Technology For The Masses

MIT's Technology Review and CyberMedia organized an annual conference, named
EmTech India 2009 on March 2 and 3, 2009 in New Delhi. The event also saw the
launch of Techno­logy Review India magazine.

The opening remarks were given by Pradeep Gupta, Chairman, CyberMedia Group
and Jason Pontin, Editor in Chief and Publisher, MIT Technology Review. In the
inaugural address, MGK Menon, renowned Physicist and Policy Advisor laid
emphasis on the need to break barriers that lead to stratification of society.
He called on scientists to invest in technologies that can benefit the bottom
end of the pyramid.

Presenting her keynote, Neelam Dhawan, MD, HP India said, “Innovation in
business is the source of solutions that the world needs, and this holds true
across all industries.” She pointed out that innovation is not without
entrepreneurship and that's why there is a need to collaborate with
universities. She urged the industry to create new products that serve the
market needs, so that innovations do not fade out.

After the opening note, a series of sessions went on through the day, which
touched on topics like healthcare, cloud computing, biotechnology, Web 2.0/3.0
and nano technologies. Each of the sessions was chaired by an eminent panel and
leaders in the industry.

In the session on cloud computing, panelists deliberated over the various
factors, like lock-ins and distance factor, that were coming in the way of
making the technology a popular concept in India. But the session concluded with
panelists agreeing that in time SMEs were sure to adopt cloud computing because
of the cost savings.

On day-two of the event, a fireside chat saw industry veterans come together
to discuss the future of ICT. One of the most successful revolutions in the ICT
space is the mobile phone. The mobile technology has worked for a lot of
reasons-affordability, ease of use, marketing and the fact that it is a
productivity device. For Manish Gupta, Associate Director, IBM India Research
Lab, mobile web is the future. “There is a vacuum created by the Internet-it is
not accessible to the masses of India,” he stated. Taking a cue from this
potential, IBM is developing a parallel web-Spoken Web, that will offer ease of
use to masses. The web doesn't require the user to be educated or literate as it
is voice-based.

During one particularly interesting session, Dr Anil Kumar Gupta of IIM
Ahmedabad showed videos of grass root innovations like an exer-cycle, an
exercise cycle and a washing machine, that allows the user to wash clothes and
workout at the same time. The session centered on technologies for the rural
masses.

More sessions on the future of bandwidth, homeland securities, predictive
software and open source hardware followed. Each session looked at how
innovations in technology could be harnessed to help entrepreneurs, and if made
accessible to the bottom of the pyramid, could have the potential to help India
relive its golden age of knowledge.

RUTH SAMSON

ruths@cybermedia.co.in