If there is one person that we can thank for India’s
telecom success, it would have to be Sam Pitroda. He’s been
involved with ICT and national development for the past 44 years.
Pitroda became a millionaire in the 1980s and now has close to 100
worldwide patents. But he could not imagine himself enjoying the
comforts of his US home while millions of poor people in India
struggled to survive. So the Chicago-based Pitroda returns to India
every few weeks to advise the government on using ICT (Information
and Communications Technology) for national development. He is
currently advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Public
Information Infrastructure & Innovations.
Speaking via video link from Chicago, Pitroda delivered a
keynote at the recently concluded Microsoft Tech.Ed developer
conference in Bengaluru. He shared his views on the impact of ICT
on Indian society and the next phase of the ICT revolution.
“I believe that the first phase of ICT revolution in India is
nearing the end and the second phase is about to begin. The second
phase will be based on broadband, data, applications, processes and
new infrastructure. It will change the nature of education, health,
government services, public delivery systems,” said
Pitroda.
Reminiscing on developments that occurred in the past 20 years,
Pitroda
spoke about the growth in phone connections, from just 2 million in
the 1980s (for 750 million people) to 550 million today. The focus
then was on accessibility, connectivity, digital technology, rural
communications, indigenous development, Indian models and the need
to promote young talent.
“India is connected for the first time and the challenge is
to continue this process with clear focus on reducing disparity
between rich and poor, on education, health and development. How
can we create more opportunities for the 550 million young people
below age of 35? How do we expedite the process of
development?” asked Pitroda.
He said that though we have come a long way in 20 years,
development is not happening fast enough (in rural India), and not
percolating down to the bottom of the pyramid.
“In the next two decades I see information as the critical
element in restructuring a lot of our development. Today our
democracy depends on three pillars: Judiciary, Legislature, and
Executive. I believe there is a fourth pillar of Indian democracy
called Information and it needs a lot more attention,” said
Pitroda.