S Radhakrishnan

CURRENT

N o nation can develop without proper education, and

universalised education builds up vast human resources making a
gush of knowledge and information. Although the effects of
education in the society are tremendous, there are grey areas, which
need to be addressed especially in light of the Kerala experience.
Knowledge may be defined as the ability to transform resources
to our advantage and it has become the most important factor
determining our standard of living, more than land, tools, or labour.
For the last 200 years, neo-classical economics has recognised
only two factors of production: labour and capital. This is now
changing. Information and knowledge are said to be replacing
capital and energy as the primary wealth-creating assets, just as the
latter two replaced land and labour 200 years ago. In addition,
technological developments in the 20th century have transformed
the majority of wealth-creating work from physically-based to
"knowledge-based.”
Knowledge-based economy
Today most technologically advanced economies are
knowledge-based. Not only do they generate new wealth from their

8 KERALA CALLING November 2009

innovations, but they create vast
numbers of employment
opportunities. As a consequence,
societies are now transformed into
what many theorists have viewed as
true knowledge societies. The
emergence of knowledge societies,
however, is not a spontaneous event
but a gradual process in which
societies acquire new traits and
features. Knowledge has become more
fundamental and strategic for most
spheres of life and it is modifying or
even replacing the factors that have
been constitutive of social action.
India possesses one of the five
largest scientific communities in the
world and accounts for about half of
the scientific production of the
developing countries as a whole. But
the developing countries together
represent only seven per cent of the
world’s mainstream scientific output,
of which close to 80 per cent is
produced in Asia.
Though the initial euphoria about
its achievements and credentials in
several socio, economic and
demographic spheres is on the wane,
even today Kerala is believed to be a
model of development. The setting has
significance for two reasons. First, the
state has initiated a number of
programmes, in order to chart a new
path for its development by taking
advantage of the demand for
information technology (IT) the world
over. The new IT policy document
makes it clear that the growth of Kerala
in the coming years will be
increasingly driven by the knowledge
and service-based sectors where
information flow will be a key
determinant factor of success.
When knowledge is the key for
progress and development, its
generation and the structures which
facilitate or hinder it become
important. Added to this is the socio-
economic ambience that stems from
the process of globalisation. Scientific
and technical knowledge produces
incremental capacities for social and
economic action or an increase in the
ability to.
Knowledge Economy Vs.
Traditional Economy
It can be argued that the
knowledge economy differs from the
traditional economy in several key
respects:
The Kerala vision of a knowledge-
November 2009 KERALA CALLING 9
 based economy is argued to be
realised only when it is based on the
foundation of a robust industrial
economy. But, for knowledge in the
State to be truly beneficial, the focus
of IT must fall at the right place, in the
right quantity, at the right time and for
the right purpose.
The Indian software industry has
followed an impressive track over the
past decade. Entrepreneurs,
bureaucrats and politicians are now
advancing views about how India can
transform itself into a knowledge-
based economy by riding the
information technology (IT)
bandwagon.
There is no dearth of fascinating
stories about IT-enabled changes. But,
there is little discussion about whether
such changes are sustainable and
effective. This may not be possible
when there are areas where
developments continue to lag. For
example, 79 per cent of India's
population lives in villages with limited
basic infrastructure. Over 60 per cent
of the population is considered literate,
but with literacy being defined as the
ability to read and write simple words
in any language, acquired with or
without formal schooling.
10 KERALA CALLING November 2009
The Indian software industry has followed an
impressive track over the past decade.
Entrepreneurs, bureaucrats and politicians are
now advancing views about how India can
transform itself into a knowledge-based
economy by riding the information technology
(IT) bandwagon.
This criterion is almost irrelevant developing and delivering IT services
in the context of Kerala. Here the to advanced economies. Even if India
universalized schooling has provided became the world's software factory
the right setting for a knowledge based and the most optimistic projections of
society contrary to the general Indian IT-related jobs (including jobs in call
situation. Hence Kerala can be centres and design centres) were
projected as a place to use IT as a upheld, this industry will employ at
vehicle for social and economic most a few million people. But as
transformation. Let us not worry about Kerala is a consumer State, which has
the usual treading from the traditional limited traces of an industrial setting
economy to the knowledge-based the IT sphere can be a major
economy. But the value addition in contributor to the employment
literacy or general education is alleged statistics.
to be lagging here. The IT and the True, IT industry holds limited
education policy of the State has to be potential for wealth to trickle down to
designed so that the state is benefited the poorer sections of society unlike a
in a balanced way. manufacturing unit which may
IT, job growth and provide few opportunities for the
government policy uneducated also. In an unbalanced
situation the rapid growth of IT will
Indian IT firms have focused on
lead to a digital divide where the rich
and educated are empowered and
enriched by IT and the poor are
oblivious to its impact. To offset this
imbalance the basic necessities of the
society like education has to be
sustained.
China is not known for its strengths
in IT, although it now has some
presence in the area. But, what China
has accomplished in terms of its core
industrial base is striking. Foreign
direct investment (FDI) in China is
very high and Chinese exports grew
enormously providing employment to
hundreds of people. These jobs have
improved the living standards for a
substantial fraction of Chinese society.
There is much we need to learn from
China about how the manufacturing
sector can deliver robust and equitable
economic growth. India can do this
easily but for a state like Kerala
environmental issues, high density of
population and the fragile
environment poses problems for
establishing a manufacturing industry.
But in a literate society the direct
benefits to IT are likely to flow to
everyone and the trickle-down effects
of IT (such as cleaning and
maintenance staff for IT firms) are
likely to be favourable for the few
uneducated. As Kerala is a city-state it
can easily garner the advantages of the
cosmopolitan orientation of the IT
industry.
Knowledge and Culture
A Knowledge Economy
characterised by a culture of
innovation. For such a culture to take
root innovation must be rewarded and
intellectual property must
protected. Unfortunately for Kerala
innovation in consumption behaviour
is astonishingly positive but the
attitudinal innovation or thirst for
societal change is marginal. A culture
that truly enhances innovation
supports the view that to try hard and
fail is perfectly fine. Yet, the Kerala
psyche has historically been averse to
blessing the risky venture. This attitude
transcends into the corporate arena
also. As IT needs frequent changes and
winds of competition sweep this
industry, the attitudes of the Keralaites
have to be tuned in a similar way.
Here arises the issue of intellectual
property. IP is not a purely economic
issue; it also has important cultural
dimensions. The economic angle can
be addressed with stronger patent laws
and punitive procedures. However, the
cultural angle will decide whether
such protection can be enforced
meaningfully. Addressing the cultural
angle is a challenge.
Knowledge and Education
One of the reasons for fall in quality
of our education is poor performance
in the advancement of higher
education especially in such areas as
is
engineering, medical and
management. Government investment
in higher education has not been able
to go up because of scarcity of
be
resources. This has affected the
provision of facilities, quality of
teachers and thrust in research. The
opening of self-financing colleges has
reduced the government's financial
liability, but cost of high quality
education has grown enormously
creating an imbalance in the society.
It is true that there is unemployment
but the frightening issue is there are
not enough qualified people for
advanced jobs. This is a matter of
serious concern calling for urgent
remedial action.
The challenge is to ensure that the
expanding higher education also
changes, not only to meet emerging
demands of different kinds but also
leads to creativity and innovation. It is
here that use of satellite technology,
remote- sensing, information and
communication technology (ICT) for
diffusion and management of
knowledge can play a very important
role as high-quality knowledge can be
made to reach a wide audience of
concerned persons, be it professionals
and millions of framers and in the case
of medicine and health, doctors,
patients and communities. The
emphasis on knowledge management,
diffusion and interaction using
modern technology has not come a
day too soon.
Apart from all other settings to
build a knowledge society and to be a
major player in a fiercely competitive
knowledge-driven world, we have
become innovators ourselves in
another area also. Significant
innovations have come up in free
software also. The government’s
position pronouncing categorically
that it sees free software as a unique
opportunity to build a truly egalitarian
knowledge society. 
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