M6L1: Wireless technologies

In this lecture, we shift our focus from Biology to ICT. Now the most important thing that I would like to inform in this module is that, ICT as such has very little weightage in UPSC Prelims examination. The questions that are asked are also very easy. It appears to me that when UPSC asks questions from this sector in Prelims, they mostly put this in the following segment of Science and Technology

·         Science and Technology - developments and their applications and effects in everyday life

·         Awareness in the fields of ‘IT’, Space, Computers, robotics, Nanotechnology, biotechnology

Most of the questions in this domain are related to IT technology used in computers and mobile phones. However, this has far greater weightage when it comes to Mains examination. Particularly, in GS paper II and GS Paper III. In GS Paper II, we have a topic, ‘Government schemes and interventions. If you look around, the government is now trying to reduce its fiscal deficit by cutting the corners of almost every scheme where it pays subsidies in crores without risking the beneficiaries. I would like to ask you, for a time being assume that you are acting as a bureaucrat. In that case scenario, how do you reduce ghost beneficiaries? Which technique is the most efficient and the most effective? The answer would revolve around ICT.

In GS Paper III, the same ICT manifests itself as a security challenge. In the past 5 years, almost one out of every two questions in Internal Security questions, that have been asked in GS III Mains examination, come from cyber security or the challenges posed by ICT to the internal security of India.

Here we shall discuss only the scientific aspects of it. Cyber security will be covered in the Second edition of this book

So, where do you put ICT in our day to day life?  If someone asks me, my obvious answer would be Roti, Kapda, Makaan and then WiFi. Internet and telecommunication are no longer a luxury, it is a necessity. And I hope you must be aware of this, that items of necessity should be non-rivalrous and non-excludable goods. And they should be as cheap as possible so that everyone can afford it.

And how does ICT help in our growth and development? I will take a leaf from our history book and leave the inference upon you.

For more than a thousand years, the information that we have today largely resided in the hands of scholars who passed it verbally from one generation to another generation. It could hardly find its way into the hands of common people until the invention of the paper. The Chinese spread it to the Muslims along the silk route and eventually found its way to Europe and they invented the printing press in the 15th century. This led to the diffusion of knowledge at a scale that was never seen before and acted as a seed for many inventions, innovation and advancements in centuries to come. This knowledge triggered mass revolts against the elite segments of the society and triggered the industrial revolution in Europe. After the invention of language and the alphabet, it was paper that finds its place in the list of top 50 inventions, compiled by BBC that made the modern economy.

So, if paper helped Europe make a transition from dark ages to modern age, now we have internet. The invention of paper led to the communication between the East and the West along the silk route. Comparing it with today, we are now living in an age where 5G is about to explode and Google, today is no longer a search engine. It has changed the way we live...

Robert Opeinhammer, the father of American Nuclear Bomb once said, that we are living in an age where knowledge is doubling itself every ten years. But he told this before the invention of internet. What would have been the reaction, were if, he had seen us using the internet?

ICT stimulates and improves trade by connecting people and places previously not connected and by bringing velocity to the progress of new ideas. It touches nearly every industry sector and carries a Multiplier Effect. For every $ invested in broadband (fixed and wireless), we find Immediate returns in macro-economic growth rates and GDP and economy It has been found that the national competitiveness and network readiness are directly correlated. ICT can also act as a platform for helping to solve some of our greatest economic, social and environmental challenges. For example, Smart electric grids can be installed in smart cities where Digital technology is leveraged to measure and control use, save energy, reduce cost and increase reliability.