The Hindu Business Line : `Post-tsunami, early warning will be worth the money invested'

ONE redeeming feature of the December 26 tsunami, if it can be called one, will be the heightened awareness about the devastation such an event can cause and how an early warning can help mitigate the loss of lives and property in vulnerable areas.

Speaking to Business Line here, Mr Cleon Anderson, International President, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), said countries in Southeast Asia will be well-advised to have proper warning systems installed.

"In normal times, assuming that we had a warning system in place, there was no way of knowing if people would have responded to calls to move to safer places in the face of an approaching tsunami. But, now that we're privy to the scale of devastation wrought by the phenomenon, it would be of much help if a warning system is in place. I think a lot of work is going to be done on prediction systems for quakes and tidal waves in the years to come."

Asked how IEEE responded to the tsunami, he said it did not have any pretensions of being a humanitarian organisation. "However, I requested the IEEE members to donate their time and money to help accredited humanitarian agencies reach relief to the affected people.

"For instance, I was told that within hours of the tsunami, there were numerous bogus sites mounted on the Internet, asking people to donate money for relief. There was no way ensuring if the money would get to the real victims at all. It was here that IEEE could be of some help. We encouraged members to get proactive on this front. We knew we could help a lot by providing means of collaboration between the parties concerned with genuine relief operations."

First visit: This was Mr Anderson's first visit abroad after taking over as the President of the organisation, reputedly the world's largest body of professionals. During his stay here, he attended academic sessions on smart appliances and bioinformatics in Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram. He also had an audience with the President, Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, in New Delhi.

India, according to Mr Anderson, has a significant presence in the IEEE community. Out of the 3,65,000 members worldwide, 22,000 are from India. Region 10 (Asia Pacific within which India falls) is the largest of all, not just geographically, but also in terms of member strength. Region 10 boasts a membership of 62,000, India's 22,000 included.

Asked about India's relative strength in terms of technical knowledge and prowess in Asia-Pacific, he said he would have a hard time ranking individual countries. "But, let me put it this way. There are certain niche technologies that are being exploited by various countries. Obviously, China has exploited manufacturing technology and is doing a good job of it. I think India is exploiting information technology and software engineering.

"I also expect India would be attempting to do more in terms of a transition to manufacturing and would utilise its huge human resources in this sector as well. You must be aware that China, another major player in the region, is attempting to switch to IT and software. This is the spirit of competition, and it is the way how globalisation will work."

There still exists what Mr Anderson describes as impediments to deployment of emerging technologies, removal of which will mean that countries like India can compete to be first-class technological powers. "This will facilitate free flow of technical information. This will ultimately go to raise the standard of living globally, including in India. That's the promise that I see of technology."

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page