Look forward to this app!
Take it from the gurus: An app that traces India’s IT history
By Rakesh Prakash, Bangalore Mirror Bureau | Apr 17, 2016
This initiative, which launches today, has video narratives from industry veterans
In a first of its kind initiative, 44 technologists have come together to virtually walk you through the milestones in the evolution of India's information technology (IT), the sector that catapulted the country to its current position of power.
The project, a brainchild of Infosys co-founder and former CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan, chronicles the Indian IT sector and will be rolled out in the form of a mobile app titled Itihaasa on Sunday.
Itihaasa, which means history in most Indian languages, will have video chapters from the mainframe era to the current mobile age - each of these explained by an industry veteran.
Some of the important personalities featured in this unique initiative are FC Kohli, who is regarded as the father of the Indian IT industry and founder of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS); Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy; Wipro group chairman Azim Premji; the 'father of India's computer education' Prof V Rajaraman; Nasscom president R Chandrashekhar; educationist Prof HN Mahabala; and the former bureaucrat N Vittal, among others.
Explaining the concept of Itihaasa, Gopalakrishnan stated in his blog: "The IT industry has played a seminal role in shaping modern industrial India. This industry is the largest private sector employer with about 3.5 million employees and in 2015, the total revenue of the industry was about $146 billion. In the past few years, the proliferation of IT and IT-enabled startups have made India the third largest and fastest growing startup hub in the world."
"Indeed, we have come a long way, but how did it all start? When did the first modern computer come to India? When was programming first taught in India and how did education in computer science evolve? How did India embark on a journey to manufacture computers and software? Who were the earliest IT entrepreneurs? What were the policies that shaped the industry? How did the industry grow?" he writes.
Gopalakrishnan explained that these were the questions the project endeavored to answer.
The work on it started a year ago. Assisted by Krishnan Narayanan and N Dayasindhu, the team tapped various sources including the archives of the Indian Institute of Science, IIT-Madras, The Times of India, Infosys, and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, among other sources, to chronicle the happenings in the IT industry.
Rare pictures from the mainframe computer era were collated and interviews with the architects of the IT sector were conducted.
"I am happy to say that we found answers to all these questions and discovered a whole new dimension to India," stated Gopalakrishnan.
Itihaasa traces the journey of the first modern computer that landed in the Indian Statistical Institute (Kolkata) in 1955; how IIT-Kanpur acquired its first computer in 1963 and started offering programming courses; how the other IITs and colleges joined the bandwagon, and how those who graduated from these institutions went on to lay the foundation for the country's IT industry.
The resource traces the journey from the 1960s to the current era, explaining the people and policies behind the growth of the IT sector. It also gives a peek into the future of the digital era.
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bang...es-Indias-IT-history/articleshow/51858876.cms
Take it from the gurus: An app that traces India’s IT history
By Rakesh Prakash, Bangalore Mirror Bureau | Apr 17, 2016
This initiative, which launches today, has video narratives from industry veterans
In a first of its kind initiative, 44 technologists have come together to virtually walk you through the milestones in the evolution of India's information technology (IT), the sector that catapulted the country to its current position of power.
The project, a brainchild of Infosys co-founder and former CEO Kris Gopalakrishnan, chronicles the Indian IT sector and will be rolled out in the form of a mobile app titled Itihaasa on Sunday.
Itihaasa, which means history in most Indian languages, will have video chapters from the mainframe era to the current mobile age - each of these explained by an industry veteran.
Some of the important personalities featured in this unique initiative are FC Kohli, who is regarded as the father of the Indian IT industry and founder of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS); Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy; Wipro group chairman Azim Premji; the 'father of India's computer education' Prof V Rajaraman; Nasscom president R Chandrashekhar; educationist Prof HN Mahabala; and the former bureaucrat N Vittal, among others.
Explaining the concept of Itihaasa, Gopalakrishnan stated in his blog: "The IT industry has played a seminal role in shaping modern industrial India. This industry is the largest private sector employer with about 3.5 million employees and in 2015, the total revenue of the industry was about $146 billion. In the past few years, the proliferation of IT and IT-enabled startups have made India the third largest and fastest growing startup hub in the world."
"Indeed, we have come a long way, but how did it all start? When did the first modern computer come to India? When was programming first taught in India and how did education in computer science evolve? How did India embark on a journey to manufacture computers and software? Who were the earliest IT entrepreneurs? What were the policies that shaped the industry? How did the industry grow?" he writes.
Gopalakrishnan explained that these were the questions the project endeavored to answer.
The work on it started a year ago. Assisted by Krishnan Narayanan and N Dayasindhu, the team tapped various sources including the archives of the Indian Institute of Science, IIT-Madras, The Times of India, Infosys, and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, among other sources, to chronicle the happenings in the IT industry.
Rare pictures from the mainframe computer era were collated and interviews with the architects of the IT sector were conducted.
"I am happy to say that we found answers to all these questions and discovered a whole new dimension to India," stated Gopalakrishnan.
Itihaasa traces the journey of the first modern computer that landed in the Indian Statistical Institute (Kolkata) in 1955; how IIT-Kanpur acquired its first computer in 1963 and started offering programming courses; how the other IITs and colleges joined the bandwagon, and how those who graduated from these institutions went on to lay the foundation for the country's IT industry.
The resource traces the journey from the 1960s to the current era, explaining the people and policies behind the growth of the IT sector. It also gives a peek into the future of the digital era.
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bang...es-Indias-IT-history/articleshow/51858876.cms
