to place satellites into orbit. Our need for delivery of satellite services to remote regions is significant – from telephone, telemedicine, weather information, crop prediction, land use conditions to locating rich fishing grounds. India must invest in commercial applications of aerospace technologies and capture a significant share of the emerging cosmic commerce.

Applying knowledge in creating the new technology-led ecosystem will call for inspiring and committed leadership in all sections of governance, institutions, enterprises and society. Leadership with an innovative mindset. To my mind, it is the quality of leadership that, at the end of the day, makes all the difference.

Fourth, leveraging knowledge.

India has the unique opportunity to leverage her demographic advantage of a younger population and large work force with information technology skills. This can achieve significant economic benefits. India can be the fountainhead of the new pattern of migration and mobility of information technology professionals to the developed world. This can help India capture the information technology spend in the developed world to drive the Indian economy on an export led path.

Let me explain this. In India, our current work force comprises about 400 million people. This will expand to 700 million people in about twenty five years. Let us take just 10% of our current work force and outsource work for them from the information technology sector overseas at 10 dollars per hour. This is well below the average wage in USA. For 40 million Indians we can generate trillions of dollars. These educated young men and women will demand better housing, superior education for their children, advanced transport facilities and look for vastly improved quality of life, leisure and environment. Imagine the effect that savings and consumption derived from this income can do to accelerate the growth of the Indian economy. We are talking of an opportunity that is worth trillions of US dollars. This is many times our current GDP. This huge opportunity will necessitate the creation of an overarching communications infrastructure in India, or what I call the virtual wiring up of India.

We must not be defensive in the battle for free trade worldwide. The developed world is aggressively pushing for free flow of financial capital and free access to markets. I feel that India must actively push for free flow of intellectual capital across borders.

Our policy makers and thinkers must realise that India’s prosperity in a technology laden society depends on education, research, technology development and application. At this point, I will like to enter an important caveat. Technology is an important component of India’s march towards greatness. But we should be careful not to make it the sole factor.