Beyond Information Technology


Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics        At present the Indian market is 2.5 per cent of the global market in Bioinformatics but India has the potential to capture 5 per cent of the global share. India’s advantage lies in the wealth of intellectual manpower, which can create mathematical models, the skill and technology to convert these models into software and the academic talent to design and deploy new algorithms. Like IT, India enjoys certain advantages in Bioinformatics such as:

• Low operational costs
• Skilled human resource base in IT and Biosciences
• Abundance of raw material in the form of plant, animal and human genetic diversity
• Tax incentives from Government (at par with IT)

Microelectronics and Nanotechnology

Microelectronics and Nanotechnology       Recognising microelectronics as the core area for development and growth of Information Technology industry in the country, the Microelectronics Development Programme was initiated in the late 1980s. The thrust of the programme has been to build a strong R&D, industrial and highly trained manpower base and encourage entrepreneurship. India has already emerged as a leading global destination for VLSI Design and is at the threshold of attracting global foundries.

       Nanotechnology, a nascent and disruptive interdisciplinary technology, is expected to impact everything man-made and usher a new industrial revolution in coming years and has been recognised as a thrust area world-over. The Nanotechnology Development Programme, with main thrust being in the area of electronics, was initiated in 2004. The plan is to create infrastructure for research in nano electronics and nano metrology at national level and also to fund small and medium level research projects in specific areas such as nanomaterials, nanodevices, carbon nano tubes (CNT), nanosystems etc.

Photonics

Photonics        Photonics has emerged as the key driver of modern convergent technologies and communications systems. The Department of IT has taken several leads in the area for rapid growth of this sector. The initiatives included starting specific R&D efforts, leveraging the on-going projects and measures to boost local industry. India in comparison to other locations ranks high in several critical parameters including, level of government support, quality of the labor pool, English language skills, cost advantages, project management skills and over-all quality control.

Neural Network
        A neural network is a system of programs and data structures that approximates the operation of the human brain. A neural network usually involves a large number of processors operating in parallel, each with its own small sphere of knowledge and access to data in its local memory. Typically, a neural network is initially "trained" or fed large amounts of data and rules about data relationships (for example, "A grandfather is older than a person's father"). A program can then tell the network how to behave in response to an external stimulus (for example, to input from a computer user who is interacting with the network) or can initiate activity on its own (within the limits of its access to the external world).

In making determinations, neural networks use several principles, including gradient-based training, fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms, and Bayesian methods. Neural networks are sometimes described in terms of knowledge layers, with, in general, more complex networks having deeper layers. In feedforward systems, learned relationships about data can "feed forward" to higher layers of knowledge. Neural networks can also learn temporal concepts and have been widely used in signal processing and time series analysis.

Current applications of neural networks include: oil exploration data analysis, weather prediction, the interpretation of nucleotide sequences in biology labs, and the exploration of models of thinking and consciousness. In his novel, Galatea 2.2, Richard Powers envisioned a neural network (named "Helen") that could be taught to pass a comprehensive exam in English literature.

Cybercriminals
        The internet in India is growing rapidly. It has given rise to new opportunities in every field we can think of – be it entertainment, business, sports or education. There are two sides to a coin. Internet also has its own disadvantages. One of the major disadvantages is Cybercrime – illegal activitiy committed on the internet. The internet, along with its advantages, has also exposed us to security risks that come with connecting to a large network. Computers today are being misused for illegal activities like e-mail espionage, credit card fraud, spams, software piracy and so on, which invade our privacy and offend our senses. Criminal activities in the cyberspace are on the rise. Here we publish an article by Nandini Ramprasad in series for the benefit of our netizens. –Ed.

"The modern thief can steal more with a computer than with a gun. Tomorrow's terrorist may be able to do more damage with a keyboard than with a bomb".

Cybercrimes can be basically divided into 3 major categories:

  1. Cybercrimes against persons.
  2. Cybercrimes against property.
  3. Cybercrimes against government.

Cybercrimes committed against persons include various crimes like transmission of child-pornography, harassment of any one with the use of a computer such as e-mail. The trafficking, distribution, posting, and dissemination of obscene material including pornography and indecent exposure, constitutes one of the most important Cybercrimes known today. The potential harm of such a crime to humanity can hardly be amplified. This is one Cybercrime which threatens to undermine the growth of the younger generation as also leave irreparable scars and injury on the younger generation, if not controlled.

Copyright © 2008 Invictus Technology Solutions (P) Ltd.