FAST will overtake SLOW ?

It is said :

In the internet age , the BIG will not overtake the SMALL

The FAST will overtake the SLOW  !

In following earlier blogs ( sent as emails to Policy Makers ) , I had urged the Prime Minister to appoint a ,

Technology Evaluation and Acquisition Minister [  TEAM  ]

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Need ofthe hour ? : TEAM   [   21  April  2017   ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/04/need-of-hour-team.html

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Too  Late ?  As always  !   [  19  Sept  2017  ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/09/too-late-as-always.html

Those in need to know how tiny Dubai is all set to overtake the mighty India , may want to read the following news appearing at :

https://futurism.com/dubai-just-appointed-a-state-minister-for-artificial-intelligence/

Dubai just appointed a “ State Minister for Artificial Intelligence “

A NEW PHASE

Governments around the world are beginning to understand the potential and importance of artificial intelligence (AI).

International acceptance has spread with the implementation of AI regulations, like what has been created in Germany. For others, like the U.S., incorporating AI begins with recommendations on how to move forward with the tech.

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), however, the government took AI adoption one step further by installing a minister in-charge of AI.

The UAE’s first State Minister for Artificial Intelligence is 27-year-old Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama.

Olama is one of six newly appointed ministers, three of whom were women, who represent a new phase in the UAE’s pursuit of “ future skills, future sciences and future technology, as we prepare for the centenary to ensure a better future for our generations,” UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum said during Thursday’s announcement, according to Gulf News.

IMPORTANCE OF AI

As tech companies begin to center their business models around AI, it’s no surprise that a country like the UAE and a city like Dubai — which has invested heavily in technologies that are future-focused — want to be at the forefront of this development.

Dubai, for example, plans to put robot cops on the streets by 2030 and they’ve also been pushing to get autonomous vehicles on the city’s roads and in its skies.

AI is also among the major research areas of the Dubai Accelerators program.

“We want the UAE to become the world’s most prepared country for artificial intelligence,” said Prime Minister Shaikh Mohammad.

Aside from AI, Dubai is also investing in a number of hyperloop projects and even a plan to reach Mars.

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Dear  Policy Makers :


Since we already have a Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ( MeIT ) for a long time , we are ahead of Dubai as far as AI is concerned


What we need is a Minister in charge of ANY type of technology ( examples shown in my blog ) which can benefit our country


In appointment of TEAM , we could still be FAST and have a " First Mover Advantage "

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21  Oct   2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

Adopt Innovative Ways

Hindustan Times ( 19  Oct ) carries following news report :

“ Adopt innovative ways to break silos in Govt : PM  “

 Bureaucrats should use technology for delivery of better governance; ministries should not work in silos and work as a team to realise the dream of creating New India by 2020.

This was Prime Minister Narendra Modi's missive to about 380 officials of the rank of director and deputy secretaries with whom he interacted this month.

“ The PM exhorted the officers to work with full dedication towards creation of New India by 2022.

He said that silos are a big bottleneck in the functioning of the Union government. He urged the officers to adopt innovative ways to break silos, which will result in the speeding up of various processes of governance,"  a government release said.

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I suppose , by “ breaking silos “ , PM means :

Keep each other informed of what you are doing / working on , so that the “ left hand knows what the right hand is doing “ and you do not end up slowing down others’ efforts or end up working at cross purpose

Keeping each other informed about your initiatives will , not only avoid duplicate work but it will enable you to complement one another and synergize your efforts 

Here is how , we managed this ( breaking silos ) at the small Switchgear factory of L&T , way back in 60s ( call it V 1.0 ) :

·         Whenever , a manager sent out a letter ( to any outside party ) or a memo ( to an internal department ) , he asked his secretary to make a carbon copy , marked “ FOR CIRCULATION “

Of course , he did this only when he considered that communication to be important enough for other Managers to know and felt that this knowledge would help the recipient to raise questions or guide him in his own decisions

·        

Despatch Mail Room attendant responsible for all outgoing and internal mail distribution , would remove the copies marked “ FOR CIRCULATION “ , bunch these together , attach a CIRCULATION SLIP carrying the names of 8 / 10 managers and deliver to the manager whose name is right at the top

·         When the first-named manager finishes reading all those copies , he will enter “ date read “ against his name and place the bunch in his out-tray . And more often than not , he will enter his own remarks / comments on any of those letters / memos

·         Mail attendant will pick up the bunch and deliver it to the next-named manager

Utterly , Butterly , Simple  !

It worked beautifully well and all of us were in perfect SYNC , at all times

No doubt , when the factory grew and we had more than 20 managers , this system broke down since it would take a full month before the last-named manager got to read what others had written !

But then , those were the days when :

·         Managers had secretaries ( who typed on typewriters ) and used stapling devices

·         Managers boasted of “ OUT and IN  “ trays on their tables !

There were no computers / no internet / no Outlook / no Skype / no Online Collaboration softwares / no project-plans / no smart phones / no Webex / no Whatsapp / no nothing !

To day , every private sector manager and government officer , has access to all the above-mentioned aids

What could be holding them off , from coming out with VERSION 2.0 of the 50 year old process described above  ?

It can be nothing more than cultivating an attitude which says :

“ If sharing this info with my colleagues will make us move faster in providing better governance , then I will share it . Of course , I will not share info which must be kept secret ( even for a short while ) and which cannot be leaked “

Dear Narendrabhai :

But how is a Govt Officer to decide : 

·         Who ( which officers ) need to know about my views / thinking on this subject / topic and therefore , must get a copy of my email ?

If you decide to appoint a Committee of Secretaries to come up with guidelines re this ( sharing of email info to other govt officers ), then very little is likely to happen !

They may end up setting up another “ Empowered Committee “ !

For V 2.0 of the process which L&T followed 50 years ago , please consider following approach :

·         Government is already working on a big push for data analytics , in order to improve decision making .

·         Why not ask some leading software company to analyse those millions of emails ( sent out by various govt officers over the years ) and come up with an Artificial Intelligence based software , which will ( after reading / interpreting the content of each outgoing email from an officer ) , decide , WHO all ( other govt officers ) should get a copy ( cc: ) ?

Let us call such software  : IDEA {  Intelligence based Delivery of Email Alerts  }

Google / Amazon / Microsoft / Apple / Facebook etc are already using / employing similar AI based software algorithms for delivering advertisements to millions of “ most likely interested “ people around the World  !

Let no one tell you : This is not possible for a software to decide

Google’s AlphaGo Zero AI algorithm “ learns from scratch and with no human help beyond being told the rules ……… because AlphaGo Zero learns on its own from a blank state, its talents can now be turned to a host of real-world problems

 “ ( source : Business Line / 20 Oct 2017 )

And if anyone needs convincing , CBDT has recently awarded a $ 100 Million contract to L&T Infotech to develop a software platform ( using Semantic Web ) , to capture “ Tax Evaders “ , by scraping Social Media sites  !

One more thing :

Do not expect the government officers to welcome the idea of IDEA !

Most of them still believe their POWER lies in being in possession of some such information to which , they alone are privy !

20  Oct 2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs

Progress : of a doubtful kind ?

Indian Express ( 19 Oct ) carries following news report :

Not more than 1,400 voters per polling station: Election Commission

The Election Commission has decided that the number of voters per polling station should not exceed 1,400 as the paper roll attached to the paper trail machine cannot print more than 1,500 slips and attaching a new roll when polling is on is a cumbersome process.

In an order issued to its officials in all states, the commission has said that since the thermal paper roll used in the VVPAT (voter-verifiable paper audit trail) machines can print approximately 1,500 slips, it has been decided that the “maximum number of electors to be assigned to any polling station shall not exceed 1,400”.

The poll panel explained that nearly 100 slips are printed during commissioning of the paper trail machines and during mock poll. Since a little over 1,400 slips can be printed per roll after that, the number of voters should not exceed 1400.

It believes the process of replacing the paper roll can be cumbersome when voting is on. All polling stations in Himachal Pradesh assembly polls will have paper trail machines.

What will this mean in terms of additional expenditure ?

It is reported that the Election Commission has asked for additional amount of Rs 3174 crores for purchase of VVPAT machines

Could this decision lead to a huge increase in the Number of Polling Booths  ?

During 2014 general elections , we had :

#   814.5 million eligible voters

     ( an increase of 100 million over 2009 election )

     Extrapolating , in 2019 election , we could end up with another addition of 100

     million voters , taking the total to 914 million !

     At no more than 1400 voters per booth , those additional 100 million voters could ,

    Well require another 71,400 polling booths

    But , since , many booths may have far less than 1400 voters , we may end up

   requiring 80,000 booths

   In 2014 elections , we had 930,000 booths .  Add another 80 ,000  !

#  1.4 million EVM

    For those additional polling booths , we would need another 80,000 EVM  !

#  989  Counting Booths

    How many more would we need in 2019 ?

#  Rs 30,000 crores

   ( total combined election expenditure ( estimated )

   ( Govt + Parties + Candidates )

   It would be safe to assume that this would go up to Rs 40,000 crores in 2019

#  11,00,000  Personnel

    Expect this figure to swell to , at least 12 lakh persons

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If we just implement mobile app  “  VotesApp “ , not only we could save nearly all of the expenditure on part of the government ( - and even enable the government to earn Rs 20,000 crores ) , we could manage the entire exercise in just ONE DAY and declare the results by 7 pm on the same day !

Cannot believe ?  You will , after reading :

“Election  Reforms “  Summarized  [  18  Aug  2017  ]

https://myblogepage.blogspot.com/2017/08/election-reforms-summarized.html

19  Oct  2017

www.hemenparekh.in / blogs