Technological innovations have radically altered our lives, with software emerging as the cornerstone of modern living. Higher education institutions must keep up with the industry trends and simulate the corporate/industrial experience to prepare students for a successful professional career. The business world is becoming more competitive and demanding, and it is no secret that candidates have to meet higher expectations. This leads us to one of the most debated topics in the world: the gap between industry and academia. This not only makes constantly updating the curriculum vital to a student’s development, but academic institutions must take more responsibility in constantly updating employees' skills, given the huge skill gap prevailing in the country. The corporate realm can’t train them all! In fact, it also sets apart the best of academic institutions from the good ones.

For instance, the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B) has launched a new program, offering an opportunity for software professionals to elevate their skills and expand their careers through its Executive Post Graduate Programme in Software Product Engineering and Management. The new program takes them deeper into the complexities of the IT industry with opportunities to explore the complete software product life cycle consisting of modules on product design, engineering, testing, maintenance, IPR, marketing, finance, and more. CEO Insights engages in an exclusive interview with Prof.  Debabrata Das, Director, IIIT-Bangalore, to capture his insights around the industry and academia in the technology era.

An excellent leader with decades of professional experience, Prof.  Debabrata joined IIITB in 2002. Previously, he had served at G S Sanyal School of Telecommunication at IIT Kharagpur and later at Kirana Networks in New Jersey, USA. He is a Project Officer of the National Mission for Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems in the areas of Advanced Communication Systems from DST, Govt of India. Prof.  Debabrata was also the PI of multiple sponsored projects from Intel, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Motorola Research, Tejas Networks, Nokia, and Govt. of India.

In conversation with Prof.  Debabrata Das, Director, IIIT-Bangalore

How do we leverage the technology advancements to increase education accessibility in India?

Technological advances have the potential to overcome some of the barriers that currently exist in our educational systems for marginal social groups. For this purpose, technologies need to be appreciative of existing practices and their strengths and weaknesses. Technology designs have to attend carefully to aspects of integration and assimilation with key aspects and stakeholders such as the curriculum and pedagogy as well as teachers, students and the entire school ecosystem. There are many past examples of technologies not being able to make any significant difference when these factors get sidelined, including evidence from the online shift during the COVID-19 pandemic. Education should not only be looked at as a provision of instruction and content but as a social process involving learning from peers and the environment, not all of which can be neatly structured or codified. We should consider designing technologies that factor in the complexities of the learning process and suitably complement the efforts of the teachers and the school administration in order to address concerns with access to both geographical and social kinds.

How do emerging technologies impact the tech job market and how to stay ahead of the curve?

Technology continually evolves, transforming ideas into new forms over time. Therefore, technologists and professionals must stay updated by reading the latest, well-reviewed papers on emerging technologies of interest. Additionally, staying relevant requires engaging in in-person or online courses and gaining hands-on experience with new technologies as they develop.

It is important for an IT professional to understand why these [digital] gaps exist in the areas of education and employment

How does the digital divide impact education and employment opportunities in the tech era?

It is important for an IT professional to understand why these [digital] gaps exist in the areas of education and employment. Many times, they may not be attributable only to the availability of or access to an appropriate digital device and connectivity. The digital gaps can also be a carry forward of other forms of inequalities and disadvantages. A better understanding of social structures and contexts and their relationships with reduced opportunities in education, employment or connection/voice can help today's IT professionals to design digital technologies and solutions that could effectively narrow these gaps. Interdisciplinary expertise and approaches, blending both engineering and social sciences, are increasingly considered better when it comes to technologies that contribute to empowering individuals on the wrong side of the digital divide. 

How do you perceive digital addictions as well as the need for a sustainable future?

While technologies bring convenience, they are also leading to consequences, often unanticipated, that negatively affect long-standing human and social values as well as natural ecosystems. Various forms of digital addictions are on the rise, and so are concerns related to ethics and environmental sustainability associated with highly energy-intensive technologies like artificial intelligence. As regulation catches up to rein in potential harms of digital technologies, businesses need to ensure their sustainability targets are drawn up with a longer-term concern not only for individual liberty and freedoms but also involving promoting diversity and inclusion and other values cherished in different regions across the world. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a comprehensive reflection of our global priorities, and it will help businesses also to be fully aligned, especially in terms of their technology strategies. 

What are the major ingredients of building a career in technology that impacts society?

Society should not remain a black-box for technologists who want to change it. In order for impacts to be valuable and sustainable, technology designers have to understand the different constituent layers of society - across various axes of privilege and identity, including class, caste, gender, disability, sexuality etc. Making assumptions about behaviors from one's own socio-political vantage can introduce anomalies not only in the raison d'etre of technologies but also in the manner in which they get implemented. Someone looking to build a career in technology that impacts society should be comfortable engaging with complex and often messy questions concerning social structures and relationships. They should also be willing to factor in design and implementation approaches that are relatively flexible and open to feedback from affected parties, irrespective of their social position.