TRDDC honoured by President Kalam’s visit

His Excellency, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India addresses the gathering

On 17 January 2007, TCS was honoured to receive the His Excellency, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India. The visit by the President to TCS marked the culmination of a series of events, seminars, and lectures held to celebrate the silver jubilee celebrations of the Tata Research Development and Design Centre (TRDDC), and also the inauguration of TCS’s Co-Innovation Network (COIN).

At a press conference held at Hotel Taj Blue Diamond, Pune, before the President’s visit, Professor Mathai Joseph, Executive Director of TRDDC and EVP, TCS, said: “TRDDC has had a long history of driving new business initiatives for TCS through innovation and R&D in software engineering. Our tool-sets and accelerators have helped to increase automation in code generation and have enabled TCS to deliver excellence to its customers globally.”


Professor Mathai Joseph, Executive Director of TRDDC and EVP addressing the press conference. With him are CEO and MD, Mr. S. Ramadorai and Mr K. Ananthkrishnan, Chief Technology Officer, TCS

Mr K. Ananthkrishnan, Chief Technology Officer, TCS, said, “The COIN partners have already started working to deliver joint solutions in new technology areas and (these) will be deployed in the market in the next financial year, 2007-08, in areas like collaborative computing and SaaS,” said “Some of these solutions are in the market already such as Next Generation Software Methodology, Utility Computing and Bio-Informatics.”

 

In the Nyati Tiara building’s auditorium, an eager audience, comprising TCS’s former Deputy Chairman, Dr Faqir Chand Kohli, the Founder Director of TRDDC, Dr E.C. Subbarao, the TCS Senior Management, TRDDC Scientists, and also nine school students, who were the Pune finalists of the recently held IT Quiz 2006, awaited the arrival of the President. At 4 PM, the President entered the auditorium, followed by Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons, Mr. S. Ramadorai, and Professor Mathai Joseph.


The President flanked by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on his right and Mr. Ratan N. Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons on his left

Mr. Tata welcomed the President and briefly spoke about TRDDC’s establishment, 25 years ago. The idea, according to Mr. Tata, was to establish a research centre that did not confine itself to IT alone, but that would work “for the betterment of mankind in one form or the other”. He went on to state, “The greatest asset that we have in the country is the keen minds of our people and those minds should be challenged to go through new paths that have not been traversed before”.

 

After welcoming the President, Mr. S. Ramadorai spoke about TRDDC and “The TCS Co-Innovation Network (that) will set a new standard for collaboration in R&D and is a key strategic component of the new enterprise-wide innovation program initiated by TCS last year.”

He went on to discuss the TCS innovation model, that started in Pune 25 years ago and that has been replicated across the enterprise. He mentioned that currently there are six such TCS Corporate Innovation Centres, in Pune, Hyderabad (2), Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi working on diverse areas like life sciences, software-as-a-service, business process agility, semantic multimedia and natural language interfaces. In addition, TCS also has 19 domain and service-focused Innovation Labs across the globe. TCS Innovation Labs are also committed to developing and building new domain-specific solutions using new technology areas to address customer pain points.


The President inaugurating the Co-Innovation Network

The President then formally inaugurated the TCS Co-Innovation Network. The dignitaries and the distinguished audience then watched a short film on TRDDC and the Co-Innovation Network.

The President’s speech, accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation, was an intellectual journey into the future paths of science and technology in India. In his speech, the topics discussed were: the convergence of technologies (Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Biotechnology and Nanotechnology), whether the computer can challenge the human brain, the Indo-Russian co-developed BRAHMOS missiles, the World Knowledge Platform and its missions (energy, water, healthcare, food preservation, knowledge products and automobiles) the Pan-African Network, and developing a global human resource cadre.

Having earlier mentioned with admiration the Tata Group Founder, Mr. Jamshedji Tata, as a role model, President Kalam shared his views on “…where Tatas should focus in automobiles, steel and ICT, in the coming decades.” The President’s speech ended with the words: “Once again let me greet all the members of Tata Research, Development and Design Centre on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee celebrations. My best wishes to all of you in your mission of promoting scientific discoveries, technological inventions and innovations for societal transformation.”

The President expressed his pleasure at finding the front rows in the auditorium occupied by the school students, stating that it was a welcome deviation from the norm, where one would expect to find the corporate seniors sitting in the front rows with the school students relegated to the back seats! President Kalam then graciously answered questions from the audience (see box).

After Mr Ramadorai’s vote of thanks and the presentation of the book Research by Design to the President, Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Mr Tata, the National Anthem was sung once again. The President’s friendly demeanour and intellectual vibrancy had captivated the audience.


The gathering singing the National Anthem

Questions and Answers Session with 
His Excellency, Dr. A.P.J. Kalam, President of India

Prem Ayyathuria (Shamrao Kalmadi School, Pune)

1. How long will the IT boom sustain India's development? Will it wear out eventually?

Ans: IT is a tool which is applied in multiple disciplines. For example, IT and bio-technology becomes bio-informatics, IT and communications becomes ICT. IT is applied in tele-medicine and tele-education. In view of its application in multiple technologies, its growth potential is very high.


 Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam being questioned by one of the school children

Gautam Sondur (Army Public School)

2. Can you give us an idea of the national and scientific importance of the Chandrayan mission?

Ans: Nationally we are going to face a shortage of many materials since the fossil materials of the world are depleting. The moon and the asteroids have tremendous potential of materials. For example, the lunar surface is expected to have a large quantity of helium, whereas the asteroids have different material. To harness these materials, space missions are important. The Chandrayan programme is a geological and atmospheric survey of the moon for identification of resources.

Dr. B.P. Gautham (TRDDC Metallurgist)

3. Most of the academic research work in India is done in very small groups. This makes it difficult to attempt to solve grand problems. What can be done by the government and by industry bodies to create an environment in which large and difficult problems can be addressed?

Ans: The scientific community has to become virtual. They should see the experimental results, exchange ideas, and work out solutions collectively through virtual conference. This will enable participation of large groups for undertaking and solving complex scientific problems.

Deepali Kholkar (TRDDC Computer Scientist)

4. How can we as scientists ensure that no child in our country suffers for lack of nutrition and healthcare, especially very young children?

Ans: Research should lead to the development of seeds for rice and wheat which have the required nutrition embedded in them. Simultaneously, research should also lead to the development of clean water using nano filters.

Shri R Venkatesh (TRDDC Computer Scientist)

5. What are your views on having a National programme to apply technology to make quality primary education accessible to rural children?

Ans: For primary education, creativity has to be the focus up to the age of 14. The education should enable the creativity of the children to blossom. That means the syllabus should change. I am working with the Ministry of Human Resource Development and NCERT. We can create virtual classrooms where the children can see for themselves various activities taking place in various places and learn. Technology can help in this by tele-education.