AMITY UNIVERSITY RAJASTHAN

PRESENTED BY :- SHASHI PRATAP SINGH

B.A.(Hons.) - ECONOMICS

3rd SEMESTER

INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS

POLICY ISSUES AND FUTURE PROSPECTS IN TECHNOLOGY

Introduction

• Science and technology is the basis of economic progress. The role played by technology in simulation of growth and development in emerging market is quite profound.

• New technologies and smart applications have become prevalent.• The Internet has brought about a global communication explosion.• Information technology has brought great revolution in international trade.• Technology has improved the efficiency of labour and reduced the cost of production.• It had improved the quality of goods and services.• The use and development of technology must relate to the people’s aspirations• India’s need-Technological self-reliance, an improvement in the conditions of the

weakest sections of the population and the speedy development of backward regions.

Background

• Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, initiated reforms to promote higher education, science and technology in India.• He aimed “to convert India’s economy into that of a modern state and to fit her into

the nuclear age and do it quickly.• Nehru’s Planning Commission fixed investment levels, prescribed priorities,

divided funds between agriculture and industry, and the federal governments.• In order to promote technical education, IIT was inaugurated on 18 August 1951 at

Kharaghpur by the minister of education Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.• Education-provide by the government of India- was made free and compulsory up

to the age of 14 and more emphasis was paid to the enhancement of vocational and technical skills.

In India, more than 75 percent of total S&T funding, including gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) comes from the government. Government policies plays a crucial role in the development of S&T.There are four different phases of S&T policy:-

1. Political-bureaucratic2. Industrial-market 3. Academic 4. Civic

Political-Bureaucratic

• Historical roots of this policy traced back to the centralized S&T decision-making processes establishes by British colonial administration.• Pandit Nehru is credited for having forged an important alliance with the

scientific elite.• In post-independence period, the tacit alliance between this scientific elite

and the political leadership come to dominate the decision-making system in India.• Dominated by science departments, councils, advisory bodies,

committees, and science agencies, where technocracy controls the S&T budgets and take major decision relating to S&T in consultation with government of the day.

Industrial-Market

• Dominated by private business and market interests.

• Represented by bodies such as Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers and Commerce (FICCI).

• Emphasizes entrepreneurship, use of knowledge in businesses, liberal policies for technology transfer and tariff concessions for local industrial firms.

• By and large market-related criterion are adopted for assigning priorities in R&D.

Academic

• The academic community and its elite play a crucial role in setting priorities in science.

• The concern of this policy culture was maintenance of autonomy and scientific excellence.

• Emphasizes the importance of science as a profession, and of scientific communities, a disciplinary-bound science, peer evaluation in scientific decision-making, and the importance of universities.

Civic

• Civic culture articulates its position through public interest organization as well as through campaigns and movements.

• The civic culture in S&T is represented by various groups and movements. In the environment and ecological field, movements led by Baba Amte, S. Bahuguna, Medha Patkar etc. provide good example.

• Historical roots of such civic involvement can be traced to the efforts of M.K. Gandhi and the Gandhian-based Sarvodaya Movement, with regard to the application of S&T for development.

Technology Policy Of India

• First introduced in 1983• Clearly define systems for the choice of technology, taking into account-

Economic social and cultural factors along with technical considerationsIndigenous development and support to technology, and utilization of such

technologyAcquisition of technology through import and its subsequent absorptionAdaptation and upgradationEnsuring competitiveness at international levels in all necessary areasEstablishing links between the various elements concerned with generation of

technology, its transformation into economically utilizable form, the sector responsible for production, financial institutions concerned with the resources needed for these activities, and the promotional and regulating arms of the Government.

Changing Phases Of National Policies In S&T

India’s Scientific Policy Resolution of 1958 resolved to “foster, promote and sustain” the cultivation of science and

scientific research in all its aspects.

The Technology Policy Statement of 1983 emphasized the need to attain technological competence and self-reliance, reduce vulnerability and make use of indigenous resources.

The Draft Technology Policy of 1993 aimed to strengthen the Indian

economy and to assist the nation in fulfilling its role in the global

economic environment. It also emphasized on need to decentralize

S&T system.

The S&T Policy of 2003 brought science and technology together

and emphasized the need for investment in R&D.

The guiding vision of aspiring Indian Science, Technology and Innovation Policy,2013 enterprise is to accelerate the pace of discovery and delivery of science-led solutions for faster, sustainable and inclusive growth. A strong and viable Science, Research and Innovation System for High Technology-led path for India (SRISTHI) is the goal of the new STI policy. The policy looks to encourage an ecosystem that is conducive for innovation and helps in achieving sustainable growth.The policy also looks to create ways for converting results of R&D related practices into applications.

Current Challenges

• Non-conducive education system• Poor infrastructure facilities in rural areas• Risk aversion among entrepreneurs• Inadequate protection of intellectual property rights• Difficult and lengthy funding procedures• Inadequate funding in R&D• Fragmented policy and policy implementation

Government Initiatives

The central government plans to develop the first publicly

accessible S&T policy- “Vision S&T 2020” that would bring

country’s future towards self-reliance and technological

independence.

National Council Of Science Museums (NCMS) is engaged in

the establishment of Science Centres across the country.

The space budget includes funds for Aditya-1, India’s first satellite to study the sun, and is intended

to launch after 2017.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced funds for two more

IIT centres and five more medical schools in AIIMS system.

The Ministry of Science and Technology received Rs 95 billion

in the Union Budget 2015-16

Major Achievements in Science and Technology

• The gross budgetary support for the S&T sector has significantly increased during the last decade.• India accounts for about 10% of all expenditure on R&D in Asia and the number of scientific publications

grew by 45% over the past five years.• India ranks 9th globally in the number of scientific publications and 12th in the number of patents filed.• India, together with China, Iran, South Africa and Brazil are the only developing countries among 31 nations

with 97.5% of the world’s total scientific productivity.• India's IT industry is regarded as a hub of innovators providing world class technology solutions across the

globe.• The country has regularly undertaken space missions, including missions to the moon and the famed PSLV.• Mangalyaan (Mars Orbiter Mission) was launched on 5 November 2013 by ISRO, making ISRO the fourth

space agency to reach Mars and the first Asian nation to reach Mars Orbit, and the first nation to do so on its first attempt.

• Indian car manufacturer, Tata has developed and produced the Tata Nano car using frugal engineering to produce “the cheapest car in the world” in 2012.