The Hindu Business Line : `Knowledge network will enable resource sharing'

"The room to innovate in India is unreal, because of diversity, scale and the existent chaos; innovation in government functioning is also necessary.''

SHARING IDEAS: Mr Sam Pitroda (left), Chairman, Knowledge Commission, with Mr Ajay Dua, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, at the CII-organised Partnership Summit 2007 in Bangalore on Thursday. — K Gopinathan

Bangalore , Jan.18

Knowledge revolution is the need of the hour as the only capital in the country is human capital, said Mr Sam Pitroda, Chairman, Knowledge Commission.

At an interactive session with the media, as part of the CII Partnership Summit, Mr Pitroda said: "We have potentially bright young people in the country. Ours is the only country with 550 million people below 25 years of age. The question is how to organise them so that they are ready to be part of the global workforce for the future."

Education is an important part of the planning process, especially primary education. "Of course, knowledge issues are State subjects but we will work with various States for the knowledge initiative," said Mr Pitroda.

Referring to the recommendation made by the Knowledge Commission to create a `national knowledge network,' Mr Pitroda said this facility would connect several nodes such as universities, libraries, health, agriculture facilities and science and technology laboratories.

"This will help collaborate and share resource and knowledge better across the country," he said. This initiative is in the planning process and will take about six months to be set up, he added.

Innovations

Earlier, at his keynote address on Innovations, Mr Pitroda said disruptive technologies and a multi-disciplinary approach that questions the ideas of 20th Century are essential to promote technological and social innovations.

He said there is a need to introduce drastic changes in education with emphasis on teachers playing the role of mentors so that social innovations get proper support for improving the quality of life of people, particularly those belonging to the poorer sections.

Commenting that not much attention is being paid to social innovations, he said that the room to innovate in India is unreal, because of diversity, scale and the existent chaos; innovation in government functioning is also necessary.

"Global leaders are still living in the era of command and control, without understanding the new paradigm of coordination and communication that would create openness, democracy, decentralisation, transparency and an innovative mindset," he said.

He urged that the rules of the game be changed, and the tools for the new century must be different in developing countries like India.

Mr Ajay Dua, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, said that there is a need for governments to innovate in the areas of service delivery, financing models and land acquisitions.

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