Launching the Bridging the Digital Divide Campaign & Project

Knowledge Society and National Development **

I am indeed delighted to inaugurate the 'bridging the digital divide' campaign called Akshaya. Today, information and communication technology in the modern world virtually functions as an engine of growth for today's economic development. It is only natural that an enlightened state like Kerala has decided to launch an innovative intervention strategy and dissemination programme towards bridging the digital divide in the State. I was thinking what thoughts I can share in this forum of information technology experts and policy makers. I have selected the topic : KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

I am happy to note that this project envisages generating massive economic growth, creation of direct employment opportunities and also would have a long lasting impact on the entire socio-political economy of the state. Aiming at making atleast one person in every family functionally I.T. literate and thereby making Kerala the 100% I.T. literate State in the world is a very laudable aim. Developing multi-purpose information technology centers within two kilometer radius of any household through private sector participation is a path-breaking endeavour and I am gratified to note that these centers will also contribute to directly employing more than 40,000 people, attracting a direct investment of 500 crore rupees in the I.T. sector.

Knowledge Society Components

The Planning Commission of India had formed a task force to evolve plan of actions for transforming India into a knowledge power. This team has identified societal transformation and wealth generation as a very important task for the nation, which has to be woven around national competencies. The task team has also identified core areas that will spearhead our march towards knowledge society. The areas are: Information & Communication Technology, bio-technology, weather forecasting, disaster management, tele-medicine and tele-education, technologies to produce native knowledge products, service sector and Infotainment which is the emerging area resulting from convergence of Information and entertainment. These core technologies, fortunately can be interwoven by IT. Hence multiple technologies and management structure have to get integrated to generate knowledge society. It has to be recognised that the difference between an IT-driven society and a knowledge-driven society is the role of multiple technology growth engines. With India carving a niche for itself in Information Technology, the country is hence uniquely placed to capitalise the opportunity to transform into a knowledge society. The foundation for a knowledge society is the societal transformation with e-governance.

Knowledge power

Becoming a knowledge power within a decade is a very important mission for the nation. While a knowledge society has a two-dimensional objective of societal transformation and wealth generation, a third dimension emerges when India has to transform into a knowledge power. The hard-earned wealth and the transformed society, which are the two pillars on which the knowledge society is supported, have to be protected in order to sustain a knowledge society. The knowledge protection is the third dimension to the objective. The knowledge power status will bring responsibility to strengthen Intellectual Property Rights and protect the vast biological and microbial resources. Our ancient knowledge and culture should be protected against multiple attacks launched from many directions. Thus a knowledge power has two important aspects namely - economic prosperity and national security. Our communication network and information generators have to be protected from electronic attacks through surveillance/monitoring and building technologies to handle such attacks. Thus the core requirement for knowledge protection is two-fold. There should be a focussed approach to Intellectual Property Rights and related issues and major private sector initiatives have to be launched in the area of technology generation for information security. It has to be economically viable. We need to take a mission for bringing out a national citizen card for usage as voter ID card, to operate bank account, ration card and many other applications. The National citizen card / smart card has to be an integrated approach from multiple departments and industries.

Competitiveness powers knowledge intensity of the nation

The indices of world competitiveness are based on the global competitiveness report prepared by the world Economic Forum. The forum has defined competitiveness as " the ability of a national economy to achieve sustained high rates of economic growth". As per this definition ranking of different countries as of April 2001, according to the forum, are: USA[1], Singapore[2], Hong Kong[6], Australia[11], Taiwan[18], China[33] and India[41]. The world competitiveness is therefore decided by a triangular combination consisting of progressiveness of industry, technology push and status of governmental deregulation, all working in unison. Technology-led industrial growth can be sustained only through establishing an innovation system. It is through the process of innovation that knowledge is converted into wealth. Further, innovation is an important factor for the competitiveness of both service and manufacturing sectors and hence the urgent need to put in place an innovation system. Such a system would involve network of firms, knowledge-producing institutions, bridging institutions and customers/users in a value addition-creating production chain. With such a consortium, the innovation system would tap into the growing stock of global knowledge, assimilate and adapt it to local needs and finally create new knowledge and technology. India must evolve such systems to improve its competitiveness in a global marketplace.

Knowledge empowerment and leadership

When the child is empowered by the parents, at various phases of growth, the child transforms into a responsible citizen. When the teacher is empowered with knowledge and experience, good young human beings with value systems take shape. When individual or a team is empowered with technology, transformation to higher potential for achievement is assured. When the leader of any institution empowers his or her people, leaders are born who can change the nation in multiple areas. The Indian history is witness to this. When the political leaders of the nation empower the people through visionary policies, the prosperity of the nation is certain. The medium for transformation to developed India is the empowerment at various levels with power of knowledge. The second vision for the nation is, transforming developing India into developed India. It should echo in all parts of government organizations including industrial houses, academic institutions, R&D labs, and Law making institutions in all corners of India.

The importance of connectivity

The development of education and healthcare will yield the results of population control and better availability and efficiency of the workforce. It is the key to employability and to social development. Whereas, agriculture and agro food processing leads to food security, employment, value addition, rapid economic growth and nutrition security. The Information Technology links multiple developments like rapid economic growth, export earning and reaching the whole country. Infrastructure including electric power provides energy security so crucial for all sectors. Strategic industries have direct impact on future industries, sustaining growth and technological strength. For economic strength and national security of the nation, all the five areas are of importance and there is a need for networking. The integrated effect of the 5 areas would result high GDP growth from 4.5 to 10% and elevating 300-400 million people who are presently in poverty line to a good standard of living. This integrated missions are now nomenclatured as India Millennium Missions 2020 (IMM 2020).

Rural Development

The third example, relates to the multiple rural connectivity. The fact that there is net migration from villages to cities indicates that, in the opinion of the rural people, cities are better places to live or they get employment for sustaining their family. Ideally, both rural and urban areas should be equally attractive with no net migration either way. Near zero net rural-urban migration is a mark of completed development. How can we achieve that happy state of affairs? Rural connectivity is the only solution and the details are described as a process, which:

(a) provides rural areas with all desirable amenities that are currently available only in cities;

(b) will generate as a consequence employment on the same scale, and at the same level, as cities do;

(c) will provide these benefits at a small fraction of the financial, social, cultural and ecological costs the cities have to bear.

It is the expectation that this combination of employment and natural environment will make rural areas as attractive as cities are, if not even more attractive. Then, rural development may be expected to prevent, if not actually reverse, rural-urban migration. Presently, several technologies exist to make this possible provided we use multiple connectivity approach as brought out in Technology Vision 2020.

Experience in India has demonstrated that the true handicap suffered by rural areas is poor connectivity and little else. That lacuna may be rectified by linking together a loop of villages by a ring road and high quality transport. That transport connectivity, creates in those linked villages a large enough market to support a variety of services, which the villages will not be able to do individually. Thereby, the loop road and the transport service together convert those villages immediately into a virtual town with a market of tens of thousands of people. Such a well-connected rural space (combined with state of the art telecommunication connectivity) will have a high probability of attaining rapid growth by setting up a virtuous circle - more connected people attracting more investment, and more investment attracting even more people and so on. Basically, this proposal involves:

(a) selecting a ring of villages.

(b) connecting the villages on the ring by establishing a high quality transport and telecommunication system

(c) encouraging reputed specialists to locate schools, hospitals and other social services around the ring and

(d) marketing this well serviced space to attract industry and commerce.

(e) Internet connectivity.

It can be seen that rural development is one of the important missions for transforming India into a developed nation as our country consists of 70 to 80% rural habitat. Apart from agriculture, road transportation, storage system, chilling plants, communication relating to multiple technology and management have to be networked.

Involving Panchayati Raj Institutions in the State in implementing this programme is also a step in the right direction. I would, however, like to sound a note of caution and advice. It is customary for us city-dwellers to take for granted the rural people's requirements as we perceive them. Very often we give them what they do not want and we do not give them what they really want. It is essential that the requirements of the rural people are voiced by them and ascertained from them instead of prescribing them from above so that the money spent is not spent in vain.

We are passing through times when constant dynamic changes in the environment are the order of the day. The whole world is literally galloping from one rung of the developmental ladder to another and any country failing to take steps to join the race, needless to say, will be sadly left behind. It gladdens my heart to see that various states in our country are practically vying with one another in getting ahead in the field of Information Technology. This is a healthy competition that should be encouraged.

India is a vast country and sadly some of the areas are still inaccessible on account of lack of proper connectivity. I have had occasion to go to the States in the North East and I saw that some of these areas were practically cut off and it took even days if not weeks to get access to them. I say this only to bring home the fact that communication is so vital for our country to become a developed state. However, one gratifying fact that I discern is the unquenchable thirst being shown in North East also in acquiring communication connectivity at the earliest. This is quite a healthy portent of the good things to come, because unless you yearn for a thing you won't get it and unless you yearn for it, even if you get it you will not cherish it. The rapid developments in States like Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are being keenly watched by the rest of the country with a view to learning from them and replicating them in other areas. I therefore add this extra dimension to this present venture of the Government of Kerala which should help not only the State of Kerala but others as well .

Conclusion

Thinking is growth. Non-thinking is destruction of the individual or organization or the nation. India has to have the Second Vision. Seventy per cent of the India's population is young. Only the vision of the nation can ignite the young minds. The ignited mind empowered with knowledge is the most powerful resource on the earth to bring about this transformation.

The IT and telecommunication growth in India really has highlighted that it is possible the data transformed into the information has a business proposition. By the end of this decade, India would aim at IT enabled services in manifold, consisting of human resource service, customer interaction, finance and accounting, data search and integration and distance education. The wealth generation in real sense comes out not in series, data, information, knowledge and innovation. But how fast we move India in innovation path of business.

Friends, as you all know, India is well placed at the dawn of the knowledge era. We should not miss this opportunity. Our culture and civilization have been enriched over the ages by great thinkers who have always taken an integrated view of life as a fusion of mind, body and intellect. In the coming decades, our young will see a confluence of civilisational and modern technological streams. Civilisation that does not have the knowledge of technology or the technological nations without experience of civilization, cannot innovate newer economy. India has rich civilization and post independent India has focused in strength of technology in Space, Defence, Atomic Energy, Agriculture, Biotechnology, ICT (Information-Communication-Technology) and certain areas of Industry. This combination is a high-energy system. If properly worked for, India will get transformed into a knowledge and economic power. I have always found the principle that works - "breathe success thoughts". It is indeed a great voyage for the nation similar to what we had in 1857, our first vision of the nation was the freedom movement; the second vision is a national voyage for the young with hard work, devotion and dream in the minds that will lead the nation to a developed India. Best wishes.