Advertisment

In The Wake of NYC 2001

author-image
DQI Bureau
New Update

It’s an eerie feeling today. I’d just watched a local New York channel’s

program on skyscraper repairs and on technology that could bring down a big

building with precision explosives, without touching buildings next door. I’d

looked out of the World Trade Center’s Mariott Hotel that day, a year ago, at

all those skyscrapers so closely packed together, wondering if they could really

manage such precision.

Advertisment

But on Black Tuesday this month, terrorists made no attempt to contain

collateral damage. The two aircraft that ripped into the twin towers killed

thousands, and finally brought down seven buildings, including the hotel I had

stayed in.

The US president said that even after history’s worst terrorist attack,

life and business has to go on. It won’t be the same, though. Everything

changes. Countries, once insulated from terror, wake up to the new reality that

they too are vulnerable. Civil aviation, "the safest form of travel",

suddenly becomes dangerous in the hands of terrorists. Technology will have to

fix that.

And in the safest locations in the world, enterprises are not safe. Even if

their people are safe (over 3,000 Morgan Stanley staffers were saved because

they decided to evacuate the second tower when the first one was hit). Destroyed

data and paper records can bring down a company. The financial companies,

including Nasdaq, recovered quicker because of their elaborate data security,

distributed storage, and offsite backups. Other companies were not so lucky–or

meticulous.

Advertisment

Data storage and security will clearly be a major area of activity, after NYC

2001. This is a wake-up call to enterprises to protect their data, especially to

those thousands in India who do not have data backup, or do so at the same

location, or don’t use fireproof safes for paper records.

What else will NYC 2001 mean for infotech? And for India? In the short term,

there is likely to be a dip, as energies and funds are channelised elsewhere.

But in the longer term, there will be opportunities to tap: the services areas

of storage and security, the enhanced IT deployment for global law enforcement,

civil aviation and more.

Unless there’s a war. With a protracted war, a 21st-century Vietnam that

involves the NATO alliance, a world economy now officially in recession will

recede further. There’s a "new, hidden enemy", so quick and surgical

strikes are unlikely. With that, and with US visa restrictions and xenophobia,

we can expect tough times ahead for India.

Prasanto Kumar Roy

Advertisment