It would sound like a weird question, it can become crazier, if I were to ask, are we in both post tech and post governance age? The question is neither nagging nor is it a riddle. This is the reality which we face day in and day out, something very similar to the post truth age. Either the tech has failed us or the governance is not in a position to create tech solutions and utilise it for the benefit of the task, sector, enterprise or domain concerned on a sustainable basis, delivering visible and value added results on a day to day basis. The tech czars and the political executive have already declared that the tech ram rajya is already here and we bloom to our fullest potential.
The powers that be have already declared that we are at the cusp of the DeepSeek moment. The Sputnik watershed moment of the yesteryears. Things cannot be more distant from reality. We can start from the Silicon Valley of India, which is supposedly the tech powerhouse of the world. Can Computer Vision (cameras) not track the potholes and the conditions of the roads, at an dynamic real time level, with data, patterns and visualisations to help assist decision making. Have we even thought of it? Does technology have no solutions for pavements misuse and road spaces being parcelled for personal parking / misuse etc Gods have told us that public domain cameras can be used only for lowest end traffic work and not even for video surveillance.
The dual reality of AI enabled cameras / systems and the Swiggy model of driving coexist paradoxically on Bangalore roads. No lane discipline or any traffic discipline for that matter, including bikers / autos jumping traffic lights are already making a mockery of AI. The traffic lights more often than not are also run on the whims and fancies of the Traffic Police, reasons notwithstanding. From the time hospital bed management software fiasco of the Covid times to the current eKhata servers hanging in midair, it is the same BBMP story. There are no timelines for services and their quality, only the property tax has to be paid in time. Why can’t we have a service level agreement with the BBMP.
While the stories can be endless in Bangalore itself, yet some notable examples from outside will make the issue better understandable. With reference to the Ranya Rao Gold Smuggling Case, does it take three dozen visits of non-normal type for the DRI / Customs to find a pattern? What is the tech / database interface between immigration and customs? Have they ever worked on the business logic, rules based enablement and requirement based integration of the stakeholders systems? What high end analytics cameras are capable of at the airports is firstly not known, now the whole system is suspect. AI enabled cameras in MahaKumbh 2025 could not give numbers of the dead during or after the stampede. What use were the cameras and other technologies of at the time of the world record breaking traffic gridlock. Heavy on exchequer, high end decorative technologies, that is where we have brought these technologies too. The Infosys Income Tax project manifests what government IT projects really are. Our tryst with tech is not going in our favour.
HOW FAR CAN WE GO WITH NON-TECHNOCRAT DECISION MAKERS? THE PRESENT DISPENSATION BROUGHT US WHERE THEY COULD.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.