Professor DB Phatak: The great contributor to Technology and Science

The name Professor DB Phatak does not need any such introduction and can be recognized at the first go by the individuals. In an interview, he shared his ideas, concepts and thoughts regarding the capability of the open source as well as the role of technology in transforming the education and healthcare sectors.

As per the sayings of Albert Einstein, “I want to know the mind of God, the rest are details”. It also goes the same when it comes to the field of Communication and Information Technology. As per the analysts who expertise in the field of technology, one needs to know the mentality of Deepak Phatak and the rest are just details.

Giving introduction of Professor Deepak Phatak is just like introducing the cricket player Sachin Tendulkar to the Indians. He is one of those great professors who have a lot of contribution in the field of Technology and Science. He is the proud recipient of Padma Shri. In one of his interviews with Mr. Prabhakar Deshpande, he shares his valuable concepts on the functioning of open source and the important role of technology in transforming the face of education and healthcare.

Excerpt of the interview with Professor Deepak Phatak:

Question: From the aspect of commercial potential does open source failed to live up to the expectation?

Answer: In the world of open source, there are generally two types of functions – a) firms that prefer open source software b) those who contribute to this software voluntarily.

Both of these types are growing quickly and significantly. These activities have added value to the open source world as well as develop various services out of them. Professor Phatak did not want to give any judgement, but according to him the term “failure” is accompanied with expectation. According to him, the open source can be considered as a vital movement that is growing quite vibrantly worldwide, but its growth is yet not witnessed in India so well.

Again, India is considered as one of those countries that can be termed as the net taker from this source movement, not the net giver. As compared to the IT competence of India, its contribution to this source is quite less. No sooner India starts to contribute to the world of open source, than the availability would manifold. May be open source did nit flourished well in India, but it did not means that it has failed completely, steadily and slowly it is growing.

Professor Deepak Professor is being honoured on 5^th September with the Life Time Achievement Award. Professor can be considered one of the well-known and greatest faculties India ever had. You can visit here www.ubmindia.in/interop-Mumbai/visitorregistration.aspx to view the agenda of the conference and felicitation.

Question: What is the contribution of computing in the world of health care?

Answer: The processes of businesses are affected by the first computing wave. Ease of business operation and its significance has brought a vast improvement in this field. Today, it is almost impossible to run a successful business without online presence. A disruptive innovation can be introduced by computing in business. Accordingly, the next disruption of innovation may likely happed in health care and education fields.

Computing has lead to vast changes in the department of health care. For example, consider personalised drug delivery where they can be administered in such a manner that the micro globules pop up at numerous times. At a gap of every 5 minutes or so, these globules burst. This helps in the availability of various medicines instantly at a very uniform level. The next one is related to maintaining the record of medical history of patients as well as enhancing the quality of treatment. Now doctors can go ahead with meaningful treatment with the help of the digital records available widely. Hospital management has also undergone vast changes on the basis of computing.

In the field of gene sequencing, computing has contributed to a large extent and it is being used to know the probability of diseases occurring. Thus, you can provide you with a chance for better treatment and carious related diseases. Now, the initial phase is passing by and by the next 40 years a lot of revolution will be take place in the health care department.

Bioinformatics is a vast and growing field and just like engineering was the most preferable choice for students a few years ago, this is also the top choice among candidates. This can be viewed with the number of students enrolling for this course in this academic tear. It is true that till date not much has happened, but the upcoming wave of disruption will certainly throw light in education and healthcare.

Question: How computing in enhancing the education quality?

Answer: Even till a few years ago classroom study was essential when it comes to perceiving education, but today due to the availability of the technology one can easily attend classrooms at his own premises. Generally, candidates need to do their homework and attend the lectures in the classrooms. But today, one can even be a part of the lectures by sitting at his comfort zone. And this has become possible with the introduction of video recording; lectures can be recorded and circulated online or in the form of CD, DVDs etc. Classroom can also be attended at homes with the help of technology. This has overall improves the learning significance and allow candidates to learn at ease. Various types of preloaded educational materials are also available online. Students can download them at prepare for preparing for various courses. The best part is that with the advancement of technology now education can be spread even in the remote areas.

Various online courses are also available nowadays, where not only just the study materials are available, but also several other related facilities. Online course packages offer candidates with problem solving classes, online exams, discussion, etc. Now, one can easily earn credits from educational institutes for transfer credits and different courses in order to receive a degree. This has become possible only due to the Communication and Information Technology.

Today, the weaker section of the society can also get education. It has not only induced feasibility, but also reduces the educational expenses. As per the expectation, within the next 8 to 10 years, technology will completely revolutionize education.

Question: Why computing enhanced productivity and did not lead to increase in income or reduction in hours?

Answer: By measuring in the terms of output, the productivity can be calculated. Output has increased by a large extent with the help of computing. All that society cares about is the output, and not your working hours or income. It is completely a wrong notion that income has not increased, it has also increased significantly in all the developing nations. As income is directly related to the supply and demand, not the output, hence it is also related to the post you have in an organisation.

Question: What would be the role of the government to use the technology for the welfare of human life or enhancing the lifestyle quality?

Answer: Usually, the quality of human life depends on the healthcare and education. It is the responsibility of the government to encourage the function of technology to enhance healthcare and education. With education individuals can generate more wealth; again, proper health care makes life comfortable and easy. Government should take all the necessary steps to ensure that e-governance facility can be spread to all the individuals through the help of technology.

Lastly, he also said that social discipline is another factor that lacks in our society. Discipline is not followed in the daily life. It is true that healthcare, education and e-governance can enhance the life quality of people, but not the society as a whole. So, social discipline is necessary from all perspective.