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This paper exploits the information obtained in Annual Survey of Industries during 1999–2010 to gauge the degree of value-added owing to the use of traditional inputs (capital, labor, energy, indigenous materials, and imported materials) and advanced industrial production technology (services, information and communications technology, and pollution control equipment) in two main sub-sectors of the Pulp and Paper (P&P) industry in India categorized according to use of different types of raw material. The panel data econometric exercise confirms that the use of traditional inputs and advanced industrial technologies, and industry level determinants of the two sub-sectors have varied effects on value-added within them. These findings are important for promoting higher value-added production in different sectors within the resource-based industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact that information technology can have on development is the subject of an ongoing debate. Central to this debate is the role of universities. Education shapes people's attitudes toward technology and determines how it will be used. This research shows that in India, students at higher educational institutions are socialized to believe that information technology can have a very positive impact on their country. They do not share the skepticism commonly found in Western literature. This research finds that first and foremost, IT is seen as a tool for personal development, where students can leverage their education to become rich and successful, either in India or abroad. Second, IT is seen as a tool for Indian ascension, lifting India to the status of a great global power. Only thirdly is IT seen as a means to assist in the development of India's poor population. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global software organization (GSOs) are a recent form of work settings where Information Technology (IT) professionals engage in information and communication technology (ICT) mediated software development work for businesses across the globe. Issues of self, identity, and gender are linked to particularities of GSOs as a work setting. Using an interpretative, ethnographic approach, empirical data from a case study in India was analyzed to understand how gender was expressed in GSOs and linked to the concepts of self and identity of IT workers. Data suggests that GSOs are a global work setting where local issues of gender reflect social arrangements in Indian society. These arrangements have implications for GSOs as a work setting, for software development work, as well as for the selves and identities of IT workers. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to know the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the economic progress and renewable energy consumptions in two Asian economic giants namely India and China. To achieve the objectives, generalised method of moments (GMM) and pooled ordinary least square (OLS), fixed effect and random effect models have been applied using yearly panel data of individuals using internet as ICT, growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) as economic progress, electric power consumption as energy consumptions and foreign direct investment (FDI). This study observes significantly positive impact of ICT on renewable energy consumptions while negative and insignificant impact on the economic progress in India and China. It is observed that countries are similar in renewable energy expansion, time spent on internet, electricity generation and policy support for renewable energy generation while they significantly differ in the number of internet subscribers, internet-based entrepreneurships and sources of renewable energy. This study proposes to apply ICT in all possible sectors to boost-up economic growth as well as to enhance the demand for renewable energy consumptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the entry of Indian information and communication technology–information technology-enabled services (ICT-ITES) companies on the Dutch service outsourcing market. Using this case study, the paper integrates two academic debates: the rise of emerging country-based multinationals and the international dynamics in the ICT-ITES sector. Indian ICT-ITES firms can no longer only rely on cheap labour in their home country and need to build global delivery capacity in order effectively to compete with Western ICT-ITES multinationals. By examining their entry strategy in the Dutch service outsourcing market, this paper highlights the difficulties of latecomer multinationals in entering the more profitable domains of the ICTITES market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including the low usage of telecenters in rural India by Kamala Gollakota, James Pick and P. Sathyapriya, information and communication technologies (ICTs) to individuals with disabilities in the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands by Katherine Ratliffe and colleagues, and access to public services by Christopher Reddick, Hisham Abdelsalam and Hatem Elkadi.

Around the globe, various initiatives use the mobile phone to provide financial services to those without access to traditional banks. Relatively little scholarly research explores the use of these m-banking/m-payments systems. This paper calls attention to this gap in the research literature, emphasizing the need for research focusing on the context(s) of m-banking/m-payments use. Presenting illustrative data from exploratory work with small enterprises in urban India, it argues that contextual research is a critical input to effective 'adoption' or 'impact' research. Further, it suggests that the challenges of linking studies of use to those of adoption and impact reflect established dynamics within the Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) research community. The paper identifies three cross-cutting themes from the broader literature (amplification vs. change, simultaneous causality, and a multi-dimensional definition of trust), each of which can offer increased theoretical clarity to future research on m-banking/m-payments systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As social scientists engaged in Information Technologies for Development (IT4D), a question we need to necessarily engage with is “are we building a better world with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)?” This question, first posed by Professor Geoff Walsham in the IS field, was the topic of my plenary discussion at the IFIP 9.4 meeting in Jamaica 2014, and had now been further developed to this “view from practice” paper for this journal. A first step in this paper has been the reformulation of the question which Professor Walsham raised: “What distortions and obstacles are created by the historical, material, and institutional conditions, and how these shape our efforts of ICTs creating a better world?” This reformulation is done to bring in more explicitly the political dimension into the question, and to nuance the technological deterministic argument implied in the question of technology (always) creating a better world. Taking an empirical example of an ICT intervention from the public health sector in India, deliberately chosen to emphasize distortions typically seen is similar Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) projects, the analysis focuses on understanding the conditions of distortions, why they occur, and what can be done differently to contribute to our notion of a better world. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Adoption of a new ICT tool in the fisheries sector depends on several factors such as ease of use, affordable cost, information, and time. All these factors determine the preference of an existing tool over others for productivity enhancement. Which ICT tool is more beneficial than others is a continuing debate among researchers. However, the literature currently lacks detailed studies of fishermen criteria for selecting the best ICT tools in the marine fisheries sector. This paper is based on a framework which explains the factors influencing the adoption of ICT tools for the better fish catch, with the help of a multi-criteria decision making approach, called Analytic Hierarchy Process. Also, in the study we have compared the results of analysis using AHP with popular method TOPSIS and the obtained results were validated. The Study also assesses scientifically, which is the most important ICT tool for fishing through a case study in Northern and Southern parts of Kerala, a state in the southern India. The Study finds that Global Positioning System (GPS) is the most beneficial and important ICT tool in marine fishing. In contrast to the earlier studies, the results show that wireless set is important than other tools like mobile phone and echo-sounder for multi-day fishing. The cost-benefit analysis also supports findings of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the research question, “How can the use of information and communication technology (ICT) enable development of markets at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP)?” Integrating ideas centered on the threefold role of ICT (automate–informate–transform), market mechanisms, and agency freedom aspects of ICT-enabled development, we examine how (1) ICT facilitate development of market mechanisms at the BOP, (2) market mechanisms enable economic and social benefit outcomes for BOP markets and members, and (3) complementary conditions facilitate or hinder ICT-enabled market development. The findings are based on qualitative primary data from interviews with 27 BOP individuals from India, and from published and secondary examples. Theoretical contributions and implications for practice and further research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates for possible effects of information and communication technology (ICT) in reducing aggregate technical inefficiency. A translog stochastic production frontier is simultaneously estimated with a technical inefficiency model across a panel of forty-two countries in 1993-2001. Strong evidence is provided for a significant impact of ICT in reducing country inefficiencies. Further evidence indicates a significantly positive ICT impact on labor productivity, while it seems that a substitute relationship between ICT and non-ICT capital exists. Based on the model's estimates, the most efficient country in the sample is the United States, followed by India, and a number of other developed countries. Overall, developed countries operate closer to the world frontier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines a project in India that aimed to empower the poorest of rural villages by giving them access to knowledge via networked ICT. The case discussed shows a model of success and the means by which seemingly intractable problems of technological complexity, network connectivity and user illiteracy have been overcome. The key factors to success were the following: the enabling experts are local; and the needs of the villages were carefully assessed and agreed upon by stakeholders before any technology was introduced. The success of the project was illustrated by its growth and developed over the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the co-creation of ICT Innovation. To do this we first review key innovation literature with the argument that each set of innovation literature considers the world of innovation from a sterile perspective, normally linear in nature. We propose an alternative view encapsulated in our idea of 'Co-creation of ICT Innovation'. To illustrate the nature of Co-creation of ICT Innovation, we present three case studies from India and show the distinctness in the nature of problem solving in each case. We then use this distinctness to develop a dual interactive framework. One framework is at a Meta level that develops the conceptual theme for the process of co-creation. The other framework, that populates the conceptual theme with operational drivers, is aimed to populate the Meta level with ideas that can initiate the process of Co-creation of ICT Innovation. Our contribution in this paper is this dual interactive framework that we argue explains the nature and process of co-creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) have drastically improved global connectivity and pervaded into most aspects of modern human life. To appropriate the benefits from ICTs, access to the required technology is an essential prerequisite. India's ICT adoption has been fast since 2000, but with sizeable disparities across the country. This study identifies the diffusion pattern of digital communications services in India, while accounting for technological augmentation. The study also surveys the factors influencing the variations in regional ICT adoption in India and supports Rogers theory of innovation diffusion by investigating how the social systems impacts technology adoption at different penetration levels. The findings will be useful for infrastructure capacity planning, taking policy decisions and projecting the diffusion process of emerging consumer technologies for advancing digital inclusion to support inclusive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revolution in information and communication technology (ICT) has made a remarkable impact on the society. Countries across the world are using ICT to facilitate information dissemination and communication in all areas of education, training, and administration. In Indian education institutions, over the years there has been a rapid increase in the gross enrollment ratio (GER). The existing manpower in universities is unable to cope with the increased workload. To bring efficiency, accuracy, and transparency to the system, many Indian universities are using ICT in teaching, learning, and administration processes, and management of examination system is one of them. In addition to sharing information and infinite access, ICT has exposed certain security threats that were exposed by connecting to a large network. This paper discusses the importance of an automated integrated examination system in Indian universities vis-a-vis security threats. These threats can thwart the very purpose of ICT if left unattended. The measures to handle data are discussed, and network architecture is suggested to handle the examination of data to preclude security threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Manuscripts are one of the precious materials of our cultural heritage, acting as a valuable source of history and knowledge and offering perspective on contemporary society. In Manipur, we are losing our manuscripts through decay and improper handling. Current progress in the field of information and communication technology offers a potential solution to the problem. Through large scale digitization projects, manuscripts can not only be stored and preserved, but also made available to the public. This paper highlights the importance of the Manipur Manuscripts collection and the necessity to preserve the collection for future generations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: The introduction of new technologies upon a society prematurely often results in fears of good and bad, especially when no consideration is given to human needs. This situation becomes more acute in circumstances when sophisticated technology from the west claims to satisfy the human needs of a continental and traditional country like India. This paper highlights the new revitalization of Indian society from a socio-economic and cultural point of view and reiterates the possibility of technology's failure to address human needs. A case study of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) emergence in the Indian context is made in order to examine various issues such as the new technological divide syndrome, ICT needs of rural populations, and others. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this research we examine the influences on use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for developmental purposes versus personal purposes such as communication and entertainment. We surveyed 145 low-income farmers in rural India who used ICTs at public-access centers. Our study revealed that factors influencing ICT use for developmental purposes differed from those influencing ICT use for personal purposes. Information quality, relative advantage, self-efficacy, and availability of other services were important determinants of developmental use but not personal use. For personal use, effort expectancy and cost were important. Policy implications for users and providers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores to identify the factors and barriers influencing the diffusion of knowledge in higher learning institutes in India. Several adoption theories and models have been explored. Relevant literature has been studied in the Indian context. This has helped to conceptualize the essence of diffusion of knowledge in educational organizations. This is helpful to upgrade the intellectual capital of the society. A conceptual model has been developed. Some hypotheses have been formulated. The proposed model has been validated through regression analysis by conducting a sample survey considering 318 useable responses. The results highlight that competence of concerned stakeholders, institutional support and word of mouth positively impact on the diffusion of knowledge mechanisms. The proposed model bears 87% explanative power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central trope of the information society is that of 'information flows.' The implicit assumption underlying such a vision involves the removal of gatekeepers and intermediaries who are perceived to impede such flows. Drawing from field research on information circulation, trade, and money in rural markets in Myanmar and India, we show why intermediaries persist alongside information and communication technologies (ICTs) in trade and financial transactions in the 'Information Age.' We examine the range of roles, (human and non-human) actors, and material practices that are involved in conducting financial transactions, and we show the importance of historical legacies and politics in explaining why both cash and financial intermediaries persist in the digital age. Focusing on the different value that human and non-human intermediaries bring to financial encounters helps explain what characteristics make each resilient or replaceable in a time of change. By situating intermediaries and mediations in the social relations within which they operate, we bring back the role of power and politics – an element that is often missing in accounts focused on the unmediated and 'free' circulation of information using ICTs – in explaining processes of mediation and circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of transnational family life, everyday information and communication technologies (ICTs) are key members of transnational care collectives. Through the approach of material semiotics to care as a relational practice between people and nonhuman entities, I explore frequent calling as one aspect of these collectives. I analyze the practice of frequent calling on phone and webcam between elderly parents living in Kerala, South India, and their adult children who work abroad as nurses. When family members are scattered around the world, frequent calling becomes a way to enact "good care" at a distance.MALAYALAM ABSTRACTൈദനംദിനമായുള്ള വിവര വിനിമയ സങ്കേതങ്ങളുെട ഉപയോഗം അന്താരാഷ്ട്ര സ്വഭാവമുള്ള വിേദശ ഇന്ത്യ[Formula: see text] കുടുംബങ്ങളിലെ പരിചരണ ശൃംഘലക്ക് അത്യാവശ്യമായി കാണുന്നു . ഭൗതിക ബിംബ കല്പനാ പഠനത്തിലൂെട പരിചരണത്തിെല മനുഷ്യ മനുഷ്യേതര ബന്ധങ്ങളെയുംതുട[Formula: see text]ച്ചയായ വിവര സങ്കേതങ്ങളുെട ഉപയോഗത്തിലൂടെ അവ എപ്രകാരം ഈ ശൃംഖലയുടെ ഭാഗമാകുന്നു എന്നും ഇവിടെ പഠന വിധേയമാക്കുന്നു. ഫോണിലും വെബ് ക്യാമറയിലും ഉള്ള തുട[Formula: see text]ച്ചയായ സംഭാഷണത്തിലൂടെ വിദേശത്തു ജോലി ചെയ്യുന്ന കേരളത്തി[Formula: see text] നിന്നുള്ള നഴ്‌സുമാ[Formula: see text] അവരുടെ മാതാപിതാക്കളുടെ പരിചരണത്തി[Formula: see text] എപ്രകാരം പങ്കു വഹിക്കുന്നു എന്ന് ഞാ[Formula: see text] പരിശോധിക്കുകയാണ്. കുടുംബങ്ങ[Formula: see text] ലോകത്തിന്റെ പല കോണുകളിലായി ചിതറുമ്പോ[Formula: see text] എന്നുമുള്ള തുട[Formula: see text]ച്ചയായ ഫോ[Formula: see text] സംഭാഷണങ്ങ[Formula: see text] ദൂരത്തു നിന്നും മികച്ച സംരക്ഷണം ന[Formula: see text]കുന്നതിന് ഉപയുക്തമാകുന്നതായി ഈ പഠനത്തി[Formula: see text] വ്യക്തമാകുന്നു. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legal process outsourcing (LPO) refers to the contracting of legal work from regions where it is costly to perform, such as the US to areas where it can be performed at a significantly decreased cost. LPO has been made possible by the disaggregation of the legal processes into discrete units, each of which can then outsourced to cheaper service providers. Anecdotal evidence suggests a variety of benefits such as financial gains, opportunities to perform "global" work in a corporate atmosphere and acquisition of important skills and training that enhances the prestige of the host country lawyers. In India, which has played a significant role, LPO firms are viewed as important catalysts in the transformation of the country's highly stratified legal profession based on social identities. This qualitative study, based on 38 interviews, concludes that the corporate culture was an attractive proposition for lawyers from non-elite backgrounds; however, the commodification of offshored work led to a deprofessionalisation of lawyers, reducing them to "glorified clerks." As a result, LPO firms only provided parallel avenues for career mobility but did not destabilise the local legal market which at its core remains socially networked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the labour market experiences of Indian hi-tech professionals in the Waterloo tech cluster (Ontario), also known as Canada's Technology Triangle. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's theorisations, I show how Indian technology workers, although disadvantaged to some extent by their embodied social attributes and their ‘lack of Canadian experience’, exercise their agency to strategically convert theircapitalsto enter and progress in the labour market. Based on in-depth interviews conducted with Indian immigrants, technology companies and relevant organisations and immigrant-serving agencies in the Waterloo Region, I argue that the stereotypical association of Indian nationals and technology work contributes to theirtransnational habitusthat yields some advantage in Canada's technology labour markets; a foot in the door. This stereotypical association, however, simultaneously contributes to new forms of oppression and restrictions to labour market entry for Indian nationals seeking to enter occupational sectors other than IT; a double-edged sword. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ICT has great potential to bring in the desired social transformations by enhancing access to people, services, information and other technologies. ICT applications can enhance poor people's opportunities by improving their access to markets, health and education. India is striving to come up with innovative ICT support for the rural community. Creation of affordable ICT facilities and investment in training to maintain and expand computer networks in rural areas is on policy agenda of the government. However, incorporation of ICT in a national development agenda must involve public and private sector together with the local community for effective creation, expansion and diffusion of ICT applications and also for better e-governance. This article is an attempt to analyse the ICT policy for the rural poor people in India and discuss evolving an integrated approach for participatory rural development where the participation of the local community and an inclusion of a traditional knowledge system is taken into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the qualitative research methodology of "phenomenology" and argues that it can be successfully utilized to investigate incipient global issues in information technology. Phenomenology was applied to investigate issues related to the deployment of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) at one of the largest government sector multinational banks in India. The study finds that the emerging architecture of ICT strategy in this organization, according to survey respondents, contains five categories of issues. In declining order of their importance, these categories are (1) ICT Culture in Organization, (2) Organizational ICT Politics, (3) Organizational ICT Sociology, (4) the Economics of ICT, and (5) the Infrastructure of ICT. The significance of these findings is discussed in the article with some examples that demonstrate that a phenomenological approach can reveal the hidden dimensions and root causes of the ICT related problems which may not be clear from empirical surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the information and communications technology (ICT) developments. As per the researchers, India and China have emerged as the major ICT players as these are the largest outsourcing destinations in the world and account 45 percent of the U.S. student population. It highlights that the research and development (R&D) expenditures of China and India have reached 32 percent of the global share and leadership in ICT proficiency has passed from the U.S. to other countries.

The last few years have witnessed a revival of Indo-African technoeconomic cooperation within a host of ICT-based projects aimed at promoting capacity-building. This article is an attempt at sketching out some of the most significant traits of this evolving trend based on a discussion of two landmark initiatives: the Indian Technical and Economic Co-operation scheme and the Pan-African e-Network Project. The article suggests that differences between these two projects typify key changes that have taken place in conceptualizations of cooperation. First, there was an ethico-political shift in relation to the responsibility of the state and of individual beneficiaries. Then, the spatiality of cooperation has been modified in ways that are epitomized by the image of the network and its concomitant ideal of horizontal dispersion. Finally, a dynamic has emerged in which connecting the world and igniting the pride of the nation feed into one another in innovative ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preponderance of poor people worldwide live in rural areas. Since they cannot afford, and are not educated sufficiently to take full advantage of contemporary knowledge-based technologies, alternative approaches are necessary. A major business model to do so involves setting up a rural telecenter that provides computer and internet technology as a shared model or highly subsidized. Despite the potential and availability of telecenters, research suggests that telecenters have low usage. In this research, we explore the reasons for the low usage of telecenters using a framework for use and acceptance of rural telecenters. The framework we use builds on prominent IT theories and has the following four dimensions: (a) perceived outcomes, (b) perceived effort, (c) social influence, and (d) facilitating factors. We use this framework to formulate six research questions. The study in general has the goal to identify reasons for low use of telecenters and test it with an exploratory study of information and communication technology users and non-users from rural India. Implications are discussed at the village and provider levels. Ramiro Montealegre is the accepting Associate Editor for this article. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The idea of information and communication technology (ICT) being a “hammer” that can be applied to a wide variety of “nails” across different geographic locations, sectors, organizations, and contexts to improve efficiency and/or have a beneficial social impact has come under severe criticism, particularly in the realm of implementing socioeconomic development programs. Structuration theory remains one of the key metatheories that deconstruct the complexity of technology introductions in the context of organizational and behavioral change. In this study, we use a structurational lens to examine two pilot ICT implementations in the Indian microfinance sector, specifically exploring the interactions between the ICT intervention, the organizations and people implementing the change, and the structural and institutional context within which these projects were rolled out. We showcase how an “ICT for development” intervention is inherently a political process, involving choices around defining efficiency and targeting particular social welfare improvements, with varying repercussions for the involved microfinance institution and client. Where the client's context, constraints, and welfare are placed at the heart of the “efficiency” discussion during the technology's design and implementation, the development impact is seen to be far greater and more sustained. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an assessment on the status of 15 electronic (e)-Government websites developed in rural areas in India. The projects were assessed through the utilization of the e-Government progression framework derived from design and implementation dimensions. These include drishtee website, Gyandoot technologically innovative and sustainable information kiosks, and N-Logue website. It was found that the websites provides an opporunity for the people to communicate with each other as well as conduct online transactions, including meetings and electronic commerce. Information on the economic and social benefits of the projects as well as recommendations on how to improve their implementation are also discussed.

The currently influential model for information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) is based on increasing the well-being of the poor through market-based solutions, and by using low-cost but advanced technologies. Using ethnographic methods, we chart out the contradictions that could arise when such a development-through-entrepreneurship model is implemented. We examine the Akshaya project, a franchise of computer-service kiosks in Kerala, India, which strives simultaneously for social development through access to computers and financial viability through cost recovery and entrepreneurship. We show that tensions within the state and among entrepreneurs and perceptions of public versus private among consumers make it challenging to meet the twin goals of commercial profitability and social development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technology (ICT) development initiatives have begun to acknowledge the power and importance of cultural and community-focused belief systems. Yet the vast majority of such initiatives tend to preidentify developmental goals that communities hold. Paulo Freire's writings have influenced development initiatives by introducing the possibility of working with communities to orient projects. While these “participatory” initiatives have involved soliciting community feedback relative to a research project whose goals were formulated in the university or development institution, they do not go far enough to harness actual visions held by communities. It is important to conceptualize a model and methodology of engaging communities to develop and articulate their own goals of information access and ultimately, an indigenous approach toward cultural, political, and economic aspects of development. This approach holds promise to sustain communities within a return on the investment and efforts of the researcher or institution. This article closes by describing a current initiative in Southern India that reflects the described methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses a historical and critical perspective to analyze the growth of India's IT industry. India's quest for technology development in the pre- and post independent period of its history is analyzed. Its history, colonial past, culture, entrepreneurship climate, educational facilities and IT diffusion are all examined within this umbrella. The study uses historical data starting from the turn of the twentieth century as it tries to identify the factors and then go beyond those factors to understand the strong historical and cultural roots that have affected the gradual evolution of the IT industry in India. The study shows that India's current position is a result of almost eight decades of sustained efforts by its political leaders and intelligentsia — aided by social, cultural, and historical factors that have driven public policy — to build a strong technology-infrastructure and to achieve self-reliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]