Between the Bytes

Revitalising a languishing society

Val Souza

At the beginning of last month, I was at an IT conference which, in terms of content, I would rate as one of the best I’ve attended in a long time. Unless you were there too it would be almost impossible to guess that the conference I’m referring to is the 39th national convention of the Computer Society of India, CSI 2004. Surprised? Well, so was I.

For, if you’ve been around the Indian computer industry for a while, you probably belong to that vast majority of IT professionals who have written off the CSI as a fast-fading association that’s an irrelevant anachronism today, ill-equipped to cater to the changing needs of the fraternity. Perish the thought. As the only body in the country representing individual computer users and professionals, the relevance and importance of the CSI can only grow as computer penetration slowly but surely deepens in this country.

A handful of dedicated individuals from the Mumbai Chapter of the CSI proved what’s possible when determined and capable minds work together as a team. As a result of their efforts, CSI 2004 has become the benchmark against which all future technical conferences will be measured. [Disclaimer: Although I am on the managing committee of CSI Mumbai, I had no role to play in organising CSI 2004, nor do I intend to stand for any elections of the CSI in the near future.]

Despite the success of CSI 2004, and the great work being done by many of the body’s regional chapters, the CSI continues to suffer from a poor image at the national level. Its voice is never heard when IT-related policy issues come up for discussion, it’s nowhere in the picture when user interests and causes need to be championed, it’s conspicuous by its official absence on national IT committees of any sort.

Why has this happened? It would be futile and perhaps even dangerous to try and attribute the decline to one, two or several of myriad possible reasons. Instead, based on discussions with several senior members of the industry, and also drawing from my own experience and observations, I would like to suggest a five-point priority plan to help restore this august body to its erstwhile glory.

• Energise the Executive Committee: The national execom of the CSI has been particularly ineffective in the last few years in projecting the CSI beyond its existing confines, and asserting the CSI opinion on national IT matters and policies. Self-serving deadwood that has wormed its way up the hierarchy is sapping the strength of other dedicated branches that are struggling to make a positive impact. The only solution is to galvanise many more members into making the effort to elect a conscientious execom, and then supporting this committee with a carefully-selected full-time, professional management team.
• Expand the scope of the charter: As a professional society, the CSI charter that defines its goals as “scientific and educational, directed towards the advancement of the theory and practice of computer science, computer engineering and technology, systems science and engineering…” is a noble one indeed. But the time has now come to expand the scope beyond the boundaries of R&D and academia, and shift the focus to address the more relevant and practical issues of effective IT implementation in the real world.
• Sign on new members aggressively: The CSI claims a membership of 18,000. Small as this number is, one can only speculate on what fraction of the membership is active or ever participates in the activities of the society. In fact, every IT company and user department should be urged to make all employees members of the CSI.
• Form Special Interest groups: This is a no-brainer, really. With experts from almost every area of IT amongst its ranks, the CSI could easily form committed and influential working groups covering topics such as security, IT governance, affordable computing, cyber law, etc. The CSI would then have the voice it now sorely lacks in positively influencing the evolution of computer usage in this country.
• Cater to all levels of professionals and users: As a user body, the CSI needs to pay attention to all categories of professionals involved in computer usage—researchers, academicians, developers, technicians, CIOs, CTOs, IT department personnel and non-technical corporate users. Further, the CSI would be doing the country a great service if it could take up the difficult task of bringing small and medium enterprises into its fold, and conducting special events to help and advise them on the best approach to rapid and effective computerisation.

Of course there’s much more that India’s oldest IT association can do once the adrenaline is steadily pumping through its veins once again. Domestic IT usage needs a significant boost if India is to reap the benefits of rapidly advancing information technology. And the CSI is perhaps best positioned to help make this happen faster. Arise and walk, O infirm Society—we need you to work some miracles for us all.

Val Souza, Consulting Editor

valsouza@expresscomputeronline.com