Monumental work, says "Technology Review"

The Accidental Revolution
India’s $73 billion information technology industry emerged out of nowhere to the powerhouse it is today within four decades thanks to a series of unrelated happenings in the country and abroad.
By Narayanan Suresh, Technology Review, FEBRUARY 2010

When Thomas Alva Edison invented the electric bulb in the latter part of 19th century, he did not foresee the emergence public and home lighting and a huge global power generation and transmission industry. Similarly, laying the foundation stone for today’s aviation industry would hardly have been the main thought in the minds of Wright brother when they designed the human civilization’s first flying machine.The history of humans in the last few centuries is full of such examples of ingenuity of the inhabitants of our planet turning many small steps into collective giant leaps for all in thousands of unimaginable ways.

India’s information technology (IT) industry also owes its creation to one such act that happened at the opposite end of the globe. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had decided to discontinue teaching of electrical engineering courses in power transmission and electrical machines in the early 1960s. Naren Patni, son of a textile mill owner in Rajasthan, was not aware of this change in MIT when he landed there to pursue higher studies in electrical engineering after getting a no-strings attached scholarship from the Grass Foundation, Massachusetts.

So Patni had to opt to study the newly introduced courses in control systems which were designed to train engineers to handle analog control systems of a variety of modern equipment such as gun turret controls and radar tracking systems. The western world, after the Second World War was moving towards greater use of analog computing methods in industrial production process and control systems.

Patni later met many other pioneers who were working on different aspects of computing. He also happened to work with the team that was converting large amounts of court documents and other public data into magnetic tapes using the rudimentary punching paper tapes. Patni saw the opportunity to get this work done cheaply in India. He founded Patni Computer Services (PCS) as one of the first Indian companies specializing in handling outsourcing services. The famed founders of Infosys were among the first set of employees of PCS and the innocuous decision of MIT to discontinue teaching electrical engineering had played a major role in seeding the growth of India’s IT industry.

The MIT and Patni story is just one of hundreds of happenings in various parts of India and the rest of the world that has had a major impact on the formation of India’s now much-acclaimed IT sector. Veteran science journalist, Dinesh C Sharma, based in New Delhi for nearly three decades, has attempted to document as many of these seemingly disparate happenings which have in some ways contributed to the emergence of the Indian IT industry. Sharma’s monumental effort has appeared as a Harper Collins book, THE LONG REVOLUTION, the birth and growth of India’s IT industry. Sharma’s decades of journalistic writing skills have been admirably combined with the rigors of academic research. The 427-page IT story has been embellished with 36 pages of extensive references, making it an extremely valuable resource for future researchers of India’s IT segment.

Read full review at :http://www.technologyreview.in/computing/24487/

"Arguably the most comprehensive book on Indian IT": Frontline

ANAND PARTHASARATHY

Frontline, Sep 26 -Oct 9, 2009

THE so-called “Internet Age” we live in imposes what is being called “Internet speed”. This accelerated lifestyle is exemplified in an extreme form by the saying attributed to Marshall McLuhan, media guru of an earlier, more leisurely era: “If it works, it’s obsolete.” Something the lay buyer of personal computing products has come to rue as hardware and software are often outdated even as one decides to acquire them. When events happen at such a frenetic pace, it is difficult to take stock and calmly assess the historic significance of fast-evolving trends such as outsourcing before they are overtaken by events and technology.

That may explain why compiling information technology happenings can be a frustrating exercise, with McLuhan-like obsolescence threatening a publication in the brief time between concept and publication. Yet, for India at least, the story of the country’s rise to become a respected, globally accepted brand in IT is a key component of its wider history, and the task of telling it can be both daunting and challenging. That is reason enough to welcome Dinesh Sharma’s contribution to the subject, arguably the most comprehensive treatment so far of the birth pangs, early development, growth and maturity of India’s information technology industry.

For those who are part of the IT-driven business today as well as for lay readers, the book is a timely reminder of how the industry, which has played a large role in transforming India into a trillion-dollar economy, owes its growth to individuals and governments in almost equal measure across a five-decade time span. Indeed, Sharma, a veteran science communicator, who is currently Science Editor of the Delhi-based tabloid daily Mail Today, is the right person to undertake the task – bringing a combination of subject knowledge and detachment to bear on his measured yet highly readable account. This is no mean achievement because the rise of Indian IT must necessarily touch on the actions and decisions of a few dozen individuals, in positions of authority, most of whom are still around. It would have been easy, with the advantage of hindsight, either to laud or to trash their actions. Sharma avoids both pitfalls. While many of the protagonists may not agree with his judgments, they will be forced to respect them for a calm and uniform objectivity.

Read full review at
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/stories/20091009262007600.htm

"Well researched, balanced, objective": SPAN

By LAURINDA KEYS LONG

SPAN, Sep-Oct 2009

One lesson from Dinesh C. Sharma’s well-written and meticulously researched history of India’s IT industry is the caution against presuming one can find a moment when this phenomenon is static long enough to examine, categorize, guide or predict it. This leads to the question: Was the book not obsolete by the time it rolled off the printing press?

The answer in this case is no. And not only because of Sharma’s skill as a story-teller who, even with a subject some might consider dry, writes with humor, a sense of adventure, painting portraits of flawed heroes, the best intentions gone awry through human hubris and just plain fallibility. For Sharma’s story, just as a classic Greek drama, has a moral, more than one. His tale reminds us of the adage that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Sharma’s book is of interest not only to historians and IT professionals, but psychologists, statisticians, and students of social and political science. His writing is also forward-looking, with a careful examination of India’s higher education system and how it can be developed to produce the graduates the country needs, not only for institutional research and national development, but to lead the businesses and private industries that will create jobs for the growing population.

Read full review at: http://span.state.gov/wwwhspseptoct0944.html

More from Bangalore launch ......

"Indira ki den hai IT kranti"

Story of a transformation

Deccan Herald, September 1, 2009

l

Dinesh Sharma’s latest book ‘The Long Revolution’, which talks about the birth and growth of India’s IT industry, was released at a City bookstore

The book The Long Revolution by Dinesh C Sharma could not have found a better place than Bangalore for its launch. As the author claimed, this City has helped him a lot in bringing about this book as it is a book about the IT industry. The book was launched by the author recently at a City bookstore. He read excerpts from the book, which was followed by a panel discussion with historian and author Ramachandra Guha, N Seshagiri, former Director General, National Informatics Centre and S Sadagopan, Director IIIT, Bangalore. The book tells the tale of a great transformation. How a country became a front-runner in the technology and knowledge-based sector and turned into the favoured investment destination for the US giants. The author has spoken about the birth and growth of India’s IT industry. In fact, this is the first book which has covered everything about the IT sector in this country. From the time of its inception till it grew to become such a big giant, all minute details are covered by Dinesh. He has also emphasised on the fact that the Government of India has played a very important role in nurturing the IT industry. The decisions taken by the government, the amendments made, the laws passed, everything has been digged out by Dinesh. Read full story here: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/22610/story-transformation.html

India's IT boom a brainchild of Indira Gandhi: New book

Business Standard, Bangalore, August 29, 2009

Rajiv Gandhi is often credited with ushering in IT revolution by implementing the new computer policy, liberalising the hardware imports in 1984 but the policy which provided a headstart to India in software exports was actually brought in by his mother Indira Gandhi weeks before her assassination, a new book on Indian IT revealed.

The 1984 policy providing the provision for software exports through satellite links was approved by Indira Gandhi's cabinet but was announced by the government headed by Rajiv Gandhi on November 19,1984, the book titled "The Long Revolution:The Birth and Growth of India's IT Industry" written by science journalist and author Dinesh C Sharma said.

It was the provision of exports via satellite which attracted American firms like Texas Instruments (TI) and opened up new gateway for software exports from India. Two other companies were licensed along with TI to set up software units with satellite links but only TI took off, it said.

In fact,a number of policy initiatives including liberalisation of policies for computer and electronics sector, rural digital telephone exchange, software technology parks and computerisation of railways, which are linked with Rajiv's era, were set in motion by Indira Gandhi after she came to power in 1980, it said.

"Post-1980, Indira Gandhi was a changed person. It was almost as if she was repenting for the excessive socialist policies unleashed under her rule in 1970s" Sharma told PTI. Dr.N.Seshagiri-former Director General of National Informatics Centre and one of the 'computer boys' of the Rajiv Gandhi era - who was present at the launch of the book here last night, said the technology initiatives of Indira Gandhi were vigorously pursued by Rajiv when he became the Prime Minister after her assassination.

Full story at: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/india\s-it-boombrainchildindira-gandhi-new-book/72150/on

"The industry is in listening mode now"

DNA Bangalore, August 29, 2009

Book by scribe launched

Indian Express, August 29, 2009

BANGALORE: Historian Ramachandra Guha on Friday released “The Long Revolution,” a book on transformation of India from the exporting spices and gems in ancient times to a frontrunner in the technology and knowledgebased sector, authored by senior journalist Dinesh C Sharma.

The book, according to Guha, is an outcome of the research by the author under the New India Fellowship programme instituted to document the post-independence India.

Dinesh C Sharma, the science editor of an English daily, said the book is an attempt to present a clearer picture on the IT revolution. “The industry has its myths and hypes, claims and counter-claims. This book is an attempt to set the record straight,” he said at the book launch.

N Seshagiri, former director general, National Informatics Centre and S Sadagopan, director, IIIT, Bangalore, participated in the panel discussion that followed.

The unlikely beginning of India's IT revolution

Times of India, August 29, 2009

BANGALORE: India's IT history is not just IT after Y2K. There's been a lot before and there's been a lot after Y2K, computer scientist and IIIT-B Director S Sadagopan told a gathering of book readers and IT professionals.

Sadagopan was speaking at a bookstore on Friday where a discussion on the IT revolution had been organized. He was forthright in stating that IT had its roots in the technology initiatives taken by scientists in the '60s and '70s, especially from great institutions like BARC and TIFR.

"My students were shocked when they read Dinesh Sharma's The Long Revolution: The Birth and Growth of India's IT Industry. They never knew that many small initiatives and the right political help at the right time made a tremendous difference. If you're used to thinking Y2K was everything about IT, you won't get to know much about technology. This book sets the perspective right by citing interesting anecdotes in the making of India's technological revolution."

N Seshagiri, former DG of National Informatics Centre, outlined the history of technology development in the country. "The signal moment was Rajiv Gandhi's initiatives. We networked the entire Asiad games and managed the show in just six months. The networking between Delhi and Mumbai was stupendous. After that, Rajiv asked me to network the entire country. That's how we became a technology nation."

Ramachandra Guha, historian, said the new book on IT would given an insight into India's history in the decades after Independence. "We at the New India Foundation are geared to generate knowledge about India's post-Independence history. I congratulate Sharma on his excellent work."

Software F1

Great research (Sharma has clearly taken his cue from Ram Guha) makes for a fascinating journey, well told

Outlook, August 3, 2009

By Sunit Arora

It never ceases to amaze how openly Indians have welcomed computers into their lives. We embrace those little boxes as symbols of efficiency, venerate them as dispensers of knowledge, even worship them. That’s why it’s completely normal that the author talks about taking “darshan” of an ageing, giant IBM mainframe at Osmania University in 1962. “The prasadam we all got was a set of punched cards,” he adds in all seriousness. Quaint—but remember, there were very few computers those days (1,000 systems in all for the entire country in 1977). That’s precisely why this book scores: it explores the terrain before the garages, barsatis and two-wheelers today’s software czars started off with, and nicely details the government’s “benevolent hand” in the birth of India’s IT industry.

Research and import-substitution were the first driving forces that aimed at building a local, self-dependent computer industry. But not much came of it—we missed the hardware bus. The real trigger was the end of IBM’s 25-year-old tenure in India in 1977. Sharma tackles this crucial phase well, arguing that IBM’s ouster was necessary and ended up giving a crucial boost to local computer fledglings like CMS and CMC. Then came the fundamental shift thanks to Rajiv Gandhi’s “computer boys”—computers were seen as serving consumers, not just as research tools. That set the stage for everything miraculously falling into place. Great research (Sharma has clearly taken his cue from Ram Guha) makes for a fascinating journey, well told.

How about another one on brilliant Indian minds shaping the second round of IT boom in faraway Silicon Valley, Dinesh?

This is the definitive story of the IT sector’s magical transformation, says SHANTANU GUHA RAY

Tehelka, July 18 2009

AS THE Indian government embarks on the unique identity card scheme, the fact that it’s chosen former Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani to head the project shows its realisation that to implement such an ambitious project (Rs 120 crore have been allocated for it in Budget 2009-10 by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee), it needs to harness one of the best brains in the information technology (IT) industry. It’s both a tribute to Indian IT and a challenge for its A-team to deliver.

The miracle of the Indian IT revolution has been tracked for a long time by science journalist Dinesh C Sharma: he was one of the few reporters whose incisive coverage of the sector — not many hacks followed it because of the technicalities involved — even impressed former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the man responsible for allowing the sector to take off in India by calling in Satyen Ghanshyam (Sam) Pitroda.

In his latest book, Sharma calls the IT revolution a miracle of the new millennium because, thanks to changed communication systems, Indians could now break the stranglehold of companies such as IBM and transform pygmy software companies into multi-million dollar enterprises. That, in turn, helped the knowledge economy expand.

In The Long Revolution, Sharma not only tells the story of how a country that was known for its export of gems, handicrafts, silk and spices became a major software exporter, but he does so in great detail, with meticulous research. And he states, with confidence, that the miracle can and will be sustained. Global economic slowdown or not, Sharma remains convinced that outsourcing will continue to mean Bangalore! Or Gurgaon, or Pune! How about another one on brilliant Indian minds shaping the second round of IT boom in faraway Silicon Valley, Dinesh

A detailed and meticulously researched account of computing

Informatics, July 2009

"A 'must read' for all IT Professionals in India"

Current Science, 25 June 2009

Reviewed by S Sadagopan

This is an unusual book in more ways than one. Right from its title it talks of the ‘long’ revolution, unlike many accounts both from India and abroad, which project Indian IT to have started with Y2K!

It is written by a person with a background in journalism, and yet the book is well researched, has copious references, includes a comprehensive index and provides due acknowledgements to

the hundreds of organizations and individuals.

Though a long book, it is immensely readable. There are nuggets (like DoE putting conditions to Fairchild Semiconductors) that are not widely known to the younger generation; these add special value to the book. All in all, a timely book that is a ‘must read’ for all IT professionals in India who are keen on ‘tracing the roots’ and anyone wanting to understand the true nature of an undoubtedly important revolution that is taking place in India over the past five decades (more visible in the past 10+ years).

'This Book is Worth its Weight'

Civil Society, April 2009

This book is worth is weight. Dinesh C Sharma tells us the fascinating story of the growth of India's IT sector from start to finish. He writes like a good journalist digging out heaps of unknown stories. Never does he bore the reader.

We get to know how the foundation of the IT boom was laid. Sharma takes us from the Nehru-Bhabha era to the Indira Gandhi years. Rajiv Gandhi's great contribution, of course, very big. He took technology to a new level by frocussing on its wider application. The growth of a ribust IT sector has a lot to do with state patronage and the importance government gave to building quality technical education.