But what is the portfolio of these IT companies? What are the techie brains in these companies working on? It turns out that at least 80% are working on problems outsourced from companies abroad. What that means is that we do not allocate even a small percentage of our thinking to tackle issues of relevance to India.
Perhaps that is why our security infrastructure is pathetically inadequate. Maybe that is why we could not even trace the mobile signals of the terrorists who were using their Blackberry's and high end mobile phones inside the hotel during the attack. Maybe that is why all we could do was to watch CCTV footage after the carnage had taken place at Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus. We did not have systems in place to start automated response sequences based on real time happenings. Maybe that is why we didnt have a sonar and radar net around our coasts to track enemy vessels.
There are technology solutions possible to fight terrorism. It is possible to track terrorists using the signals from their mobile phones. Terrorists today use Satellite phones, Blackberry's, internet, GPS systems, etc. It is possible to secure our coasts using radar and sonar technology. We have to learn to be more technology savvy than the terrorists. The politicians dont know what technology solutions are possible. They think like lay people and would buy more and more guns. But as we saw in Mumbai, if you have to use the guns you have already lost half the battle. It is up to the techie community to come forward with solutions and raise awareness. Otherwise the politicians will take their kickbacks and buy us irrelevant solutions from abroad, from the same companies that outsourced their work to us in the first place.
In the 70s, 80s and 90s Indian techies went abroad and worked there. In the past ten years they have stayed back but have been working on the outsourced problems. But in the next ten years let us concentrate on working on local Indian problems. That is when we will see the real benefits of IT.
Read: Fighting Terror Series
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17 comments:
Hope and peace for this holiday season and for a fantastic 2009!
peace,
mike
livelife365
Happy Holidays!
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Excellent Indeed.
Very Insightful and Proud.
The first step should be to interconnect and computerise the pathetic police stations. even today the police searches for criminal records of an individual by manually going thru those paper records. Past effors of computerisation at various places have failed because the police personnel werent capable of using it even after training had been provided to them. only solution is all new recruitments should have knowledge of computers before they are inducted into the police.
yes i heard this info also, they used google earth coordinates to determine the points in placing bombs, and they did travel thru Karachi sea, from Pakistan to Mumbai
Unfortunate but true..
I have seen some product development done by the stars of the Indian IT pantheon and the experience was traumatic...
I always used to wonder how do these guys get international contracts? I then realised that these guys are sweat shops.....
Much of this engineering talent is incapable of developing something robust and of utility for the domestic market.
I also wonder why engineers who pass out of IITs take consultancy jobs? I was perplexed why a telecom engineer (s relative actually) did MBA from a (not top of heap) institution only to take a job in an outsourcing outfit...
I am sure what you have mentioned is not very difficult. Infact in India, we tend to take safety as an additional and avoidable cost rather than an investment. I hope this will change and we start putting in place atleast the simpler and effective technologies in place.
hey Venkat.. such nice comment you left at my blog. glad that you liked my poems :)..
merry chrsitmas...
keep in touch..
Yes, I know Indians are brilliant and they are everywhere. Here in my city, or in the city where i live, i see so many of then.... Sometimes some have just arrived and started work happily telling their relatives over the phone about their new environment here... they sound so excited and fullfilled.
I think this true for everyone... those who ave money has greater possibilities, just like the outsourcing nations... Indians live better in greener pasture.. I think anyone brilliant has the right to be compensated and givernment should open their eyes to that reality!
Indeed these days technology is a more helpful weapon than anything... it can be hidden, be so small and stuffs... I just finished Dan Brown's novel Deception Point and I realized how powerful one can be with technology.
That is indeed a sad reality...but you know at times we are just caught off handed... And it true as even the US had the 9/11, right? But now many believed that it was staged and not really a truth...
Hi...hope you and your family have a safe and wonderful holidays.
Agree with you 100%. There is a mismatch in our policies. We have higher education that is cheaper than school education and the benefits of this subsidised higher education generally goes to the developed world. We are content to be proud of the achievements of Bhatia, Dham, and the likes. Dr Abdul Kalam wanted Indian technology graduates to help India develop by helping our rural population. Yes, Indian technology solutions to Indian problems, like you say. Our technology graduates are providing fish to India rather than teaching India how to fish.
I think there are advantages to learning how things are done in other countries. In a few years those programmers will have learned from Western countries, and will also have Indian knowledge available to them. This is one of the reasons I am concerned for my country's future.
I know things take time but hopefully too India will not cop the Mistakes of the West..if they can be the forerunners of innovative and green technology that will be great!
Really interesting article!! I wish the politicians can either be or get ppl to be technologically advanced. But how long will it take for them to wake up?
Technology is really advanced right that it can be used powerfully for us. I hope that the politicians will wake up to it soon.
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