Computerization in India

Computers are an integral part of our lives. The term “computer” is derived from the Latin word ‘Computare’ which means to calculate and to calculate means to do mathematical or logical evaluations. Invention of the computer has made many dreams come true even we cannot imagine our lives without computer. A computer is a machine or device that performs processes, calculations and operations based on instructions provided by a software or hardware program. It is designed to execute applications and provides a variety of solutions by combining integrated hardware and software components. Charles Babbage is called the "Grand Father" of the computer. The First mechanical computer designed by Charles Babbage was called analytical engine. It uses read-only memory in the form of punch cards. A computer can process data, pictures, sound and graphics. They can solve highly complicated problems quickly and accurately. Computer is an electronic device having big memory which can save any data value.

India bought its first computer in 1956 for a princely sum of Rs 10 lakh. It was called HEC-2M and was installed at Calcutta's Indian Statistical Institute. It played a critical role in formulating annual and five-year plans by the planning commission, and in top-secret projects of India's nuclear program. Moreover, it went on to turn out India's first generation of computer professionals. It was at least ten thousand times slower in solving even simple problems than today's machines.  

India is among the top preferred destinations for offshore software development and contributes a significant chunk of the brain machinery that runs the world of computers.  Although, India was quick to respond to the manufacturing demands of the computer industry and  indigeneous development of computer components began way back in 1971, less than25 years after the country’s independence, the widespread use of computers in India didn’t pick up pace until the mid 1980s.Although, W. Kenneth Lowry underlined in 1972, “While there was much that went wrong during the 1960’s, computer use has increased in information systems. In the process, computers have induced subtle changes in information service concepts and challenged many well established maxims governing techniques for using information by scientist and engineer. Information entrées and libraries have begun to feel this influence both nationally and internationally, and substantial funds have been provided by federal agencies for studies, experiments, and development of computer-aided information systems.”The adoption of technologies like cloud computing and big data is inevitable for the future Indian setup. Being a vastand highly populated, providing basiccivic services to every nook and corner of the country is nothing less than a challenge for the administrative agencies. The introduction of these technologiesas part of the e-Governance plan cangive the Indian Administrative system, a transparent and reliable backbone.  There have been some recent efforts towards the automation of civic services. The Ministry of Urban Development of the Government of India has made plan for municipality service. The Digital India Initiative promises to give Wi-Fi connectivity to all schoolsand colleges, panchayats and public Wi-Fi hotspots in metro cities by the year2019, developing infrastructure, making services like online banking, agricultural support, healthcare and education easily accessible to even the remotest corners of the country, and increasing awareness among citizens on why and how they should switch to these new technologies.

Increasing use of Internet and Internet based technologies, rising popularity of social media, blooming telecom sector and truly global and digital India wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Government and the motivation of leaders like Rajiv Gandhi .The India of today certainly owes its technological, self-sufficiency and fast paced development to leadership, and the Government’s undeterring commitment towards keeping India on the progressive path; digitization being one of the pillars of development.

 As a poor country with a low demand for computers it was strategically incorrect to try to design computers starting at the component level during 1970‐1980 and hope to be completely “self‐reliant”.  It would have been wiser to spend the available scarce resources in systems engineering and to build computers using sub‐assemblies during the early stages of development.  This is particularly true in the area of computers where huge investments were being made by the richer countries in research and development with consequent fast changes in technology and rapid obsolescence.  This was realized only in the mid 80s and the consequent policy change led to a rapid growth of computer availability.

Computers are used to provide efficient ways for employees to share information, but at the same time employees with malicious intentions can use this opportunity to hack into the system to access private business information for their personal gains. Research projects funded by the Government of India and the United Nations Development Program created a large pool of technology leaders, human resources and strengthened institutional infrastructure. The National Informatics Centre, the National Centre for Software Technology, the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, the Computer Aided Design Center, and the Center for Knowledge Based Computer Systems Development, among others, had a big multiplier effect on the return on investments, much larger than the amount invested. Compared to the investment in education and research the investment made in computer manufacture by the government companies did not have the same multiplier effect.