ITAO Fair: Between the “haves” and the “have-nots”

It is indeed a rarity that one gets to witness some of the influential thought creators of the nation in an exhibition. Held between 6^th and 10^th of November at Unit III Exhibition Grounds, the ITAO IT Mega Fair acted as a platform of debate between whether technology or rather Information Technology (IT) is acting as a leveler or a divider.

Present on the dais on 6^th November 2014, which was officially a press meet for the main sponsor CISCO were Guest of Honour - MP Tathagata Satapathy, IAS, chief secretary Gokul Chandra Pati, Govt. of Odisha, Pradeep Kumar Jena, IAS, principal secretary to Govt., Dept. of IT, Govt of Odisha and chief speaker Amit Malik, director operations, sales, Cisco Systems India and SAARC.

Whereas Satapathy believed that IT is infact creating barrier between those who can afford it and those who cannot, in his words, between the “haves” and the “have-nots”.

His vision cannot be totally ignored as a large part of our nation still survives and sustains below the poverty line. Although, the use of mobile phones has reached the hands of the laborers and even daily wage workers yet there are those who still aims for four course meal as their sole mode sustenance.

Cisco speaker Amit Malik opposed the debate by citing a pertinent example of a woman uploading her photographs on Flickr and a Japanese company CEO appreciating the art of the clicks and giving the woman her first photographic contract.

Now, for a commoner pondering on the topic of IT which even a decade back was normally associated with Income Tax, both the arguments stand with equal validity. However, if we affirm by Satapathy’s viewpoint and hinder the penetration of IT from the metropolitan cities, suburbs and now to the rural villages, the future of our nation looks bleak. On the contrary, Malik’s optimistic standpoint can actually turn the table and act vital towards India being a developed nation. Afterall, one has to start with something. Initiatives like IT penetration can not only improve modes of communication but can transform Indian into a united village, similar to the ‘global village’ concept founded on similar principles of technology, internet and electronic consumerism.

The Press meet also gave equal weightage to Cisco’s switching products where many partners as well as engineering students showed high enthusiasm learning about the manufacturing concepts, the pros and cons of the updated versions and those that have been scrapped off respectively.

 Anushri Mondal