Prof K S Chandrasekar
“Future is technology- those accept will survive and those against will perish”. The famous quote embodies the relevance of technology in the contemporary business and economic scenario. In the book, “Defining the Business: Starting Point of Strategic Planning” written in 1980, Derek has clearly mentioned that unless businesses are aware of the three aspects, they will perish. They were whom are the companies serving, what are their functions and how they use or absorb technologies. This visionary book clearly indicates that those who do not understand the progress of acustomer will be no longer needed. Just take the example of Nirma washing powder. It was relevant to the middle class at that time. However, they have now moved to the next level that they want quality with medium price which Ghari and wheel have taken over. In this context, the upgradation in technology, how to integrate technology into the overall strategic objectives of organization, how to get into and out of technologies faster and more efficiently, how to assess/evaluate technology more efficiently, how best to accomplish technology transfer, how to reduce new product development time and costs, how to manage large, complex and interdisciplinary or inter-organizational projects/systems, how to manage the organization’s internal use of technology and how to leverage to effectiveness of technical professionals becomes important.
The old economy was sluggish with lower growth and generic that technology was not given much of an importance. The later period of nineties and the issue of Y2K problem actually made the rise of technology giants from India including Infosys. Many of these companies which went on to be Indian MNC’s started advising companies to invest in technology which ushered in the cost competitiveness, improving quality of goods and services, offering much speedier product delivery and offering customization. In corporate world , technology perception for different tier people have different meaning hence when we talk of managing the technology in corporate setting we focus on defining the technology need, planning for technology changes, selecting the appropriate technology, initial prototype trial of technology, sustaining and merging the technology in the environment , technology up gradation and adoption to be always open and continuous training to staff for technology adoption.
Over and above all these, there is a need for sustainable development. World is finite and people have infinite ambitions. What is good for a person need not be for another. Technology should focus on ensuring products and services to be compatible and accessible as compared to large scale usage. Now there are developments in technology which replaces many products. Mobile phones come with accessories including charges which one has to carry. Technology has now enabled small adopters smaller than power banks which once charged using Bluetooth or other devices can replace the big chargers. Always what is being planned as advances should address the difficulties of consumers. Hope everyone still remembers the antennas, dishes used for televisions which now are almost extinct. Sooner the electricity poles and wires will become obsolete with the advances in technology. Pod sleeping will replace the lodges and hotels, and they will be technically efficient.
Emergence of major new fieldslike Biotechnology, IT & Communication technology, New Materials and Micro machines / Nano technologies will usher in the great leap for mankind. As per MIT, we now live in the age of AI. Hundreds of millions of people have interacted directly with generative tools like ChatGPT that produce text, images, videos, and more from prompts. Their popularity has reshaped the tech industry, making OpenAI a household name and compelling Google, Meta, and Microsoft to invest heavily in technology. Solar power is being rapidly deployed around the world, and its key to global efforts to reduce carbon emissions. But most of the sunlight that hits today’s panels isn’t being converted into electricity. Adding a layer of tiny crystals could make solar panels more efficient.New treatments based on CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) have been in the works for years. Vertex became the first to earn regulatory approval in both the UK and the US for its ability to cure sickle-cell disease, a life-threatening condition. Heat pumps are electric appliances that can both cool and heat buildings, and wider adoption could substantially reduce emissions. New types that run at higher temperatures could help decarbonize industry.
In the Global innovation index launched in 2024, where in the yardsticks were innovation eco system based on 78 indicators spanning 133 countries, Switzerland ranked first. Among the lower middle-income countries, India stood first, but the index score is half of that of Switzerland. This shows there is plenty in this area to improve. But when reputed SG Analytics conducted the study among countries on parameters like Research Output, Infrastructure, Emerging Technologies Adoption, Global Influence and Educational Ecosystem, India was ranked at no.10. If we look at the top countries in terms of number of Unicorns (those startups with more than $1 billion valuation), India is no.3 with 67. It indicates clearly that there is scope for improvement. For this we need to create technology entrepreneurs who can change the face of the economy. The War with Pakistan showed us the technology prowess through Make in India initiatives, public-private partnerships. Now India will be one of the top exporters of defense technologies and its values are very high which will propel the growth of the economy.
This prompts us to focus on technology-based learning. Critical thinking through case studies, teaching of basic terminology and concepts through the text and workshops, Teamwork through the opportunity analysis project and Career planning through the personal business plan will be the highlights of such learning. Those Engineering universities and Colleges can think of offering a five-year integrated B Tech MBA programs in these lines. Specifically for students enrolled in Mechanical, Mechatronics, Industrial Engineering, this would be a boon and would be sought after by the manufacturing companies. Those with Computer Science, Electronics can do the same and IT service-based companies would definitely look at them. Even though we say that Artificial intelligence will substitute labor force, I strongly feel that skill-based engineers will be still needed and those with above said degrees will be assets of organizations. Techno MBAs would be adept in converting a business from cost improvement to process improvement to the ultimate business transformation which organizations are looking at. Goldman Sachs has predicted that India will be the third largest economy by 2050 which requires us to be competitive in manufacturing, services and agriculture. For this adoption of technology is of paramount importance.
As per reports, it is estimated that in 2030, 37.8 billion US dollars was spent on intelligent process automation. There are expected to be 75.5 billion IoT devices in the world by 2030. Cellular IoT connections are expected to reach 6 billion by 2030, increasing at a CAGR of 30%. Globally, there are over 73 million users of virtual reality in 2030. Already, 51 million standalone VR devices were sold in 2024. Considering that technology is growing, our education system should address the need of the same. It is learnt that most of the engineering colleges have moved out of the conventional programs to look at innovative and novel programs like Data analysis, Cyber security, and Artificial intelligence etc. But at the same time, it is essential that conventional programs like Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Metallurgy are embedded with the technology and make it relevant to the times. Some of the leading autonomous Engineering colleges in J&K can take the cue out of this and offer programs like B Tech MBA five year integrated with an exit option and offer industry connect professor of practice classes so that there will be lot of interest among the youngsters who are looking for relevant opportunities. This will overcome our youngsters who take programs and do a different function in organizations. In order to achieve the Vikasit Bharat goal by 2047, we need to change our mind sets and embrace technology with relevant domain area and progress further.
I reiterate the famous quotes of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, “The country doesn’t deserve anything less than success from us. Let’s aim for success”. Our youngsters will bring glory to the nation by embracing technology with positive attitude.
(The author is Vice Chancellor, Cluster University of Jammu)