Fifty Years of Information Technology in India: A Report

A symposium on 50 years of Information Technology(IT) in India was organised by the Ranganathan Centre for Information Studies (RCIS) at Chennai during 19-20 September 1997. This national symposium was the fourth in the series of seminars organised by the RCIS and the theme was chosen keeping in mind the golden jubilee celebrations of the country's independence.

Inaugural Session: The inaugural session began with a welcome address by Dr. M. Anandakrishnan who traced the development of RCIS and highlighted its activities and objectives. RCIS, despite several constraints, has been able to organise excellent activities of national importance. The present symposium is significant, in taking the country to the 21st century. Three vital aspects affecting the nation, viz., education, health, and environment and the role of IT in these sectors form the major foci of the symposium. The symposium will also identify the strategies to be adopted for effective and efficient utilisation in future of IT in all these sectors.

Shri N. Ravi, Editor of The Hindu in his introductory remarks commented that IT infrastructure in India was far from satisfactory. While India certainly has expertise in software development, the infrastructure in terms of computer availability per capita, the telecom infrastructure, etc. need to be improved to put advantages of IT to good use and for gainful decision making. He indicated the role that librarians and information professionals could play in organising the vast amount of information for effective utilisation.

Inaugurating the symposium Prof. Madhu Dandavate, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission said that IT has to deal not only with machines but also with the various social sectors where it is applied and the humans who operated these machines. In the planning for socio-economic development IT is an effective tool and has an important role to play. He emphasized that information was an asset like land and capital and was important in the transformation of industrial economy to information-based economy. As a matter of fact IT is a tool that can be effectively used in planning and organising diverse activities such as eradication of poverty, power generation, transmission and distribution, rail wagon movement, administrative reforms, etc. In essence there is no alternative but to go in for IT applications as it facilitated making accurate assessments, removing distortions, etc. Concluding his inaugural address, Prof. Madhu Dandavate rightly pointed out that IT is not merely an academic exercise, but an important input to socio-economic development.

Shri C. Subramaniam, Founder Patron of RCIS in his remarks mentioned that in the transformation of society from one era to another it is necessary to change our plans and strategies keeping in mind the new developments. This largely depended on "in what direction one wanted to move?" He cautioned against the drift towards a consumeristic society. He said "consumerism has become a pollutant of the mind and a pollutant of the environment". Our wrong priorities have created greater disparities than solving problems facing the nation.

Shri C Subramanian, Founder Patron, RCIS; Shri N ravi, Editor, The Hindu;
Prof Madhu Dhandvate, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, GOI, Keynote Speaker [Photograph]

Presiding over the function, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan related his experience and said that the `trickle down approach' did not work in solving the economical and environmental problems. There is therefore a greater need today for using IT which can be used as an effective tool in bringing the government and people to work together in realising the goals whether it is education, ecology, health or any other sector. He emphasised the need for developing `sustainable life styles.'

The inaugural session ended with a vote of thanks by Prof. A. Neelameghan.

Following the inaugural session Prof. C.N.R. Rao, President, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research released the book The Hindu speaks on Education which he felt would be of value to practitioners and planners of education. While proposing the vote of thanks, Prof. S. Swaminathan, deputy editor of The Hindu said that the book was targeted at teachers and educationists and focused on creative approaches to education and was a kaleidoscope on all levels of education.

Session I: Information Technology and Education

This session was chaired by Prof. C.N.R. Rao. In his introductory remarks Prof. Rao pointed out that the entire world had taken to IT and it was like an unstoppable flood. IT was here to stay as could be evidenced by the establishment of Information Kiosks. Prof. Rao pointed out that even some developing countries have invested amazing amounts on IT. If all our villages are connected to the Information Superhighway, it will not only help in tackling the problems of illiteracy and improving the quality of life but IT will also be an effective means of integrating the country. If education is viewed as the process of transforming the society then, he said, IT can play a very important role in this. Prof. Rao also examined the scenario and pointed out that the IITs, the 200 and odd universities, the CSIR laboratories and other research laboratories and organisations are yet to be networked. He also raised the issue of compatibility between the various networks as NICNET, ERNET, INDONET, etc.

Prof. Ram G. Takwale in his keynote address gave an overview of the theme `IT & Education' and its use in distance education. He reviewed the developments in educational technologies and identified the major challenges facing education . He spoke of the advantages of information

and communication technologies (ICTs) in this context as these facilitate globalisation, liberalisation, equalisation of education and permits learner to learn at his own pace and all this at a low cost. He called for coming together of information and communication technologists and specialists in cognitive and learning sciences to make the process of distance learning more effective. He also referred to the network INTEND (Indian Training and Education Network for Development) being developed as an umbrella network and gave a projection on `Open and Distance Education' (ODE) in India by 2002.

Speaking on `Professional Education and IT Skills', Prof. C.R. Muthukrishnan highlighted the inevitability of IT, its growth at tremendous pace, its amalgamation with other technologies, its multiplier effect on education, etc. He emphasised the importance of developing adequate infrastructure—particularly the telecommunication infrastructure—for making full use of the potential of IT. He suggested that telecommunication be decentralised and put on the concurrent such as wireless technologies (Radio networking) to obviate the need for laying of cables. In conclusion, he said that there is need for educating the educators. For example, he pointed out that, the CLASS project was not successful as teachers themselves were not involved in the project. He rightly cautioned that we do not need peaks of excellence, but maximization in use all over. IT is a good technology and since the market conditions are conducive it offers excellent opportunities.

Prof. Neelameghan in his paper on `Preparing the Users of IT for the Next Century' highlighted the global and Indian scenarios in the field of ICTs. He pointed out that ICTs are here to stay and new ICTs will emerge. He regretted that ICT development in India was still in its infancy. Even though India has emerged as an important software exporter, its share in global trade is still very small. The use of IT in relation to the size of India's population is very low. A major factor that needs immediate attention is the conspicuous absence of `Information Culture'. He argued that development of information culture should form a part of human resource development programmes.

Ms. Mallika Mani in her paper on `IT in Schools' examined the challenges of the future and pointed out that the present scenario was frustrating. Pointing out that tomorrow's work force are in schools now, she looked at the issues of lack of adequate IT laboratory facilities in our schools and also the lack of qualified experts to teach IT in schools and to assess the hardware and software. In the absence of such qualified experts she pointed out that schools are at the mercy of vendors. This situation needs to be corrected.

Session II: Information Technology and Health for All

In this session chaired by Dr. V. Ramalingaswami the keynote presentation was made by Dr. B.R. Ramamurthi.

In his introductory remarks, Dr. Ramalingaswami pointed out that the `Health for All' programme is a movement aimed at making accessible high quality health care to all sections of the society. He regretted that IT tools have not been employed in India in this vital task. He emphasised the importance of utilising IT in reaching out to the primary health centres and empowering them. This, he said, would go a long way in effecting reforms in the health care delivery system in the country.

Dr. B. Ramamurthi in his keynote address emphasised the importance of utilising all the available information for developing and implementing programmes of action in the health sector. He cautioned that IT should not be viewed as an end in itself. It is of paramount importance that the available information and data and application of IT should lead to meaningful action for improving the health of the society in such vital areas as population control, environmental protection, prevention of accidents, nutrition care, etc.

Dr. Arjun Rajagopalan's paper touched primarily on the need for and importance of using IT for improving the quality of health care at the individual medical practitioner's level. He also briefly touched on the implications of IT for medical education. He said that IT could be a very effective and helpful tool for the doctor in patient records management and information Dr. Rajagopalan pointed out that it would be advantageous to use IT. Computer-aided instruction (CAI), he said, unlike the formal system is: non-threatening and non-judgmental; it permits the learner to commit errors and learn at his own pace; it could be made interactive.

Dr. Mohan Kameswaran's paper on `IT and Global Information Exchange' also looked at the benefits of access to IT in the practice of medicine and examined its impact on patient care and medical practice. He prefaced his presentation with an examination of the Indian scenario. He suggested that an experiment, similar to the networking of hospitals in UK, be undertaken in Tamilnadu to demonstrate the advantages of IT. Besides, he pointed out that, such an experiment would also result in the development of a model in the use of IT for better health care and delivery that could be implemented in other places also.

The presentation by Dr. Kunthala Jayaraman highlighted the value of `Bioinformatics'. The need for developing databases of bio-resources and of traditional knowledge in medicine were brought out during the course of discussion on these papers.

In his concluding remarks Dr. Ramalingaswami pointed out that developing systems to facilitate effective communication would be a critical input in improving the quality of health care system in the country in the years to come.

Session III: Information Technology & Environmental Protection

This session was chaired by Mrs. Shamim Padamsee.

In his keynote address Shri N.R. Krishnan traced the evolution of information storage media and information transfer mechanisms and referred to the new technologies of remote sensing, GIS and the availability of a number of databases for better environment management. He also referred to the efforts of the Ministry of Environment of the Government of India in developing and maintaining ENVIS (the environmental information system), and the databases developed by the Indira Gandhi Conservation Monitoring Centre. Mr Krishnan also referred to the value of IT in the management of micro-level environmental issues such as industrial pollution.

The presentation by Shri P.M. Belliappa on `IT and Environmental Management' emphasised the importance of not losing sight of local environmental issues in our eagerness to be global. The major factor affecting environmental management, according to him, is not legislation. In fact the required legislative back up already exists. According to him the major issues are:

Maj. Gen. A. Balasubrahmanian's paper on `Futuristic Trends in Environment Management' looked at the problems arising out of `techno-globalisation'. He prefaced his presentation by examining the characteristics of IT and pointed out its pervasiveness as also its dynamic nature. He referred to the emergence of the discipline of `Environmental Informatics' with the primary objective of using IT for assistance in monitoring, control, information management, computation and analysis, and decision support in environmental management.

Dr. M. Mariappan in his paper on `IT and Environmental Challenges' identified the major challenges facing the country as: population control, conservation of non-renewable energy sources, conservation of forests, re-orientation in user and management of resources, developing appropriate science and technology strategies and tools in the production of goods and services to limit environmental pollution. He suggested the need for development of adequate information infrastructure and application of IT in this regard. During the course of discussion on the papers the importance of ensuring the accuracy of the data / information before creating databases was emphasised.

The session concluded with Mrs. Shamim Padamsee summing up the proceedings.

Session IV: Information Technology and Possible Strategies

The session was chaired by Dr. M. Anandakrishnan who, in his introductory remarks, stressed that while there can be no two opinions about the value of IT and the need for employing IT, it is important to identify our priorities and evolve appropriate strategies for use and application of IT for national development.

Shri Bhaskar Ghose, in his keynote address emphasised that IT, as it is all pervasive has touched every sphere of human activity. IT should be viewed as a catalyst in transformation and as a tool in the management of change. He, however, cautioned that it is not enough, merely to have `state-of-the art' technology, but their effective use is more important. He wanted due attention paid to the issues of strategy, retrieval and disseminmation of information in a manner that is useful to the country.

Dr. N. Vijayaditya in his paper on `Social Impact of IT Aplications' pointed out that the introduction of the PC has resulted in the emergence of an environment which is conducive for taking advantages of IT. He referred to the successful networking of the railway reservation system, the use of satellite technology, etc. as indicators that India has the required expertise in the area. There is a need for developing and introducing an adequate and appropriate mechanism for the use of IT in the country. The strategy for application and employment of IT should ensure that the benefits of IT reach all sections of the society.

Dr. S. Ramani in his paper `IT in relation to National Strategies' highlighted that the major problem of the 90s will be in creating jobs and productive employment for the people. He therefore looked at introduction of IT in relation to creation of additional jobs. He cited the throwing open by the Government of India of STD/ISD booths to private operators which had resulted in the employment of over 2 million people and suggested that IT can lead to job growth and this should be looked into.

Shri Anand Parthasarathy in his paper `Computers at Grassroots Level' wanted the country to adopt suitable strategies for making the PC a common consumer item, just as television sets and other common consumer items. He urged for a reduction in duty on computers and also in the fee for the Internet connectivity.

Prof. Paul Appasamy in his paper on `IT and the Role of NGOs again looked at the social aspects of employing IT and possible strategies. In the first place he pointed out that IT could play an important role in networking the large number of NGOs that are functioning. This, he said, would greatly enhance the quality of work of the NGOs. He, however, cautioned that it is important to look at the impact of IT on increasing disparity in the society.

Shri N.R. Narayana Murthy in his paper on `What IT can do for the Education Sector ?' examined the strategies for use of IT in education. He pointed out the value of computer-aided instruction / learning, the Internet chat sessions and simulation as aids in the learning process. He suggested that teachers of high caliber should be identified and they should be provided with IT tools. He also highlighted the need for creating good databases for use in educational planning.

Dr. S. Kalyanaraman suggested the concept of `IT Village' in his presentation and said that there is a network of about 1.25 lakh village panchayats which could be thought of in spreading the information culture to the villages. He argued for the establishment of `IT India Inc' with the objective of increasing and improving India's market in global software development. He also called for the formation of a consortium of Indian software industries.

In summing up the proceeding of the session Dr.M.Anandakrishnan identified the major issues / strategies.

Concluding the session, Dr. Anandakrishnan remarked that information is an essential input for all activities. IT can be adopted as an efficient user of time and resources.

Valedictory Function was chaired by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan. The two rapporteurs, Dr. S. Seetharama and Dr. K.S. Raghavan presented their reports on the deliberations during the technical sessions of the symposium. Dr. Swaminathan while thanking all the participants for their valuable inputs, pointed out that the transformation being brought about in national and international economies by IT and other technologies is unstoppable. This symposium organised by the RCIS was an effort to bring together policy makers and professionals in vital areas such as education, health and environment so as to engage them in a discussion on the implications of IT and in the process identify priorities.