India needs bottom-up approach in Internet research

Bangalore: As 'next generation Internet' is going to be the next big thing in the digital world, many countries are gearing up to take part in shaping the structure of net in such a way that integrates all civil infrastructures across the world.

However, India has been always in the back seat in promoting researches in this regard, while its Asian counterparts like China and South Korea are way ahead. For India to enter the elite league of internet researchers and innovators like the U.S., the country should trigger off a reform in technology education, says Henning G Schulzrinne, Profssor and Chair, Department of Computer Science, Columbia University. "Students should be allowed to take up interesting projects in the under-graduation period itself. A bottom-up approach will help cultivate a generation in India that is more technology savvy," Schulzrinne adds.

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Meanwhile, in Korea, out of the total $642 million that country plans to invest in information technology (IT) sector research this year, a major share - the figure could not be ascertained - will be allocated towards Internet protocol television technologies, energy-efficient light emitting diodes, software and computing, and next generation IMT-Advanced Wibro platforms that promises greatest growth potential and commercial applications.

China also is all out to contribute towards it at its maximum best. Since the mid-1990s, Internet usage in China has grown very rapidly. As of September 2007, China boasted 172 million Internet users, the world's second largest, behind only the United States, and 523 million mobile phone users, by far the largest in the world.

Riding on rapid convergence of IP networks for voice, data, and video, the Internet offers the world's economies and societies increasing opportunities for economic growth and social development; whether it be through information, e-commerce, communication and social networks, the participative web, entertainment, Web services, e-government or for critical infrastructures such as power grids, financial systems, air traffic control and intelligence systems. The Internet is also rapidly becoming a key ingredient in the world economic infrastructure related to electricity and roads as well as our social structures as a new era of ubiquitous sensor networks using technologies such as RFID to connect the physical world - supply chains, items, and people - in real-time is not a far cry.

But a lot of researches have to go into realizing the dream of 'next generation Internet'. According to Guru Parulkar, Executive Director, Clean State Program, Stanford University, India lacks an excitement surrounding future internet designs and only a few in this country are engaged in what he calls experimental research. This statement is validating the argument that an educational reform in engineering discipline has to happen.