Is IT the Panacea?

Isa,

Many of the IT companies from abroad will welcome the following news from pakistan, and will rush to set up their offices. By the way, in pakistan IT stand for something else, in line with the following news. From deccan herald of today

Foreign missions in Pak warned against attacks

ISLAMABAD, March 26 (PTI)

Pakistan military regime has cautioned all foreign missions and multinational companies against possible terrorist and sectarian attacks during the month of Muharram begining today and advised them to take extraordinary security measures, The News daily reported.

The Pakistan`s Interior Ministry in a letter circulated among the diplomatic missions and the multinational companies has advised them to take extraordinary security measures during Muharram as they could be the likely target of terrorist attacks, the daily said today quoting sources.

The official letter referred to specific warnings from the intelligence agencies, which said that the foreign missions and companies could be the foremost targets of subversive activities.

The intelligence agencies have also warned that enemy agents and anti-social elements have decided to cash in on the prevailing sectarian tension, particularly after the recent incidents of Hangu, Sheikhupura and Lahore and are likely to strike during Muharram, it said.

``We have been asked to restrict our outdoor movements during Muharram, refrain from entertaining uninvited visitors, and keep particular vigil against explosive devices,`` the daily quoted an officer of a multinational company at Lahore.

It said similar letters have been sent to the multinational offices and establishments from the respective district heads of the police, asking for tight security arrangements during the Muharram season.

AAmir,

Thank you for posting so many `bad` news about india. Please note that they are all from indian news papers, indian reporters, they want other indian and the world to know so that dealings are based on reality. That also gives us an opportunity to correct, change and to evo;ve. By hiding everything, you are not telling the truth. Pakistan is not such a terrible country that Clinto has to use decoy aircraft, the first time in the history of modern diplomacy. If people dont know, they anticipate the worst.

Now tell me AAmir, what is the legal framework under which honour killers are not charged. I know killing is a crime in pakistan, what is the necessary and suficient condition for it to be a honour job. Truth sets you free. Dont talk of corruption blah blah.

regards

jay

RSaxena:

``On Illustrating a point``

I will agree with your reasonable explanation than Scout`s usual rantings. To illustrate a point is one thing; but you also need to read how the point fits in the whole argument. To me, it does not. Mainly, because we are not even slightly close to that step.

I will go a step further here. The writer is stating a dilemma - Pakistan cannot keep its ``intelligent resources`` in-house due to the external lucrative options. He is focusing on the current issues and proposing on how they should be handled. Spending the money - in the ``required`` areas than introducing the whole IT paraphernalia to the students - is one point. In short, targetting the key areas only! For instance, if the government departments use Oracle - focus on training the individuals in that particular package than looking into other things[Just because they are cool or will add to the individual`s knowledge]I am being very specific here now.

There is no mention that we have reached that far where we can imagine to build any castles in the air. There is no infra-structure in place. Her argument appeared like a joke. Someone who has no clue on how that system works. And this is not the first time that I have come across such examples from her side.

I understand that she was talking about - what we do NOT need. Ironically, beggars are not the choosers! You have to put a viable structure first and then chant about your options. There is nothing there! That`s where the writer is trying to create a plan or a vision! Also, education does create different levels of hierarchy in any society. You cannot take it out of your system. That`s a completely different social issue. What should motivate a man to rise from the slums and sit in a decent office? Education and a Roadmap to utilize it. Why does a farmer want his son to acquire higher education? I had a lot of friends[men and women both] who after acquiring higher education raised their standard of living and outlook towards life. I have written the stories of quite a few how they made it. It comes from self-realization!

I can see why you got perturbed. Did you watch the play that I told you to ? :-)

On another note, I will correct myself: it was Hyderabad and not Banglore that was mentioned in New York Times.

When the excited NY Times` reporter interviewed a rehri- wala/cycle-wala in the vicinity[to gather their perspective on the companies and the work they were doing], he was quite disppointed - the laymen never knew anything about what went on behind the big glass doors and what were the high-rises doing in the middle of nowhere. Well, in a way, the reporter was a dud to have unreasonable expectations. Ironically, the american masses, themselves, have a very low level of awareness - having such an expectation from a commoner of a third world ``developing`` country[no offense implied]was probably asking too much.

Take Care.

PM #39

Some ammunition for you (as well as me)

These days Islamist are rationalizing that destruction of Buddha is in Islamic spirit and right. All the Maulvis of Pakistan are unaminous in this.

For centuries this thing was never realized to be un-Islamic.

Moreover Mahmud Ghaznavi so fond of destroying idols to far flung areas did not found time to break the idols in his own backyard.

(I think FerozK analysis is right in every respect inspite of many criticism on his article. May God rest his soul in eternal peace. Bechara married Ho Gaya. Haq Mughfirat Kare Ajab Azaad Mard Thaa.

I read recently that Pakistan is planning to `produce` 100,000 software engineers per year. This is a scary thought for India which I believe produces only 75,000 per year currently, despite its larger population and number of universities.

If Pak is successful, then they may be able to offer the same services at lower prices, not good for India. Already China is gearing up in English and will offer major competition to India in a couple of years. If other neighbours like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka wake up and get their act together, Indian software industry will be seriously challenged.

On the other hand, if Pak does not succeed in its aim, say its quality is not good enough, I wonder what the reaction will be from all those hopefuls who would be studying IT at Pak universities...

sac #30: ``All the talk about 7 IT universities and how brilliant the technology minsiter and his minions are is bullshit.``

I would be interested in finding out why you think this talk is bullshit? Do you think the technology minister (I am assuming you are refering to the Minister of S&T) is not brilliant? Do you think setting up IT universities in Pakistan is not a good idea? Are you assuming the universities can never be set up, so Pakistan should not even attempt to set them up? Do you think 7 IT universities will not have any effect on Pakistan`s IT scenario (I think they will have a gigantic effect, considering the fact that Silicon Valley is a by-product of Stanford and Berkeley. And India`s IT success is perhaps a complete result of the IT institutions India set up) In my opinion, setting up IT universities should be the no. 1 priority of the Ministry, if not the whole govt. And I believe they have allocated 70% of their budget to it. An excellent move in my opinion.

``Instead of trying to fill-up the kitty by trying to regulate telecommunication and software businesses, it should concentrate on delineating rules of business in the capital and judicial arenas.``

I agree with this. I think deregulation is what is being attempted in S&T in Pakistan. The move is towards privatizaion and deregulation, and not the other way around. I do not know of any private company or institute in the IT arena that is being taken over by the govt. Do you know of any? However, attempts are being made to privatize PTCL etc. Something the previous govts. should have done.

``a bunch of jaded technocrats looking for their golden parachutes with the esteemed Ata-ur-Rehman in tow``

Could you point out who these jaded technocrats are and what kind of golden parachutes they will be getting. Dr. Ata struck me as the furthust thing from a jaded technocrat. Considering that he is a chemistry professor by profession, his knowledge of IT was extremely impressive. That is the sign of a truly intelligent person, i.e. someone who has detailed knowledge and understanding of areas outside his/her field of study. His core team consists of private sector people, who could probably make a hell of a lot more money if they moved to the USA. The only beaurecrats I came across were the ones in places like PTCL, and the old hands within the ministry. From what I could tell, Dr. Ata was trying his best to actually take the beaurecracy out of S&T in Pakistan. Obviously, him or his team did not mention any golden parachute they may be waiting for. But I would be interested in finding out about one, if you have any information.

``What else can you expect from a bunch of khakis(ex and current) out to discover El Dorado using IT as the preferred form of transportation....``

To the best of my knowledge, there isn`t a single military person in Dr. Ata`s team. And he seems to be calling all the shots. It is however encouraging to see that this govt. had the foresight to appoint a scientist as the head of S&T, and not an interior decorator or stud farmer, like the previous govts. It is also good to see that Pakistan`s current IT policy has been put together by the private sector. And it is heartening to see that the govt. has dramatically (multiple-fold) increased the S&T budget for Pakistan. And it is heartening to see that the actual moves are towards deregulating and privitizaiton and human resource development.

As far as creating a stable economic environment goes, that is a given. It is true under all circumstances. But creating stable economic environments in a country like Pakistan (or in any third world country) is much easier said than done. There is no Aladin`s lamp that can do so in a day. Pakistan should not wait until there is a stable environment before it starts development in IT. There may never be a stable economic, or any other kind of environment in Pakistan. However, IT is one area, where progress can be made without too stable of an economic/political environment, due to its off-shore development model which is completely human resource based, and not infrastructure based. The only requirement is a lot of IT graduates. That`s it. India had one of the biggest basketcase economic environments in the world (a much bigger basketcase than Pakistan), with decade to decade growth rates of only 3% to 3.5% when it started building its IT institutions. Even in the late 80s, major US publications thought India was a lost case. However, now the environment has stabilized and all the S&T universities set up during the old days, and begining to pay off.

I think Dr. Ata and his team are on the right track. They have the right ideas. Whether they will be successful or not, is something we will have to wait and see. But it is heartening to see that at least someone in Pakistan, ``get`s it`` for a change in IT. Even if they don`t end up being successful does not mean they should not even make any attempts. Their responsibility is only in their own area. If the rest of Pakistan goes down the drain, it`s not their fault. What can Dr. Ata do about Morgan Stanley?

``Pakistan will go the Irish way.``

If Pakistan goes the Irish way, at least in IT, I will be the happiest person in the world. Ireland currently is one of the largest, if not the largest exporter of software, outside the US. IT has had a huge effect on its economy.

The solution to solving the problems of ten poorly functioning departments in Pakistan is not to close down or discredit the one that has the potential to function propertly. If Pakistan can, despite all its historical instabilities, set up an export-level arms industry including sophisticated aircraft and submarines, become a cotton producing and textile giant, set up multiple medical colleges and engineering universities (when there were only one or two at the time of partition), build and test nukes, build some of the biggest dams in the world etc., then I don`t see why it cannot make progress in IT. All it needs is the right leadership (a rarity in the past) in place. Which, at least in the are of IT, in my opinion, it has in place now.

Quite an interesting, thought provoking interview of Karen Armstrong on the publication of her new book, `Buddha`

http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/interviews/int2001-03-21.htm

excerpts:

Armstrong sees religion as an essential human activity, one we are no more likely to outgrow than we are likely to outgrow art. Like art, religion, in her view, demands to be renewed, if not totally reformulated,

...As Armstrong points out time and again in her book, the Buddha, more than anything else, insisted that human life be predicated on compassion. And that, rhetoric aside, is not a value our society can be congratulated for realizing

`` When I first began the study of religion, I found it difficult to get a handle on Buddhism. It didn`t have any of the things I considered essential to religion, like a supernatural God, a sense of sin, authority figures, doctrines. But the more I got into religious studies, the more I began to think that this approach, this reticence about the divine, had a good deal to recommend it.``

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From the preview of the latest census in India

The literacy rates among the population seven years and above for the country stood at 65.38% and the corresponding figures for males and females were 75% and 55% respectively.

And a decline in growth of population. The other studies will be coming out soon (urban/rural lifestyles etc).

Could this be the reason......

Pakistani culture is notoriously insular, and their key motivators are their bretheren from across the border in neighboring India. ``If the Indians can do it so can we``. Since the
prevailing mindset for the past 40 years is essential a military one, it is a natural corollary that it is a neanderthal one. Ever hear of the Spartans, ourshining the Athenians....

Having said that, I would also reiterate any education is better than no education, atleast we are coming to realize that the most important resource of any nation is the human one. And any attempt to cultivate the human minds, is bound have spill over effects in our culture. Perhaps they will leave Pakistan for greener pastures, perhaps overseas remittances will increase as a consequence....

Sometimes I think we ned to be pragmatic, Pakistani`s have no sense of collective interests, - you cannot get 6 pakistanis in Silicon valley to form an association to promote networking on a regular and consistent basis, - you expect the morons back home to think logically. Despite the haphazard fashion of IT education, - atleast ther is some promotion of something tangible and progressive. Even it just gets Pakistan connected into the global reality- it might just provide the requiste impetus for he country to move out of the dark ages.

I agree with ``sac`` when he correctly points out that govt is the problem of what ails pakistan, - and it is certainly in a position to screw up anything it attempts in the beaurocratic and corrupt quagmire. The biggest boost that Manmohan Singh And Swetambaram ( sp ?) provided in India was their ``hands-off`` policy in the IT arena. Ataur Rehman`s efforts are like the whore trying to teach the virtues of chastity to a teenager. But perhaps in a perverse sense atleast the whore is not overtly corrupting the said teenager.

Q. Isa:

Your careful analysis has a number of excellent observations as well. I extracted the ones I really liked – 3Ps – practical, pertinent and penetrating!

[I believe it could but, for that to happen, there would have to be a radical rethink of national priorities. And this would require our education, science and technology and IT policies to directly address the acute problems that the majority of people face.]

The educational policies must emphasize on the application as well. Education, by itself is nothing. Yes, you can equip a human being with some basics: tools and techniques, but you need to give him/her a roadmap as well.

[In our country, we seem to be forever rushing forward without carefully thinking through many of the critical issues, or fully recognizing the global game plan, which may not necessarily work to our advantage.]

Very ironic, but true!

[It is superficially agreed by all, if not deeply appreciated by those in power, that the foremost problem facing Pakistan today is the general level of education. Without widespread access to the basic right of education at the primary and secondary levels, particularly for girls, we cannot make significant and lasting progress. Coupled with this is the need for teachers ` training, adult education and the use of the ever-pervasive electronic media for transforming minds.]

[Lastly, since one is dealing with a very large system with several unknown factors, it is best to
tread carefully, doing small scale experiments to test our theories, learning lessons, and then scaling up.]

[Unfortunately, the IT policy - like much of our developmental thinking - relies on attacking problems at the `top end`, hoping that benefits that accrue will trickle-down to the lower levels, such as villages and small towns.]

Very Insightful thoughts!

[The lesson is clear: one needs to define training areas where there are Pakistan-specific needs and to put money into training people primarily in these subject areas. This would automatically reduce the brain drain that results from a training program that is geared to the needs of other
countries.]

Why not explore the agricultural needs? There is a significant percentage of population that relies on agriculture. Why not introduce the IT tools and techniques in that area than completely relying on hi-tech and other industries? Going back to your point that many of these problems are sought at ``the top end`` – I feel that’s where the disconnect lies. The ebusiness strategies and tools can be utilized in reengineering the current agricultural processes and improving the exports. How many rice or wheat farmers have access to vendors oversees? How many channels, they have to go through, in order to reach someone? How many can initiate and close deals? Many may have crops ready to rot, but they don’t have a prospective customer to buy. Well, to know your way around you ought to have basic education – fine. Life does not finish there. You ought to find an alternative – Consult! Well, that’s where your IT gurus and magicians must go out and illuminate the agriculturalists. Going back to your point that Pakistan needs to identify its specific needs: Pakistan also needs to leverage its small industries, arts and crafts and agriculture. Many of the hi-fi strategies’ results may not seem applicable in-house, but there is a lot of room to implement such solutions and introduce your world to the rest of the world.

Well, this needs to happen at the governmental level than on individual level. If the top hierarchy is hanging upside down, then that’s an issue. If it is even slightly shaky, the results will trickle down to the lower levels. If it balances itself somehow or other, there will be some hope for such implementations and well thought out plans.

Your article is of academic nature, but in each country you need all kinds of people from all walks of life to create a vision. There have to be thinkers, planners, and strategic advisers who can think through a problem and then the implementers appear – to act on the advised strategy. There are times when the issues are crystal clear and the implementers can take charge. But there are times, when the implementers better not be at the forefront and let the thinkers analyze and evaluate first. In our country, probably a hybrid would work out the best ?


Thanks for a good read!

Dr. Isa has made some very valid points. However, as hamidm pointed out his approach is very academic and lags rather than leads in describing the realities of the IT marketplace.

IMHO Pakistan has pretty much lost its battle for IT dominance due to insistence of the government to act as the sole know-all. All the talk about 7 IT universities and how brilliant the technology minsiter and his minions are is bullshit. The government`s foremost responsibility is to provide a secure environment for business and its people. Instead of trying to fill-up the kitty by trying to regulate telecommunication and software businesses, it should concentrate on delineating rules of business in the capital and judicial arenas. At a time when the Pakistani economy is perceived to be one of the five riskiest economies in the world and Morgan Stanley is pulling out its investments from Pakistan(with a corresponding removal from the MSCI index which will have a cascading deleterious affect on the stock market), what Pakistan needs is a semblance of order and stability not a bunch of jaded technocrats looking for their golden parachutes with the esteemed Ata-ur-Rehman in tow. What else can you expect from a bunch of khakis(ex and current) out to discover El Dorado using IT as the preferred form of transportation....

Pakistan will go the Irish way. All the ones with ambition will/have left for greener pastures. When the local populace gets tired of potatoes it will elect some consicable scoundrels that will allow those expatriates to come back in droves and rebuild the shattered economy with the help of the ever hopeful and brilliant common Pakistani. This may take a few decades though.

later

-sac

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/26/technology/26BANG.html?pagewanted=all

March 26, 2001

A New Kind of Software Company for India

By MARK LANDLER

BANGALORE, India — At a time when the term start-up evokes images of crashing stock prices and collapsing business plans — here as much as in the United States — Ashok Soota might not seem to be a man to watch.

But Mr. Soota`s 19-month-old venture, Mind Tree Consulting, has been celebrated by technology analysts and journalists, even though it is privately held and has all of $15 million in sales.

Part of the buzz stems from its pedigree: Mr. Soota, 58, had been the vice chairman of Wipro, one of India`s largest software concerns. He helped lead India`s drive in the early 90`s into the back-office end of the computer business, writing software code for big American companies.

But most of the excitement stems from Mind Tree`s ambition: Mr. Soota wants his new company to leap several links up the technology food chain. Rather than supply programmers for the humdrum work of writing routine software code, he wants to design and build sophisticated computer networks for customers.

``In the early days, there was no need for Indian software companies to differentiate themselves,`` said Mr. Soota, an intense man given to philosophical musing. ``Now, companies are starting to set themselves apart.``

In Bangalore, a southern Indian city that has been called the Silicon Plateau, Mind Tree is viewed as something of a leading indicator. Its success or failure could say a lot about India`s ability to graduate into the more advanced, lucrative realms of the technology industry.

Other Indian companies — Infosys Technologies, Satyam Computer and Wipro itself — are trying to make the same jump. But nobody has set out to do it from scratch, nor with quite the audacity of Mr. Soota.

``By inserting themselves at a higher level in the value chain, they are creating a mind-set in the company,`` said N. R. Narayana Murthy, the chairman of Infosys, arguably India`s flagship software company.

``The question is whether they`ll have credibility,`` he added. ``Where do they get the experience to do higher-level work for clients?``

Despite India`s reputation for superlative code writing, which has won it a blue-chip roster of customers like General Electric and Nortel Networks, some analysts question how successfully the country can compete in the more-rarefied digital fields of strategic consulting or systems integration.

Infosys is eager to offer high-end services, too. But Mr. Murthy is not about to discharge his army of software writers, who work at a sprawling, verdant campus outside Bangalore. His strategy is to continue writing code while gradually building expertise and to appeal for more complex assignments. ``It is a longer-term process,`` he said, ``but it has a higher likelihood of success.``

India`s technology industry will have $6.2 billion in exports this fiscal year, and total sales of about $8 billion. That is extraordinary growth, given that the services industry did not exist a decade ago. But it still accounts for just 2 percent of India`s total economic output.

India also faces rising competition in the low end of the business from other Asian countries like China, Vietnam and the Philippines. With salaries in software companies here rising at more than 15 percent a year, India must expand into new areas that promise a higher return.

``What gives us an edge is that our education system has a bias toward mathematics and engineering,`` said Vivek Paul, the current vice chairman of Wipro. ``But China will be a real threat in a few years.``

Enter Mr. Soota, who had already steered Wipro through a transition from making PC`s and minicomputers in the 1980`s to providing software services. Determined to have a ``third inning`` in his career, Mr. Soota left Wipro in 1999 and began hunting for seed capital to start his own business.

Unknown to him, another Wipro refugee, Subroto Bagchi, had also been promoting the idea of a high-end software consultancy. A partner at a venture capital firm in the United States, Walden International, put the two men together in March 1999 and suggested they merge their plans.

With $9.5 million from Walden and an Indian venture firm, Sivan Securities, Mind Tree Consulting hung out its shingle six months later. From the start, it behaved differently from a typical Indian company.

First, the founders pledged to donate 3 percent of Mind Tree`s after-tax profits to primary education. The company`s initial donation went to a center in Bangalore for children with cerebral palsy.

The company logo, a stylized tree, was designed by the children, and their artwork adorns the walls throughout the headquarters, which are two glass boxes in a clamorous residential neighborhood.

Mr. Soota said he chose not to build a suburban campus, like that of Infosys, because he did not want his employees to spend three hours a day commuting on Bangalore`s horrendous roads. Likewise, he noted, Mind Tree`s philanthropy was part of a broader business strategy.

``It will attract a certain kind of employee, which in turn will attract a certain kind of customer,`` he said.

So far, Mind Tree has won assignments from Lucent Technologies, Avis and BP Amoco. Though the company is cagey about the project`s details, it is designing a Web-based reservations system for Avis, a unit of Cendant. It is also advising Harvard University on ways to promote sports events on the Internet.

In addition to e-commerce projects, Mind Tree advises equipment makers like Cisco Systems, Alcatel and Fujitsu on network management issues. To be close to its mostly American clientele, it has built a development center in Somerville, N.J., and a branch office in Santa Clara, Calif.

``We`re not building a small company,`` said Mr. Bagchi, 44, who plans to move to New Jersey to run those operations. ``We`ve built large successful companies for other people. We`re comfortable with growth.``

So far, Mind Tree has hired 437 employees. It plans to add 1,000 more in the next year. The company has a five-year revenue target of $231 million. Yet Mr. Soota said he would not pursue a stock offering for three years. He also wants to have 100 clients before going public.

In part, he is only being realistic. The appetite for information technology start-ups is as sour here as in Silicon Valley. But, his philosophical side showing, Mr. Soota sees a lesson in starting his company in such an unforgiving climate.

``It`s a good reminder for India`s I.T. industry not to take what we have for granted, or become too greedy,`` he said.