… the very technology that is cause of the problem, can be used to correct it too .. Artificial Intelligence can help social media platforms spot lies, identify doctored videos and photographs and track the dissemination of falsehoods by domestic and foreign users .. Social media companies can be persuaded, covertly or overtly, to cooperate with the national security apparatus …
China’s journey from being an agrarian economy to one of the largest economies with a strong military and cyber capabilities is commendable. However, its military and cyber capabilities are built upon relentless efforts to steal critical military and technical information of other countries, mainly the United States (US). Leading Chinese companies, including one of the telecom giants—Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (hereafter Huawei), are taking advantage of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects to access the competitive neighbourhood nations.
“A Chinese company bought Magnequench,” “Not only did the jobs go to China, but so did the intellectual property and the technological know-how to make those magnets…. I’m not comfortable with the fact that we now have to buy magnets for our bombs from China,” said the exasperated Senator Hillary Clinton in a speech in Pittsburgh on April 14, 2008.
Commercial and military operations at sea and ashore across the globe are in the throes of technological and organisational transformation led by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies. These are impacting every aspect of the maritime industry necessitating `up-skilling, reskilling and retooling`. Industry leaders recognize the importance of 4IR and are adopting innovative models for their operations.
Science and Technology (S&T) has assumed great salience in India’s development and security matrix. In last few years’ policy initiatives like Make-in-India, Start-up-India and Digital India Programme have further given an impetus to this thought process. However, to fully grasp the development of S&T in India, we must understand it from a historical perspective. This is where the foundation of these policies and structures rests.
The Vivekananda International Foundation organized a seminar to discuss a VIF taskforce report on STEM education in India launched in 2019. The report, titled, “Towards More Effective Education: Emergence of STEM Education in India” was written under the Chairmanship of Prof KK Aggarwal, Chairman, National Board of Accreditation. This report which is available on the VIF website was discussed in a follow up session, organised jointly by the VIF and Association of Indian Universities on 05 February 2020.
5G is an investment for the next decade. It is not just a game changer; it is likely emerge as a General Purpose Technology (GPT). 5G mobile will move from being a consumer device to an industrial productivity and efficiency tool, with billions of IoT devices connected seamlessly for transformative applications in all sectors of economies and governance models. Smart cities, hospitals, manufato cturing, agriculture, and transport will get transformed with ultra-fast data throughputs, and near zero latency, which will unleash the potential of AI and ML in all these sectors.
On 17th January 2020, Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) held its monthly ‘Vimarsha’ lecture series on the important subject of India’s Space Programme. Dr A.S Kiran Kumar, former Chairman ISRO, was invited to speak on the opportunities, challenges and perspectives on Indian Space missions. Dr Kiran Kumar is presently Vikram Sarabhai Prof at ISRO and a member at Space Commission as well as Governing Council of Indian Institute of Science.
On 8 January 2020, the Vivekananda International Foundation organised a roundtable on Global Nuclear Developments and India’s Policy challenges. Dr Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF, opened the floor by laying the purpose of the roundtable, which is to analyse the global nuclear environment and how India should respond to it. Nuclear developments I 2019 indicate that the nuclear arms race has started again and arms control agreements are collapsing.
Development of Social Media (SM) is a relatively new phenomenon. Between 2004 and 2014, all 22 of the world’s biggest Social Media (SM) networks were developed and launched. The Facebook was the first to be started on February 4, 2004. Rapid global increase in mobile telephone usage helped the growth of SM. SM can be fun, exciting, entertaining and useful for maintaining relationships. For marketing, managing their public image, connect with customers and solicit ideas and feedback people can use social media websites for professional reasons.