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K.G. Kumar

The new IT policy of the Kerala Government has a long way to go before it can hope to make the State "a cradle of knowledge workers".

If the number of policy declarations were to be taken as an index of a State's socio-economic development, then surely Kerala will be among the top rankers in the Indian class of industrial aspirants. Each time a new government occupies office in the State - and the changeover has occurred with clockwork regularity, once every five years - a new set of policies is unleashed to cover the gamut of sectors, ranging from agriculture and labour to industry and information technology (IT).

Sometimes the same government re-issues or edits a policy declaration, especially in the early days of settling down into office, when overzealous bureaucrats, dust off some old policy statements and launch them as the wishes of the new dispensation.

NOTHING NEW

There was nothing distinctly different or innovative in the government's draft IT policy released by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan last week in Thiruvananthapuram. The Preamble of the Draft Policy declares that the Government has "a comprehensive view of information and communication technology (ICT) as a vehicle for transforming Kerala into a knowledge-based, economically vibrant, democratic and inclusive society." Its vision is "to turn Kerala into a knowledge society with sustainable economic growth, social harmony and high quality of life for all."

Much of the policy is replete with platitudinous promises that have been repeated ad nauseam by sundry IT hopefuls, including Kerala itself.

Consider some of the new policy's commitments: "use of ICT to encourage transparency, efficiency and quality of services to the citizens of the State;" "promote appropriate applications of ICT to rejuvenate and strengthen the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the State's economy"; "strive to improve the standard of living of the people through the use of ICT in all sectors, enhance productivity and efficiency, optimise utilization of resources and increase the employment potential of the ICT sector"; "take proactive steps to promote social innovations in ICT to support the traditional industry;" and "use New media to give voice to the concerns of the marginalized sections of the society".

These are hardly "new" aspirations, and not the dramatically perceptive and challenging insights that ought to flow from a radically fresh policy initiative. It should also be borne in mind that the ICT "revolution" is no longer in its nascent stage, where every ill in the world can be solved by a grand sweep of the ICT magic wand.

Even on sure ground, the new policy stumbles. Take the case of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) - software that can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed, and is usually available online without charge or offline for the marginal cost of distribution.

The policy states that FOSS "will be used in e-Governance projects to the maximum extent possible. Preferential treatment will be given to FOSS as it enables the knowledge to be used democratically, makes software accessible to every one and is economical." The LDF Government has also mooted the establishment of an International Research and Development Centre for Free Software and Free Knowledge.

Few can deny the propriety of a government or public body opting for FOSS solutions. Even in advanced capitalist economies such as the United States and Canada, not to mention the United Nations' own initiative, the International Open Source Network, FOSS is the first choice for robust and economic IT solutions.

WRONG SIGNALS

However, by overemphasizing FOSS in a context where the State is actively seeking private-sector investments, the new Kerala IT policy could well send out the wrong signals. Even in the section on "Industry", the new policy promises special incentives to companies developing FOSS. Instead, the policy would have done better to offer a cocktail of choices, even as it officially declares its love for FOSS.

Ironically, the section on "Fiscal Incentives" appears famished in the garb of a solitary sentence: "The Government will announce fiscal incentives towards meeting the objectives outlined in the Policy Document."

Clearly, the Kerala government has a long way to go before it can hope to "make Kerala a cradle of knowledge workers".

The term "knowledge worker" was coined by management guru Peter Drucker way back in 1959, to denote someone who works primarily with information or one who develops and uses knowledge in the workplace, a person who has been schooled to use knowledge, theory and concept, rather than physical force or manual skill.

From that point of view, most Keralites would claim to be knowledge workers, given their penchant for desk-based, intellectually oriented office jobs. But the kind of knowledge society engendered by the ICT revolution is a different kettle of fish. The new IT policy does not generate sufficient enthusiasm to warrant unqualified commendation.

The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com

More Stories on : Infrastructure | Industrial Policy | Kerala | Random Walk

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