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software engineers overseas. Fifty percent of IIT graduates in computer science leave for
jobs in foreign lands.
Moreover, other industrial and developing countries are targeting the IT industry
and adopting aggressive marketing and capability development programs. Singapore
and China have teamed up in Softech I to pool Singapore’s strengths
in applications software with China’s pool of low-cost computer
professionals. South Korea has set a target of $6 billion in annual
software exports by 1998. Given such initiatives, India needs to
respond soon with a coherent strategy that builds on its distinctive
competence or leave itself at a significant disadvantage.
The cost of inaction will be even higher for the rest of the economy. The continuing
low adoption of IT and associated managerial practices in the Indian domestic
market will put businesses at a competitive disadvantage. International business
practices are changing in fundamental ways with the help of modern information
and communication systems, placing even more stringent requirements for reliable
deliveries and customized services in an increasingly shorter time intervals and
with low reject rates. As these practices are becoming pervasive in OECD markets,
they are likely to dictate much of the future participation of developing countries
in trade and manufacturing.
Unless modernized, India’s infrastructure will increasingly become a constraint for
the entire economy. The clearing of bank checks takes up to two weeks instead of
three days! About 10 percent of the value of traded commodities is spent on
paperwork at the ports.
When effectively applied, IT benefits have often been dramatic.
For example, automation of the railway reservation system, which
handles over 11 million passengers a day, has reduced waiting time
from 80 minutes to five minutes. Substantial improvements in
India’s information and communication infrastructure are therefore
needed to build a flexible, fast moving economy.
India’s economy also suffers from prevailing information poverty and uncertainty.
The substantial data resources of India are tied up within public institutions,
lying unprocessed and unused. The small fraction of public information disseminated is
in paper format, severely reducing its value for other government agencies and for
potential private information retailers. Legal and regulatory information is in short
supply, and judges, litigants and those in the business and the government often
operate blind.
The continuing low adoption of
IT and associated managerial
practices in the Indian domestic
market will put businesses at a
competitive disadvantage.
