On IT and Society

Let's travel the nostalgia lane for a moment...



Circa 1982: India was an agriculture led economy. College curriculums
were rapidly losing relevance failing to promise a good career. Economic doors

were closed to global technology advancements. People were shouting in the

streets against adoption of computers in the banking sector.

Circa 2002: Global efficiencies in manufacturing and

services led to new economic growth. Universities were not able to churn out

enough graduates to meet industry demands. A computer kiosk, operated by a

16-year-old boy in a remote Orissa village enabled a 60-year-old woman to book

her railway tickets without traveling 30 kms to the nearest station.

The 20 plus years...information technology did to India, what no

other social phenomenon could do. In India, one of the most diverse lands, both

culturally and geographically, IT is rapidly evolving as a common thread, which

would bind our national strengths to help us become a global economic power.

Needless to say-there have been some fortunate enablers along

the way-as well as some staunch resistors! How can one forget the resistance

faced by the government's directive to computerize Indian banks, and how its

benefits gradually made the banking sector the biggest ICT consumer in India.

Let me take you through few observations on how the ICT

revolution is making a new India:

Today, there is hardly any process or place, which does not

employ the power of IT. Your grocery store, your hospital, your institute-even

the TV in your drawing room-everything has one commonality, its core being

fueled by the power of IT. Even in rural areas, the rising push for e-Governance

as well as establishment of parallel rural networks such as ITC's e-Choupal

are helping an average farmer find best value for his grains.

Global Careers: Today, an average Indian student has a whole

world of opportunities open to him. A range of careers, global companies,

phenomenal entrepreneurial opportunities, world class institutes and training

centers, rapid growth in ancillary streams-IT has today made an Indian a truly

global citizen.

Self-propelled Growth: IT has today reached to auto-growth

levels. Governments, corporates, educational institutes-all influencers are

actively working in encouraging further adoption of IT and it's entering into

practically all domains, becoming a critical part of our lives.

Intellectual Growth: With improved efficiencies and better

economies, IT has today enabled the Indian society at large to consider more

avenues rather than just living to earn.

...and a Flipside: At times, even a constructive activity

destructs some elements and puts things at risk. A rapidly evolving ICT society

is prone to pitfalls of high stress levels, of the need to be always accessible

and updated, critical data subject to security threats, an 'always pervading'

fear of technology failing at the last moment and putting even lives at risk...and

a young society, growing in an automated environment, which might even hamper

their natural learning skills, which Indians are so capable and globally proud

of. Howsoever, the benefits of IT far supercede the pitfalls and calls for a

need to provide a more matured and balanced legacy, which we need to pass on to

our future generations.

IT is re-shaping the Indian society. Even the staunchest of the

critics have been silenced by the impact and the way this technology has

pervaded through the social fabric of our nation, weeding out inefficiencies and

corruption and bringing in never before levels of transparency as well as

associated risks.

And, the way Indian cities are getting 'Wi-Fi'ed, I believe

that the day is not far when one would say roti, kapda makan and IT,

since he would be part of the connected world.