Technology- The Leveller & Enabler
Asoke K Laha, President & MD, Interra Information Technologies
We are in the midst of a technology revolution. Whether one likes it or not, one may get glued to this analogous growth of technology and apps. But is that going to be the way of life from now onwards? I have reasons to believe so.
We can’t deny the fact that technology has enhanced the quality of our lives. It is the major reason that we are able to take hold of multi-tasks and focus on different things simultaneously with ease. People are booking both aircraft, train, bus and auto tickets from the confines of their office or home, using digital technology. This process, I would like to term as creative destruction. As technology advances and is put to multiple uses, some avocations cease to exist. That is a natural process. I can foresee many such professions. One example that comes to my mind is that of a property agent. If a property buyer can access all information regarding the property that he or she is wanting to buy, its dimensions, fittings and all other information including photos taken through 3D, not many people will visit the agent for clinching the deal. They will go straight to the builder to discuss, negotiate and finalize the deal.
Another glaring example is that of mobile phones. Modern society has always seemed to have a bit of an obsession with technology. But no single device has had as much of an impact on the world than the mobile phone. The mobile phones, or the smartphones as referred to by the netizens, have travelled across many decades in different forms. But the sole purpose behind its invention was to eradicate the geographical gap between people. Initially, phones allowed just exchange of calls and messages, but with the advent of technological advancements, it was made possible through 3G technology, we have seen how the transformation has taken place in this vertical. Now, we are talking about the 5G, 6G and 7G, which may be dawning upon us with the passage of time. The level of disruptions such advancement of technology can cause how we do business, engage in social interface, communicate and travel, are mind-boggling. Such advancements can open up multitudes of business opportunities across the board. At the same, there will be creative destruction of many layers of professions that we practice now. That is the dynamics of time: scripting transformation in an otherwise contiguous timeframe. I feel the only constant factor in the midst of these sweeping changes is man; the rest of the elements keep on changing.
I believe that technology should know no geographical boundaries. Emerging economies must make the most of the opportunities technology presents for country transformation. The benefits of technology should flow equally and equitably across geographies. The world has become a difficult place to live because of the uneven and skewed distribution of income and resources. To sustain the growth and maintain balance in the society, it is important to ensure that development happens at the grassroots level and includes the unprivileged ones.
Let us take some examples. Luxemburg leads the pack as the country having the highest per capita income at US $106,000 annually, followed by countries like Qatar, Macau and Singapore. Countries coming at the lowest levels in terms of per capita income are Burundi (US$255), Somalia, Central African Republic and the whole lot of Sub-Saharan Africa. Are these countries poorer in terms of resources? Not at all. Some of the deposits of rare earth that can be put to multiple uses in the evolution of modern technology like chips, electronic batteries etc are found in these countries. But they remain as poor countries and the people who are legitimate owners of the vast resources, are impoverished.
Can technology address these manmade inequalities? I think it can. In hindsight, I feel that the global awareness on health created by the Covid-19 pandemic was unprecedented, to say the least. The attack on the virus was multi-pronged. We should not leave pandemic as a dark age in our civilization; but a lesson that we learnt through hard facts which gobbled up the lives of millions of innocent lives.
World will have to focus from now on to address the health problems of all and not a few. A child in the remotest part of Africa or Asia is as important as anyone in the developed world. Technology has the power to address such challenges and has evolved concepts like tele-medicine and clones of that which does not require physical presence of medical practitioners for treatment. It can be done by expert doctors virtually. If there are any advancements in technology needed, there should be a global convergence of ideas and responses to make such things possible at the earliest.
The next importance is education. There is a lot of gainsay that the pandemic made physical classrooms redundant. It is shown empirically that virtual class rooms are equally if not more important than the physical ones. Could we use this awareness and experience to address the gaps in education in countries where education is still primitive? Some of the African countries, particularly in the sub-Saharan Africa enrolment in schools is abysmally low. Virtual classrooms can be the answer. But there are digital infrastructure gaps, which we should address. We need more bandwidth and coverage to bring the entire Africa and the least developed countries elsewhere in the world in the digital map. Could the IT majors across the world pool their resources to fill in the digital gap. If they do so, it will be in their own interest since these regions are going to be their future market.
Last but not the least, we have to evolve an architecture for the sustained growth of these underdog countries. It may be true that there is corruption and political instability in these countries. It is also true that many of these lop-sided development policies and approaches have been due to centuries of exploitation. Is there any low hanging fruits that can be tapped to bring these countries to some level of development? There are. Foremost, I feel, is the development of agriculture. Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa is the most fertile land mass in the world. But agriculture is at the subsistence level, hardly leaving any market surplus, leave alone for exports. Many areas in the vast continent are ideally suited for cultivation of rice, wheat, maize, cassava etc. Yet, most of the food stuff is being imported into the continent entailing huge expenses. Could developed countries pool their resources to enhance agricultural production, particularly organic food crops in the continent. That way, the continent can be converted into the granary of the world.
Let me conclude by saying that technology has immense powers and capabilities. It plays a pivotal role in deciding the future of the economy and the people associated with it. All are equal in the eyes of technology. So let us use it for the upliftment of mankind, development of people who have been bypassed by advancements of science. That will shore up the faith of people in technology and help them focus on development since they realize that they are stakeholders in the system and not just passive bystanders.
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