baparao@uscvax.UUCP (Bapa Rao) (04/08/85)
Attached is a sketchy proposal for dealing with India's "brain drain"
problem. Said proposal consisits of a number of half-baked ideas hastily
cobbled together. You are invited to have a go at it. You might also
chain-letter it.
A PROPOSAL FOR A CENTER FOR INDIAN TECHNOLOGY COMMUNICATION
K.V. Bapa Rao
Computer Science Department
U.S.C., Los Angeles, CA 90089-0782.
csnet: baparao@usc-cse
This is a proposal for a Center for Technology Communication between
India and North America. The purpose of the proposed center is to act as a
liasion between the technological community in India and Indian scientists
and technologists currently in the United States and Canada that are
interested in making a contribution to India's technological growth, but are
unable to return to India to live and work there permanently. The Center for
Technology Communication (hereafter called "Center") would function as a dual
funding and consultative body, providing funding for research and development
projects in India, as well as serving as a source of expertise. The objective
of the Center is to encourage the growth of independent research and
development activities in India's technological institutions, at the same
time enabling expatriate Indians to participate actively in India's
development.
1. MOTIVATION FOR THE CENTER
There are a considerable number of highly qualified and experienced Indian
scientists and technologists currently living and working in North America.
Most of these people are making significant contributions to their respective
disciplines. Their contributions to the body of research and development
that occurs in India itself verges on the negligible.
At the same time, it is evident that paucity of resources (by way of funds
and access to research materials, for example) is one of the major obstacles
in the way of research and development activities in Indian institutions. The
IITs, IISc, TIFR, and some of the other universities fare somewhat better in
this regard, but overall, most researchers in India are unable to achieve
their full potential. An active and sizable (commensurate with the
population) research community is an important part of the infrastructure for
a successful industrial economy. The absence of such a community means that
India is deficient in one of the major ingredients for economic growth.
The quality of the little research that emerges from India is often said to
be somewhat marginal. Perhaps this is not surprising for a country that
annually selects about 1500 of its brightest and most ambitious young people,
imparts the best available technical training to them for 4 or 5 years, and
then systematically exports them to America there to undergo graduate
training, and form sustain the economic structure of America by their
research and development activities. Thus, there is a need to reinforce both
the material and intellectual resources available to the Indian research
community.
It is unrealistic to expect that most of the Indian scientists and
technologists settled in America would return to India, (either as employees
of Indian institutions or as enterpreneurs) to make a major impact
on the state of science and technology research in India. Firstly, the return
involves a considerable monetary sacrifice on the part of these people.
Secondly, even if they were to return to India, they would not find the same
infrastructural facilities for research that they have been accustomed to in
America. However, there are a number of Indians in America who express an
interest in contributing to India's technological progress but profess
themselves at a loss as to the means to do so. The assumption of this writer
is that there are a significant number of such people who would be willing to
become involved in Indian research and developmental activities if a means
could be found for them to do so without actually having to move to India or
make other extraordinary sacrifices. The Center is proposed as such a means.
N.B. Throughout this proposal we shall use terms like "university", "technical
institution", "research instituition" rather loosely to connote any
non-commercial technical organization interested in undertaking research and
development projects.
2. ACTIVITIES OF THE CENTER
The purpose of the proposed center is to co-ordinate and promote close
co-operation between members of the technical community in India and America.
A partial list of the activities of such a center follows.
2.1. Review and funding of project proposals from researchers in India.
Reserchers in Indian universities and technical institutions would submit
project proposals to the center. The center would obtain peer reviews of the
proposals from researchers in the field situated in India and America. Based
on the evaluation of the proposals, the center would provide financial
support for deserving projects.
2.2. Subsidising the procurement of infrastructural resources.
2.2.1 Needed and expensive technical journals, textbooks, computer software
and hardware would be supplied to Indian research institutions as and when
they appear in America.
2.2.2. Auxiliary equipment such as copying machines and word processors would
be donated or their purchase subsidised.
2.2.3. Membership of Indian researchers in America-based technical
organizations would be subsidised.
2.3. Providing needed expertise
2.3.1 Funding the visits of Indian researchers to American universities and
the visits of leading experts from America to Indian institutions. These
visits could take the form of visiting appointments for teaching, research,
and consultation on projects.
2.3.2. Paying for the participation of Indian researchers in technical
conferences being held in America.
2.3.3. Undertaking large-scale infrastructural projects in collaboration with
the Indian research establishment. Examples of such projects would be:
setting up India on the internet computer communication facility; arranging
for and subsidising the printing of American technical journals and textbooks
in India (e.g., via facsimile) to make them available at affordable prices in
India.
3. ORGANIZATION OF THE CENTER
The Center would be organized as a combination of a professional body such as
the IEEE and a funding organization such as the NSF. All members of the
center would contribute financially to the center. In addition, members would
volunteer their time and services to run the organization, edit a newsletter,
organize periodic conferences and meetings, deal with various bureaucracies,
and so on.
The center would be subdivided into departments, each responsible for the
various technical disciplines. Each member of the center would be associated
with at least one discipline. The members would contribute to their
respective disciplines by volunteering to review proposals, coming up with
ideas for projects, taking the initiative to teach in India for a semester,
using their influence to organize a distinguished lecturer visit to India,
providing their services to needed projects in India, and so on. Indiividual
initiatives would be facilitated by the organization of the center. The
center would act as a link between a technical need and the persons qualified
and willing to fill it on the one hand, and between an available technical
service and the sites at which it can be used on the other hand. For example,
a member in computer science could volunteer to set up an Indian institution
on the internet, and the center could take care of the bureaucratic steps
involved, and subdsidise the member's trip to India. Or, an Indian institution
be interested in finding out if anyone can get them a certain variety of
solar panels cheaply, and the center could help by locating an Indian
involved with the solar panel industry who is willing and able to get them a
good deal.
In order to ensure close communication between the technical communities on
the Indian and American sides, the center would have an Indian arm and an
American arm that are tightly coupled to each other. Thus, the Indian arm and
American arm of the center would have full knowledge of the information
communicated to each other by their respective members, as well as knowledge
of the other's status regarding availability of funds and equipment, and so
on.
4. IMPLEMENTATION
Instead of attempting to implement an ambitious proposal such as this one all
at once, it might be better to set up a pilot center in one of the Indian
institutions, one that can effectively initiate and sustain a limited subset
of the proposed activities outlined above. The upcoming meeting of IIT Madras
alumni at Houston is a good opportunity to set up such a pilot center at IIT
Madras, supported by interested IIT Madras faculty in India and IITM alumni
in America. The experience gained can be used to extend the concept to all
Indians in America and all institutions in India.
5. CONCLUSION
In this admittedly sketchy proposal, no attempt has been made to address
important issues such as the sources of funding, and so on. However, any
startup organization is faced with these problems, and if there is a
consensus for the establishment of a center such as the one proposed,
problems of resource generation would not prove too daunting. Also, it is
evident that an enterprise such as the proposed center requires a substantial
committment of time and money on the part of its members, amounting to a
tithe in the interests of India's development. The proposal is predicated on
the assumption that there is a significant body of sentiment in favor of it
among expatriate Indians, so that the idea can become a reality. If this idea
proves feasible and is implemented, it is this writer's opinion that we would
have found a relatively painless way to compensate for the inexorable "brain
drain" being suffered by India, and taken the first step towards establishing
an atmosphere for widespread and productive technical research in India.