Welcome Remarks by Dr Arvind Gupta, Director VIF

Friends,

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you. Today we have with us Prof M Jagadesh Kumar, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University to deliver a talk on ‘Technology for Sustainable Development’. We are grateful to the Vice Chancellor for finding time from his busy schedule to interact with us on a subject of great importance.

Prof Jagadesh Kumar became the Vice Chancellor of the University in Jan 2016. He is on lien from the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi where he still teaches. He obtained his MS and Ph.D degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras. He did his post doctoral research with Prof David J Roulston, a renowned scientist at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada. Prof Jagadesh Kumar works in the area of Nano electronic Devices, nano-scale device modeling and simulation, innovative device design and power semiconductor devices and has published extensively in the above areas. Six patent applications have been filed based on his research.

Friends, the progress of civilisation has always been underpinned by the advances in technologies. Technology has been in integral part of the evolution of civilizations. In the contemporary era, technology is the key driver of globalisation. Technology has two sides to it. On the one hand, it has helped the mankind to improve its material wellbeing, on the other, it has also created instruments of destruction like the weapon of mass destruction. Technology has major impact on society and social behavior. In India, technology is being used to improve governance and for improving the wellbeing of the people. India needs more use of technology to solve its major problems.

But questions about technology remain. The debate about the impact of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data on jobs and privacy has became universal. In view of a leading world leader, ‘the one who rules data, will rule the world’. There is also a risk of technological divide which can further deepen the digital divide. Emergence of large data driver platforms like the e-commerce platforms raise questions about their impact on the control of the entire value chain of the economy ranging from production to consumption. Is this sustainable development, we might ask.

But technology has another dimension – its impact on the environment. Modern production processes, based on the technologies of last couple of centuries have had on the whole a negative impact on the environment. The emergence of climate changes as existential threat is directly related to the use of fossil fuel based technologies. On the whole environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity as a result of modern method of production based on latest technology is a major issue. The question today is how can technology helps in making development sustainable? Access and affordability is a major issue.

Technology can help make development sustainable. It can make a huge difference in the lives of people in the areas of food and agriculture, health, education, energy, transportation, housing and environment. World Economic Forum’s top 10 technologies have a clean environmental and social focus, i.e energy efficiency, water purification, precise drug delivery, nano-scale engineering, organic electronics and photovoltaic. Investment in clean technologies is also increasing. This included $ 2 trillion in renewable energy, green construction, green R&D, smart grids and energy efficiency.

Frontier technologies pose trust and ethical questions. However, technology alone cannot overcome these problems by itself. Technology is a necessary condition for sustainable development but one also needs financial resources, a conducive business environment, a culture of innovation, and over all good governance. For developing countries affordability and access to technologies is also a major issue.

How should India deal with the challenge of sustainable development and what role can technology pay in this is a matter of great importance. Today, Prof Jagadesh Kumar will talk to us about some of these issues.

I request Prof Kumar to deliver his talk.