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led to the revival of technology and expertise, and brought
the realisation that for the future of the world, “deep
knowledge and deep technology” are required, Infosys co-
founder Nandan Nilekani said on Sunday.
He said that during the ongoing crisis, digital and
medical technologies stood out, which enabled people to work
from home, among other things, and helped in dealing with the
virus by developing better tests, drugs, and vaccines.
Nilekani also expressed happiness over the innovations
in the field of vaccination, especially in India, and said
that by the first half of 2021, vaccine-induced herd immunity
can be achieved and things will start going back to normal.
The former Unique Identification Authority of India
(UIDAI) chairman was addressing the graduating students of
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar at its ninth
convocation through video conferencing.
“Technology is now becoming central to our world. When
you look at this crisis, two things stand out: one is digital
technology, and the fact that we are able to at least continue
many of the things that we do, thanks to the tools like video
conferencing, digitisation, e-commerce, and other online
tools. And a large number of us are able to do this and work
from home,” he said.
“Another very important technology, which is now
becoming apparent to the world, is technology of medicines.
Whether it is developing better tests so we can get quicker,
faster results, whether it is getting drugs that can treat
people who have got COVID-19 or creating the vaccines that can
permanently get us out of the situation, technology is at the
heart of it all,” he said.
“And in some sense, therefore, this crisis has led to
the revival of technology and the revival of expertise. For
some time now, all over the world, expertise has got
diminished, and everybody who is on WhatsApp is an expert.
“But now we realise that that for the future of the
world, the future of the society, deep knowledge and deep
technology is required, and that is what is going to save us
in the end,” Nilekani said.
He added that work from home could only become
possible because of digital technology, the rise of the
internet, big cloud operations, smart phones, and so on.
“Imagine if this (pandemic) had happened 20 years
back, then we would not have been able to do anything. So,
technology is actually what has helped us to do even the
modicum of work we do in normal times,” he said.
Nilekani said he is excited to see a large number of
innovations happening in the areas of vaccination.
“India itself has many companies…at least seven
companies that manufacture vaccines. And India can rightly be
called the vaccine capital of the world.
“And I am sure that both the vaccine manufacturing and
R&D (research and development) in India will ensure that by
early next year we have millions and millions of vaccines
which we can start deploying,” he said.
“And certainly I think in the first half of 2021, we
will be able to have vaccine-induced herd immunity and things
start going back to normal life,” Nilekani said, adding that
the crisis will eventually pass.
“It is really your attitude, your sense of the future
which will give you the confidence to continue what you will
do, and surely we will emerge from this crisis,” he said,
while also advising the graduates to continue learning as a
life-long process.
During the virtual convocation ceremony, a total of
455 students- 173 of BTech course, 115 of MTech, 84 MSc, 19
MA, 55 PhD, seven PGDIIT, one BTech-MTech dual degree student,
and one BTech-MSc dual degree student- were conferred symbolic
degrees. PTI KA
NP NP
Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PTI
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