I am suppose to be giving a talk — I really need to prepare for it — on Indian Technology and how it may (or may not) play an important role in the Flat WOrld. Here is the abstract that I prepared for the talk:
Technology has made the competitive world flat and created opportunities for ambitious countries to change their fortunes. To capitalize on this opportunity, a country must select a technology wave and ride it. Timing is critical. A country must time its adoption to coincide with certain inflection points—disruptive technologies—to reap the greatest benefits. India is considered an early beneficiary of Information Technology revolution. Whether India can utilize its early lead to emerge as a leader in the Flat World remains an intriguing question.  It seems that India is in a great position to ride the wave of new frontier in computing, the experiential computing, but many important steps need to be taken to harness this opportunity. In this presentation, first we will discuss the disruptive computing technology that could help India become a leader, and then analyze the unique nature of Indian Technology and what needs to happen in India to capitalize on this unique historical opportunity.
I want to analyze the current Indian scene and understand the role of technology in Indian society in the next few decades. It will be fscinating research. I will be looking at all sources — if you have any ideas and suggestions, please direct those to me here or at my e-mail: jain@ics.uci.edu
Hi Ramesh,
I’m a 35 year old technology worker from Canada working for an ISV. I read a few blogs like yours (link from Rajesh Jain). I like all technology in general, and especially intersted in the opportunties (challenges at this point, I believe) of environmental sustainability and what I call ‘new age energy’.
It would be very interesting to me to understand the implications of low-cost, renewable, on-site power generation.
As much as cheap computing power and the Internet are enabling Indians to overcome the historic and natural barriers of being a part of the global economy, I actually think that green energy, particular electricity generation, will be a catalyst for growth.
Ive never been to india, but from what I gather, one of the challenges is cheap, reliable power. With so much effort and focus on green technologies for energy production and storage, it’s only a matter of time before the same opportunties that exist in Mumbai can exist anywhere in India.
To compete with me, you need to be able to communicate with my customers, have the same knowledge (education and training), the same tools and infrastructure and access to my customers.
For the past 100 years+ (a guess, sorry, I should have researched that) you can speak my customer’s language, and for perhaps longer, you have had a culture that prizes education and knowledge. What you lacked was tools and infrastructure (cheap computing and Internet) and access to my customers.
No other nation that I can think of has all of these necessary ingredients, even China.
Assuming that technologies like photovoltaics, bio-fuels and so on become affordable, the very last barrier to growth is lifted.
Very good point, Trevor.