A WORLD OF DIGITIZATION

An innovative film on Dharavi

Long long back Aryabhata had invented zero and added value to our lives. Infact digits do have finite amount of influence in our day to day living. Just think! This digits can sometimes make us sad and sometimes happy. Yes! When they appear to increase in our bank account summary, we are gay. But each year an addition of a number to our age, bothers us. Jokes apart, digits have much more importance than just being means of learning mathematics in school. In today’s era of rapid modernization, digits are backbone to our infrastructural advancements. Because it is digits that have brought us to digitization, which is the building block of progress.

Science is advancing in a lightning speed,each day human brain works to give shape to a new invention, to a new thought. It is often tough to keep track. But there is no denial of the glaring reality, that these advancements are result of absolute digitization. For any Nation's progress in today's scenario, it is a powerful yardstick. So expectantly all developing and under-developed countries are aiming digitization, to give that desired thrust to development. India is no exception, and ideally no country should be. Recently the Ministry of communication and IT of India led by Shri. Ravi Shankar Prasad has launched the innovation named DIGITAL INDIA. This impressive step by the Government aims at integration of Government departments and the Nation as a whole electronically. The other great side of digitization is saving paperwork, which has enormous environmental positive impact as well. This movement wants to create digital infrastructure, delivering services digitally and digital literacy. The target population, is the entire country. Hence deprived rural India is expected to be benefited too.

I am a chemical engineer and it is needless to say that digitization is an inextricable part of my profession. Our field of work, has been widely benefited by it. Years ago, when digitization was a distant dream, hazardous process plants had many human interfaces, resulting in frequent occurrence of safety incidents. Besides exposure to certain chemicals are hazardous to human health. With advancement of technology and digitization of process plants, remote monitoring and control came into picture. Making controlling free from human errors, reducing human exposure to hazards and converting process plants to intrinsically safe zones of work.

Similar to process plants, the magic wand of digitization has impacted each and every sphere of work and living. Another prominent example is the Banking sector. It was not long back, when banking meant standing in long queues for hours and hopping from counter to counter to get the required problem addressed.However, it’s not that the Nation’s entire population has taken to internet banking, yet the scenario has changed for the good. And I am being hopeful, that after this initiative of Digital India, the queues will reduce in length further. Infact whatever sector you talk about, digitization is omnipresent, giving that required push to the growth of India.

Talking of digitization one aspect cannot be overlooked, and that is its impact on the world of communication. If we look around, we see that today digital commuting through internet has brought us all together in the same platform. Social sites, like Facebook, twitter or blogging sites like Indiblogger have powerfully impacted positive communication. Long lost friend or like-minded blogger, we can now get in touch with all of them. Resulting in productive inflow and out flow of information or knowledge. True, the virtual world sometime detaches us from the grim reality and has negative impacts as well. But that is not to be mourned about, progress comes at a price. They say that when any economy moves from agriculture based to Industrialization, a strata of the society pays for it. Hence advancements can have its set of negativity but its judicious use can work wonders. And here is the usefulness of the mission of spreading digital awareness. These social networking sites are also powerful tools, for putting across ones opinion to the world. And as per our Government spokesperson the recent nullification of Section 66A of the amended Information Technology Act, 2000 was done as part of Digital India Initiative. Because the section was supposedly curbing the freedom of speech and expression on social media. This decision will also have its set of pros and cons which time will prove. However we hope for the best.

My readers must have noticed, a video in the beginning of my narrative. When I came across this topic on digitization I almost immediately remembered this one. I had come across this video (BY INTEL) long back on YouTube. It says a heartwarming story about the world’s largest slum Dharavi. A world inside a world! While outsiders like me, thought of it as a stinky place housing many antisocial elements. This video proved my thoughts absolutely rubbish. I was pleasantly surprised to know the uniqueness of the so called slum, which houses number of small scale industries. That’s its power, it was impossible to reach out to the world with so much ease if digitization would not have come to aid.

An important part of Digital India is e Governance. A portal, accessible to every Indian citizen, which will enable them to be enlightened on Government polices, Infrastructural and Institutional changes. An unique and modern technique to reach to the millions and increase transparency. A stage for our opinions, a stage for our rights. I personally think that this very factor of Digital India movement, makes this Government stand apart. Afterall it is not unknown that India has different opinions about the ruling party and its working style. Yet providing each one, a forum to connect, communicate and be a part of the growth process, takes a huge amount of confidence and courage. This forum will bring to each willing citizen information, help them collaborate with the governance and derive benefit out of polices made for them, which many times goes un-noticed due to lack of information. The viewpoints and opinions will help evolve the polices to more common man friendly ones. All these time we lacked a forum to put across, e-Governance gives us the same.

From banking to Transport, from social networking to medical science, Digitization has impacted drastically every sphere. I congratulate our Government for taking this innovative yet essential initiative called DIGITAL INDIA. Digitization is the only means of progress, because besides its other good and bad impacts it brings knowledge at our doorstep and education is enlightenment of not only an individual but the nation as a whole. We cannot also forget that it reduces paper work and hence saves trees. What magnitude of positive impact this sole fact can have on India and World at large needs no rocket science to introspect. Deforestation is one the major reasons for Global warming and hence saving trees is no more a choice but compulsion to save the future generations.

Lastly I appreciate Intel for aiding and supporting the mission of Digital India, and giving us bloggers an opportunity to be a part of this historic change. To know more about Intel click on the link below:
www.Intel.in.

Aritra Chakrabarty Sengupta