India in the Knowledge Economy: An Electronic Paradigm

Abstract

The authors at the Department of Electronics Accreditation for Computer Courses (India) present the basis and a way forward for a knowledge-based economy in India through expanded utilization of e-learning techniques. This paper makes a strong case for investing in information technologies for increasing the human resource capital to raise the economy of the country. In a country of more than one billion people and of continental dimension, economic development can only be reached through better utilization of e-learning. Here we have reviewed various elearning aspects including the technologies and projects to facilitate e-learning, and have proposed some suggestions for improving the management of e-learning. Academic bodies such as the University Grants Commission, the Knowledge Commission, the Institutes of Information Technology, and software companies should pool their efforts to establish knowledge processing techniques to help teachers and students pursue learning, and thus contribute to long-term economic development. Accelerated telecommunication growth, better internet penetration with wider bandwidth and more software applications for e-education are needed for overcoming the digital divide to achieve growth, in coordination with grass-roots developmental work in schools. We urge and support traditional institutions to put their energies into information and communication technologies for providing e-instruction.