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Executive Summary
THE DOCUMENT BEGINS with a retrospective glance at Technology Vision 2020, TIFAC’s first attempt to envision India’s technology future. In analogy with the four gaits of the horse, various technological sectors have been categorised into galloping, cantering, trotting and walking India.
The document articulates a vision for all Indians in 2035. This is not a vision of technologies available in 2035 per se; rather, it is a vision of where our country and compatriots should be in 2035 and how technology would bring this vision to fruition. In order to explore the technology dimensions of this vision, this document is divided into six sections. The first section focuses upon the needs of Indians in 2035. It analyses the basic needs – security, prosperity and identity – of various segments of our vast population in 2035 and also proposes multiple ways in which the relationship between these needs could be envisaged. The second section delineates twelve ‘prerogatives’ of all Indians in 2035 that
- emanate from the vision
- are linked to basic needs and
- can be expressed as specific targets.
Starting with the most elemental and individual and culminating in the most comprehensive and collective, the twelve prerogatives are:
- clean air and potable water;
- food and nutritional security;
- universal healthcare and public hygiene;
- 24x7 energy;
- decent habitat;
- quality education, livelihood and creative opportunities;
- safe and speedy mobility;
- public safety and national security;
- cultural diversity and vibrancy;
- transparent and effective governance;
- disaster and climate resilience; and
- eco-friendly conservation of natural resources.
Critical technologies that would help achieve these prerogatives are identified and also placed on a timeline made up of four stages: technology that already exists and is therefore ready for deployment, technology in pilot scale that must be scaled up in order to move from lab to land, technology in the R&D stage that involves further targeted research, and technology that is still in the imagination and could come about as a result of curiosity driven, paradigm shattering (‘blue sky’) research.
The third section assesses three critical ‘transversal’ technologies – materials, manufacturing, and information and communication technology (ICT) – that provide the sub-stratum upon which the edifice of all other technologies is constructed. In addition, this will require robust supportive infrastructure. Technology development cannot take place in isolation; it depends upon an enabling ecosystem and a culture of teamwork. It also has to rely heavily on cutting edge fundamental research. Hence, the section highlights the importance of fundamental research in achieving the technology vision.
The fourth section focuses on the capabilities and constraints in India’s technological landscape. It categorises technologies along a six-fold classification from an Indian perspective. Technology leadership relates to those niche technologies in which we have core competencies, availability of trained and skilled manpower, supportive infrastructure, intellectual environment and traditional knowledge base, and in which we can therefore seek to assume a leadership role. Technology independence pertains to those technologies that we would be forced to develop on our own because they are of critical importance and would simply not be available from elsewhere. Technology innovation is about linking disparate technologies together or taking a breakthrough in one technology and applying it to another. Technology adoption involves obtaining technologies from elsewhere either by purchasing them or by collaborative approach and then modifying them to suit our needs, thereby reducing permanent reliance on other sources.
The next category is technology dependence: those technological areas in which our country would remain dependent either for reasons of infancy (technologies in which India is at the infancy stage and is likely to remain behind the curve in the longer run), insignificance (technologies which are not likely to have a significant imprint on India’s trajectory of growth in the next 20 years) or redundancy (technologies which could easily be purchased from elsewhere and whose development would only tantamount to reinventing the wheel at a high cost). Finally, technology constraints pertain to those areas in which technology is threatening and problematic, either because of its negative environmental or social impact or because of serious legal and ethical issues.
The fifth section is about the principal actors and key activities that would be critical to India’s technological transformation. Apart from the ‘who’ and ‘what’ issues, the section also focuses on the ‘what’ question by proposing a set of ten Grand Challenges – some purely technological, other involving an admixture of technology and implementation – that have the capacity to capture the imagination, focus on energies and talents, and transform the country. It also addresses the issue of implementation modalities and suggests that national mission approach could be one such implementation modality.
The sixth section concludes the vision documents by reflecting upon the impact of technology on comprehensive national power. The thrust of this section is that technological transformation would not only change India for the better internally by improving the lot of all compatriots, it would also fundamentally alter India’s external environment for the greater advantage of the country.
Finally, a glossary explicates the various technologies mentioned in the vision document for the benefit of both experts and laypersons.
Along with the Technology Vision 2035 document, TIFAC is also bringing out parallel comprehensive Technology Roadmaps on 12 select sectors: Education, Medical Sciences and Healthcare, Food and Agriculture, Water, Energy, Environment, Habitat, Transportation, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Materials, Information and Communication Technology. Technoscape, a snapshot of the 12 roadmaps is included as a separate handout along with the document.
While this vision document walks toward the future taking into consideration the country as a whole, the technology roadmap of each sector would provide details outlining future technology trends, R&D directives, pointers for research, anticipated challenges and policy imperatives pertaining to each sector.
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