This coming Wednesday, Microsoft Research is inaugurating its sixth lab, in Bangalore, India. It's going to be a small operation, but as I said last month, we're pretty excited about the opportunity to explore some projects in collaboration with the Indian research community.
Over the holidays I was reading up on India, and I read a book called "India 2020" which was written in 1998 by A P J Abdul Kalam. In 1998, Kalam was one of the most distinguished scientists in India and a key figure in the nation's space program. Today, Kalam is the President of India.
The premise of the book is simple: what would it take to convert India from a "developing nation" to a "developed nation" in 20 years? Kalam sets out some general principles, then walks through a number of different topics -- including technology, food, agriculture, chemical/biological industries, manufacturing, services, and healthcare -- and discusses exactly what India needs to do in order to reach a par with other developed nations.
Kalam establishes himself in this book as a broad thinker, and a true Indian patriot and visionary. It's also clear that he's amazingly knowledgable on a wide variety of topics. The book is written to appeal to the Indian mass market, so most topics are explained at a fairly rudimentary level with an assumption of almost no background; for those with some background, it can seem a bit simplistic and tiresome, but on the other hand that makes the book a quick read.
Why is it that India and China revere their scientists and engineers and choose them to lead their countries, and we here in the West stereotype ours to be goofy, propeller-headed academics with no connection to reality? I read the never-ending discussions on Slashdot, on Groklaw, and on Larry Lessig's blog about patent, copyright and other intellectual property legal issues that technology has brough to the surface; and while I often disagree with the views expressed on those fora, I am dismayed at the complete absence of anyone in office in D.C.who has any depth of understanding of these issues. Whatever happened to reason, debate, and sound judgment? What would have to happen in order to get the smartest, best-educated people leading our government instead of career politicians and lobbyists? If India and China can do it, can't we???
10:40:18 PM  ; ;
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