[nasional_list] [ppiindia] Building digital infrastructure
- From: rahardjo mustadjab <bapakjewel@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: apakabar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, ppiindia@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Irena Krasnicka <irena_krasnicka@xxxxxxxx>, Nithianandum Katherayson <nithianandum_katherayson@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 08:06:29 +0000 (GMT)
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Building digital infrastructure
Rajesh Jain / New Delhi February 23, 2005
(Business Standard)
Look at what will happen in tomorrow?s world. This is
the second of a four-part series.
As I mentioned in my previous column, Future Tech
celebrated its first anniversary recently. Here we
take a look at some of the key ideas discussed over
the past year. All columns are available online
(www.emergic.org/futuretech).
The central theme in most of my columns has been
leveraging emerging technologies to build a digital
infrastructure in India. By focusing on the needs of
users in India, start-ups and established companies
can build the next generation ?commPuting? platform,
which integrates computing and communications.
In tomorrow?s world, what is inside today?s desktop
will move to the server and what is inside a cellphone
will power the computer. Broadband networks will be
internet protocol (IP)-based. Voice will become yet
another service over these digital networks.
It will be a world that will converge at the back-end
(data stored in the network cloud) but will diverge at
the front-end (multiple devices). The mobile phone
will be our constant companion and will be
complemented by the availability of multimedia-enabled
network computers with large screens. Services will
occupy centrestage.
We have the opportunity to build the next technology
platforms that will form the foundation of our digital
lives. The communications platform needs to be built
on IP and be always on.
The computing platform needs to focus on affordability
so that a connected computer is accessible to every
family in urban and rural India, and every employee in
corporate India. The information platform needs to
become real time, event driven and
multimedia-oriented. This technology platform will be
built on the new and next internet ? always on,
ubiquitous, high speed, on demand, personalised and
not free.
This new internet will make possible path-breaking
applications and services. From voice-over-IP which
will allow phone calls anywhere in the country for a
flat fee, to video-on-demand which can provide
education and entertainment to users when they want
it, from software as a service for businesses to
automate all their processes to multi-player gaming
platforms which will transform leisure time, the new
internet will create new opportunities ? as well as
threaten conventional business models.
It will force players in the computing, consumer
electronics and entertainment industries to enter each
other?s territories.
As we look ahead and seek to create the next platform,
it is useful to look at the rear view mirror. Every 12
years or so, the world of computing sees major
breakthroughs. Think of this as the computing
equivalent of the Kumbh Mela.
The last major breakthrough was during 1992-1994 when
the launch of Microsoft Windows 3.1, Intel?s Pentium
processor, SAP?s R/3 and the web browser Mosaic
heralded an unprecedented period of all-round growth
until the slowdown early this decade. The next
computing Kumbh Mela should be just around the corner.
What will it be? My answer: the next big thing in
computing will be about building a platform which
makes the two most important creations of the past ?
the computer and the internet ? available to users at
a fraction of today?s prices.
What emerging markets like India need is the
equivalent of a ?tech utility? which makes available
?commPuting? as a utility to the masses.
A centralised platform that makes available computing
as a service and accessible via thin clients over a
high-speed broadband infrastructure, neighbourhood
computing centres that provide access on a pay-per-use
basis, a community-centric content platform which
makes available local information and helps small
businesses connect with one another, and investments
in education and healthcare to make sure they reach
rural people ? these are the tech utility?s elements.
India needs a Rs 5,000 network computer, Indian
language desktop applications, industry information
and process maps (for small and medium-sized
enterprises, or SMEs, to automate their business),
fixed-price broadband bundles and locally relevant
information and services.
There are two key ideas from the telecom industry that
the computer industry needs to adopt. The first is the
creation of a zero-management user device. The second
is a subscription-based utility-like payment model.
The underlying enabler for both will be the broadband
industry that is coming alive in India. India needs to
leapfrog to next-generation networks that can deliver
broadband over the air to users, creating a
high-speed, ubiquitous and pervasive data network.
We can make tomorrow?s world a reality. India has an
opportunity ? once again ? to do things right. What is
needed is a generation of entrepreneurs who think
outside the box to create technology platforms and
solutions for tomorrow?s world.
The challenge for entrepreneurs is to think about
creating solutions for the twin engines of future
growth ? rural India and SMEs. Indian entrepreneurs
have the opportunity to shape history ? but only if we
begin to start looking at the market within.
Rather than trying to only focus on providing services
to the rest of the world, we need to start producing
hard and soft goods for Indians to use and leverage.
Can the next black swan in the technology space come
from India?
Rajesh Jain is managing director of Netcore Solutions
Pvt Ltd. His weblog is http/www.emergic.org.
He can be contacted at rajesh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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