The nature, tenor, creation, development and execution of technology, more so software and IT can send shivers down anyone’s spine. The sector I am talking about is the governance sector. It controls the commanding heights of the economy, and the lowest taxpayer as well, it also covers from national security to the MSME ease of business. If you find governance devoid of the magic sauce of operational and deliverable technology, we are in deep trouble. And that is exactly where we are. Either things don’t get executed and if they do, the results are at best truncated.
The project is declared to complete, so that there is no scope of getting back to the drawing board. You can literally find this streak even in the biggest of the government projects, which at one stage were euphemistically the Mission Mode Projects, on the Police we had the famed CCTNS project, you can take a call on how seamless this has made policing for all its stakeholders inclusive of the last man. How has the National Database on crime and criminals revolutionised policing? The project is of 2009 vintage, currently working under its new avatar; Interoperable Criminal Justice System.
Who heads tech in police, what is its nature of ownership, responsibility and accountability and he being conversant with the technology and having the wherewithal to make it happen. That apart, the* nitty gritty of tech remains nearly unknown* for the person who has the ownership to deliver. Software and tech are complex games are at the intersection of domain and technology. How many can pull it off? From the business logic to a seamless delivery of output ideally suited for the business requirement is what a head is tasked to deliver. Is he ready to head the tech to its logical conclusion?
Take the case of Indian Customs software / system, Advanced Pssenger Information System, no one how much of real business logic has gone into it. Was gold smuggling considered as a scenario? Then what data analytics, patterns and workable business intelligence it delivers? Has relevant iterations on a dynamic level become the norm? Is it acceptable that an advanced software can deliver patterns on known data points only after more that 30 trips to one location, besides lots of other travels? The people who are handling the software have made their tech numb, as they don’t know what they have to deliver. You might be knowing coding and can techless heads create, deliver and run worthwhile and high value tech solutions. Mostly functionless tech in no tech. What does it solve at the complex granular level. It speaks of a scary techless head. How do we proceed? The government is caught in a bind?
THE KNOT OF SOFTWARE / TECH NOT DELIVERING IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE DOMAIN, TO SORT OUT TILL THE COMPLEX GRANULAR ACTIONABLE OUTPUT, CAN BE SUICIDAL.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.