Technology to help the community

BANGALORE: “The country has made a big mistake by keeping academics away from the press because of which much of the development in technology could not reach the general public," said Digvijay Singh, former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh at the inauguration of International Conference on Frontiers of Computer Science, organised by Atria Institute of Technology at J N Tata Convention Centre, IISc, Bangalore.Taking a dig at the critics, he said that it was late Rajiv Gandhi who had a better vision of the future computer technology and wanted to introduce computers in the 80s. "The people criticised him for his idea. But today, whatever India is, it is because of the major contributions of IT Industry," he added.Appreciating the initiative taken by the Atria Institute of Technology in organising the conference, he stressed that the institution should be more focused on applied research than basic research.He cited the example of the reach of mobile telephony even to the remotest villages and added that this should help growth of knowledge among users and only then the technology would help the community.Delivering the key note address on the occasion, Padma Bhushan Dr V Rajaraman, Honorary Professor, IISc, Bangalore spoke on the several breakthroughs in the field of computer technology. He said that the conference is in the right direction and wished the participants including students would derive a greater benefit and strive to reach the technological development to the common masses.Dr P R Anandan, director, Microsoft Research India, spoke on the Frontiers of Computer Science like data, social, science and sensing.C S Sunder Raju, MD, Atria Convergence Technology said, “This conference is a pointer towards transition of Atria Institute of Technology from pure academics to research and development.” Principal Dr M S Shivakumar welcomed the gathering. A S Chinnaswamy Raju, managing trustee of the institute, announced that his family has set apart 17 acres of prime land that will be developed into higher education and research hub.During the three-day conference as many as 100 research papers would be presented in three concurrent sessions.More than 500 participants from India and abroad will be deliberating during the three days.”