PERSPECTIVE
I See............I.T.
Two words that perhaps are driving the engine of growth for India are Information and Technology. Like the air that surrounds us for survival, IT today, has become the means of survival for many organizations and countries. It is incorporated in all domains of business and stands as the lone factor of contributing to rapid change of the country’s economy. All of us in some way or the other have become an indispensable part of this driver of change. The history of our economy will now be divided into two parts, the time before IT and the era after it.
But how did this change happen. No magic wands or spells created this particular and much needed change. IT emerged from the relics of thought processes. Changes which were needed in economic, social, business and technological front as well. Technology had been a part and parcel of working in many organizations. Technology is just the know-how of doing a thing. For a layman technology is of no use unless and until he has the required knowledge to perform that act.
But, with the advent of globalization and liberalization technology accompanied with itself the word information. Rapid transfer of information across borders, advancement in knowledge, need to save time and increased communications all added to the role of IT becoming indispensable as well as unique. it is also defined as the leveraging factor for an organization. But let us not forget that the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. The same applies to IT , where IT application in different areas is bringing more than expected results. The spectrum of IT application is broad and varied and the returns unfathomable.
The world had become a global village, national boundaries were diffusing and geography is now history. International trade burgeoned and with it the need for cross cultutral communications. Organizations grew from being nationals to multinationals. Currency exchanged, ideas exchanged and this exchange required the development of a common platform. A common platform, that would understand the needs of all the parties. Such a platform would be the integrating force for the people, for business as well as social purposes. This was reason enough for the development of IT.
We are living in virtual realities where everything is available at the click of a button. People are communicating and some are even surviving on the peripherals of IT. Managers, leaders, followers, innovators, politicians and many more are using IT for their work. Soon it purports to become the lingua franca of businesses. It has become the life-blood of economies of the developing countries. So much, for so less.
But this is where the line needs to be drawn. Countries like India, which are ranked one of the top destinations for IT services are failing to recognize its full benefits. India ranks 127 as per the human development index. If we take for instance Africa which is facing severe famines and diseases we will realize the limitations and failures of IT and its users. No technology in the world is so fast and so efficient that it can reduce the sufferings of the poor. Do we not need to develop on this front?
G-8, a group of the worlds richest nations cannot together with their IT provide for the means of survival for these people.
IT or no IT, the 260 million poor people in India don’t need IT for their survival. No matter how much claims the leaders or our nation make about their economy forging ahead in technology, it cannot be used to feed the mouths of their citizens.
Recently government’s new initiative has been to apply e-governance. While on one hand their initiative has to be applauded on the other hand a reminder has to be sent to them about the computer literacy levels of the nation. Empowerments through education have become hollow words and the grim reality is that we are not realizing our mistake. Crore of money is allocated every year in the yearly budget for education but how much of it is really benefiting the children?
E-governance initiative was is benefiting the farmers of the south, it sounds really good in the high tech environment of India, but let us not forget that bangalore is not India. India is much more than the IT professionals it claims to be its asset. More and more farmers are committing suicides in the vidharbha region of Maharashtra, and the statistics of farmer suicides there can be magnified for the whole nation. The government’s initiatives to mitigate the situation are far from its goals. Corruption is rampant in the face of the law and justice stands unabashed. India is facing gaping inequalities in its development. If India has to move ahead it should not leave behind the many who have a rightful share in its growth. Let India not be misguided by a shining IT destination juxtaposed with 260 million mouths to feed. Ultimately a solution has to be sought for between “the information economy” and “the information society”.