Indian Express has an Independence day special series – India explained, India empowered. The series was flagged off by an article by the President Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam. The focus of the President’s note is “Empowering Rural India”- and is titled – India Empowered to me is Knowledge taking roots in the village. Read the full piece here.
To the Prime Minister whose note followed the president, empowerment is Open democracy and open economy. Read it here.
And today’s piece by Mr. Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker, Lok Sabha who writes about Bringing into the mainstream all those kept out
Link through The Scientific Indian who says – If there’s one engine that’s today driving a changing India, it’s empowerment. Empowerment of the individual, the family, the neighbourhood, the community—and, hence, the nation.
The theme is India empowered to me is – to me, it is a fully functionally literate India.
And to you?
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And Sri Lanka gets connected as villages get mobile technology. Phones begin ringing in Sri Lankan villages as new technology arrives, says this report on Smart Mobs. Not mobiles, nor standard landlines, but a clever combination of the two that is quickly making telephony accessible to all. – CDMA wireless technology which has made it posible in India for mobile phones to exceed landline connections in a span of just a few years.
Some 44.5 million Indians now use mobile handsets, compared with the 43.9 million existing landline users, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said in a statement. From this post on textually.
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An then the debate about Ethiopia leaping into technology age.
10 % of Ethiopia’s GDP spent on broadband – Smart mobs
Ethiopia Leaps – WorldChanging
A thrust on computer technology and internet connectivity is always open to debate and criticism.The loudest rumbles come from those who believe that in a country where basic infrastructure – in the form of schools and healthcare and electricity – is not in place, spending on computers and internet seem misplaced – to the point of being insensitive to the “real needs” of the people. This is a challenge for those who believe in the power of leapfrogging technology.
As the WorldChanging article says – In essence, the Ministry of Capacity Building wants to make Ethiopia Africa’s first real Knowledge Economy. For a nation that has in recent decades suffered from overwhelming famine and civil war, this is an ambitious goal to say the least. If it fails, Ethiopia could become a symbol for the dangers of leapfrogging and the dangerous temptations of going too far, too fast. But if it succeeds — and the earliest signs are hopeful — Ethiopia could instead symbolize the pathway to success in 21st Century Africa.
This is also very relevant to India – when Dr. Kalam writes about knowledge taking roots in the village, I think about leapfrogging technology making a difference to the lives of impoverished and illiterate villagers. Bringing about a visible change for the better within a generation or two. Contributing to their development in some magical way that I have not fully understood yet.
But can social development really be leapfrogged? As usual, I have the questions here but I don’t know the answers…
Just a note about your sentence:
CDMA wireless technology which has made it posible in India for mobile phones to exceed landline connections in a span of just a few years.
– the dominant Mobile technology being used in India is GSM, not CDMA. CDMA is used by Reliance and Tata Indicom only. All others (BSNL, Airtel, Hutch, e.t.c.) are GSM networks (and I think they are bigger than Reliance). While CDMA technology is superior to GSM, it has been patented by an American company, and is thus more expensive than GSM (and isn’t as flexible). GSM is the more widely used technology the world over, whether it’s Western Europe, India or many parts of Asia.
The half landline/wireless solution (called FWT or Fixed-Wireless Telephone, by Reliance) is CDMA, but it’s not been the driving force in India (although it’s a great idea)
TTG, let me explain to you what I meant by saying “CDMA wireless technology which has made it posible in India for mobile phones to exceed landline connections in a span of just a few years”. You will notice that I have not said that CDMA is the dominant technology, either in India or elsewhere in the world. But think of the mobile phone market as it was a few years ago. High tariffs. And then CDMA technology. more importantly Reliance. And the price wars. India today boasts of some of the lowest mobile tariffs in the world. I say thanks to CDMA. And mobile connections have been growing at the rate of nearly 50% every year – in the recent few years – not since the time mobile phones were made available in the market…
as for CDMA being more expensive than GSM technology, I have been reading that Qualcomm which patented the CDMA technology has made it possible for mobile phone makers to significantly reduce their costs. I have often wondered why CDMA handsets are far cheapoer than GSM ones – maybe this is why.
er, TTG, I know it is great fun to pull one sentence out of a long post out of context and poke holes in it. it would also be fun for me to read any answers / thoughts you may have on the larger questions this post raises… questions I admit I have no answers for.
I think about leapfrogging technology making a difference to the lives of impoverished and illiterate villagers.
Charu, just so I understand it better, can you give me a few examples of such a technology that our rural folks crave, or cannot live without?
Put me down as one of those skeptics of the ‘leapfrog’ route to development. I have never missed an opportunity to rant against memes such as ‘100 dollar laptops for third world children’, and ‘internet kiosks in every village’. My fear is the following: Politicians who support these initiatives always get good press, which gives them an incentive to dump doing ‘development’ the old-fashioned way and start advocating the sexy, ICT route to development.
What is distressing about the Ethiopian experiment is the huge cost! The rich West can afford to spend this kind of money on experiments, but should poor countries be spending such huge sums? Isn’t it an enormous risk? Just think about the opportunity cost of foregoing development of the mundane variety.
Abinandanan, I should clarify – I think about the discourse about ‘leapfrogging technology making a difference to the lives of impoverished and illiterate villagers.’ It is one of those things I have not been able to answer …
No, I am not saying villagers cannot do without technology – or that they are craving for any such thing – but I have never understood why such ‘leapfrogging develpoment measures’ cannot exist along with conventional development measures. Why so much vehemance – What I see is the prime benefit – if it works – is change that is visible within a generation or two – projects like the e-choupal and taraHaat (in one of the most backward regions of the country, the Bundelkhand) are doing just that by providing farmers access to the outside world…
take the case of telecom for instance. India did not go the conventional route of no phones-landlines- mobilephones. Thousands of villages in India are connected now thanks to telecom technology which “leapfrogged”.
the difference I have seen is in the use of ITCS in teaching children… I have seen computers creating an interest in schooling in children and parents. Look at what the Azim Premji Foundation is doing in karnataka – and believe me, in this case, villagers are craving computers – as naysayers would say, even in villages where schools do not exist – or exist only in name – it has motivated villages to set up the school again and get it running.
Sure, computers without basic funcitonal literacy do not make sense – but as I said why cnanot the two exist alongside? with an optimum allocation of monies?
Please don’t get me wrong, Charu. Just consider your examples: e-Choupal, taraHaat, Azim Premji Foundation, India’s mobile revolution. They are all private initiatives, and I have nothing against them. Why should I rant if Mr. Premji wants to spend his money on rural India? After all, it is his money!
Given our government’s financial position, any money it spends on development through ICT will be at the expense of that for development the old-fashioned way (primary education, roads, …). Now, Ethiopia has gone ahead and committed 10% of its GDP, and I think it is a shame. More importantly, our politicians may just get similar ideas. I hope they don’t read newspapers or, for that matter, blogs …
Abi, I was just a little startled by the vehement tone (I don’t associate it with you – but obviously this is something you feel strongly about). Sure they are private initiatives but I believe that they are making a difference in some small way. look at the way echoupal for instance has progressed – doing away with the mniddle men – giving villagers and farmers access to market information – But I am thinking again – at the risk of being attacked :))how far has old-fashioned development taken us?
I am personally a believer in the role of technology in development – but like I have repeatedly said here, I have no definite answers. is that a way of fooling ourselves (myself) into believing that all wil be ok ?
Sure for a country like Ethiopia 10% of GDP is a HUGE risk – somewhat dramatically, it feels like the government is playing with the lives of the people there… but if, just if they can pull it off… have you read the worldchanging article I have linked to here – it is worth a read…
and stop smirking about my naive optimism. and see my hands up in the air.
I believe there is a tremendous development power in free flow of information. The effects should not be underestimated.
Charu – Totally unrelated comment … sorry could not locate your email on the site… can you please send me a test mail at amit.blog@gmail.com
I wanted to contact you.
Once you read this please delete this comment from the site as it is unrelated and apologies for spamming it …
Charu – The Indian Express section is really good. I too liked it.
And as for the empowerement, I think that literacy with some added advantages or removal of discomfort is needed.
I know I sound totally useless here, but it is very difficult to motivate some of the poor people to educate (or make literate) their children. The arguement is that the opportunity cost is high.
I want to elaborate but for want of time I cannot. Maybe later
Klas, thanks for dropping in… I believe in the power of information and knowledge too. But I also understand the concerns in a country like India where basic infrastructure is not in place – in fact, very far from being in place. For instance, where there are no schools, what will a grant for computers do – except make some local politician richer?!
@mit – I liked the Indian Express feature too – as for motivation of parents, I have read and seen tat more and more parents are willing to give education a chance – but where the system is not prepared for it, parents and children drop out feeling disappointed….
Charu, I agree that ICT have a strong potential for tranforming people’s lives. When I say I oppose ‘ICT for development’, the reasons have very little to do with the concept per se, and a lot to do with our politicians and bureaucrats (particularly, those in New Delhi and the state capitals) who will implement it.
Given that (a) ICT has ‘sexy’, ‘fashionable’, ‘forward-looking’ ‘visionary’ and ‘revolutionary’ written all over it, and (b) our press lavishes uncritical praise for anyone who advocates ‘ICT for development’, politicians (who, by the way, love to ‘leapfrog’) will divert funds from things that are desperately needed (such as clean drinking water, sanitation, primary school, roads, etc) to internet kiosks and other such things. In India, this concern cannot be brushed aside easily; IMHO, this concern is so serious that our enthusiasm for ICT should be, not just tempered, but suppressed altogether!
Even among ICT, there are inexpensive technologies (such as mobiles) and expensive ones (such as broadband, video on demand). Is it a surprise that the mobiles have taken off, but not the other things? People’s choice, tempered by the financial constraints, would be far better than a choice made by the ministers and bureaucrats in New Delhi.
Also, prices of expensive technologies keep falling, and at an appropriate price point, these fancier technologies will also become available (without any government help) to the rural folks. Isn’t that how the mobile phones reached them? At the cost of some elapsed time, they enjoy now the same cellular technologies as their richer urban cousins do, but at a far lower cost. Now, *that* is leapfrogging!
And, Charu, if my comments came across as an attack, I am truly sorry.
I thought I’d like to say something about this… but find that I can’t put my thoughts in order. Perhaps, it doesn’t matter what percentage of funds are earmarked towards what? ‘Diversions’ happen nonethless. Computers are good for rural India. Roads are also good. If computers come in, the villagers may be able to devise monitoring systems for other projects like roads etc. If roads come in first, maybe villagers can get round to accessing computers further away. All part of a larger, connected leap. no?
Abi, it is very sad that a potentially powerful concept takes a beating because of what politicians and middle men may do to it… government, private (amazing how so many discussions boil down to this v/s debate) – does not matter where the technology or resources come from – nor the motivation – AIDS is a sexy, fashionable disease (how callous that sounds – but that is the truth about this disease – as opposed to say cholera or TB) – therefore all the attention. but does it really matter why the attention and the resources?
ICTS – I just cannot write it off so easily…
Annie, you are so right – diversions of money happens everywhere – that is what I keep thinking – where has conventional development taken the country? why cannot fast-track methods be allowed to supplement that?
all part of an ideal larger leap, as you say. question is, do you see the leap happening? I see it in small pockets – obviously insufficient without any serious efforts towards scalability – but I believe in the power of technology to change lives – connected and empowered…?
Abi, this one is for you – I had written to Atanu Dey after seeing a post on his blog (sequencing2) where he says development cannot be leapfrogged – he sent me this reply on mail…
“Leapfrogging is all well and good when it comes to technology. But leapfrogging development is a different kettle of fish. Development has nothing to do with technology although technology is instrumental in development. Scores of countries have become developed without high technology. We can use high technology, thus leap frogging some low technology, but development cannot be leapfrogged”
But isn’t technology just the means to an end – viz. development? Of what use is leapfrogging technology if it does not contribute to development – sure, from a marketer’s perspective, it amounts to a larger customer base (as maybe the case with mobile phones) – but where and how does the integration with develpoment start…?
Technology easily can and should be leapfrogged. Simply because you won’t have to do something twice (i.e. upgrade to one system, and then soon after upgrade to another). But the benifits it brings to society will depend on what that society needs (does it need better communication networks, or does it need social change in another area, like gender rights? Will more cell phones improve business for small traders by eliminating middle-men? Certainly, but will it improve the lives of women in India? Probably not…).
But where ever a technology can be adopted, or leapfrogged, we should go for it.
There seems to be three words being bandied about in the discussion above: technology, development, and leapfrogging. Before we use them in sentences, I think it would be worthwhile to define them to some degree. Technology is embodied human ingenuity. Ideas, in other words. Some of it is high tech (PCs and mobile phones, etc) and some low tech (how to use water effectively, etc.) Adoption of technology is entirely a matter that is mediated by the market and requires no government intervention. That is, producers and consumers will make the right choice in what to produce and consume. Land line phones will not be chosen over mobile phones when the latter are cheaper than the former in undistorted markets, for instance. Market forces alone will guarantee “leapfrogging” of technology. This is not rocket science. The slippery word in the discussion above is “development.” Volumes can be written about development without repetition. It is distinct from growth, to begin with. Economic growth is a necessary condition but not sufficient for development. Also economic growth is easier to engineer than development. (To be continued below.)
Technology is instrumental in promoting economic growth. Economic growth fundamentally is about producing more stuff. More stuff can be produced by employing “factors of production” either more intensively or more extensively. Factors such as labor, land, and capital. Extensive means more of the factor, such as using more labor or more land, etc. Or intensively by using the factors more efficiently. That means you use the same amount of land or labor or capital but use it more effectively. This requires better ideas. Better ideas translates to better technology. So, for instance, using the same amount of water but using drip irrigation, you can increase the productivity of water. That is what is meant by the use of technology. Now if you were to go from flooding of fields to drip irrigation, you effectively leapfrog the “spray irrigation” stage. Or if you go from carrier pigeons to cell phones, you leapfrog twisted copper landline stage of phone communications. This leapfrogging is natural and needs no government intervention for the economy achieve. (Continued)
Technology that deals with the recording, storage, manipulation, transmission, and distribution of information is very advanced these days, thankfully. Information is a critical ingredient in the workings of a modern complex economy. It is important to understand what information is and to distinguish it from knowledge. Information is anything that is “potentially digitizable” as Hal Varian has defined it. Photos, music, spread sheets, words, graphs, DNA sequences, prices of goods, books, movies — all digitizable and therefore information. Information can be recorded on a variety of media, from stone tablets to magnetic discs to paper. Knowledge however exists only in the brain of a sentient being. It cannot be communicated directly but only through the intermediate stage of first converting it into information and then reconverting it into knowledge in another sentient brain.
Conflating information and knowledge leads to stupidity. Even the president of India is not immune. Read his writings on PURA and see how silly it sounds when he says Village Knowledge Centers. Centers don’t have knowledge any more than a Physics textbook has knowledge of Physics. Else we should be refering to physics books as “Dr Physics Textbook.” Books have information, not knowledge. So they are Village INFORMATION Centers. (Continued.)
A brain is required for translating information into knowledge. But it has to be a prepared brain. You can give the most advanced information to an unprepared brain and it will do little good. So for information to be useful, it has to be presented in a sequence that cannot be leapfrogged even though the technology that you use to deliver the information can be very advanced and you could have leapfrogged over eons of intermediate technology.
Now back to development. Development is concerned with human beings, while technology is an instrument of economic growth through more effective use of the factors of production. There is a strict sequence of development that a human being goes through. For instance, basic literacy and numeracy are the first stages of education. Even if you are going to be a rocket scientist, you cannot leapfrog that. So also, to use technology, you have to meet some minimum requirements. Simply installing high tech computers in places where they can barely read is silly. (Continued)
It is undeniable that high tech can be used to promote basic literacy and numeracy and other bits of basic education. It is the same in every aspect of life — you can get nutrition from a diet of filet mignon as opposed to dal-roti. But where one can barely afford dal-roti, insisting on delivering filet mignon is worse than stupid. You can always get there from here in a Rolls Royce. But it may be better to budget for a bicycle when resources are limited.
Idiots who have yet to lose their fascination with high tech gizmos promote mindless schemes for bringing high tech to rural areas without asking whether there are cheaper alternatives. I have seen a depressing number of hare-brained schemes which promote PCs for adult literacy in rural areas, for instance.
One dispairs and lose all hope that India will ever develop if such idiots rule the roost. That is all.
Sunil, I believe too that where technology can be leapfrogged, it should be – and in a manner that is connected to the needs of development, certainly…
Atanu, woah! give me sometime to read and understand all that you have said. will be back here soon….
Folks,
I have been reading your comments, but I tend to disagree with people who are of the opinion that new technology cannot be grasped by un-educated or less educated masses. Please refer to my blog and I describe a social experiment carried out by NIIT, with the purpose of identifying if internet could add benifit to illiterate slum kids.
Would appreciate your feedback.
-V
Venkatesh, I dont think anyone has that opinion here – atleast I have not understood it that way. is the experiment you are talking baout niit’s hole in the wall? will visit your blog soon and we can discuss it here later?
Hole in the wall? All I know is the whole wall being washed away by a TSunami.