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Future is Radiant in Computer Science 
 
  

There has been considerable confusion recently among students and educators about the value of Computer Science education. Global trends of IT recession have dampened the interest of parents, students and educators on computer science programs. In this 5-part series, we will address and analyze this confusion. We will provide facts, figures and descriptions of trends in Computer Science education career opportunities worldwide. 

The focus of these articles, as summarized in the title, is to establish that computer science remains an exceptionally promising, challenging, and lucrative career area. We need several of our brightest students to embrace this area to help India retain and strengthen its position as an intellectual and entrepreneurial superpower in computer science. 

Unfortunately, we in India view computer science through the view glass of Western market trends that percolate into India. Very few of us get a direct knowledge of the field. Let us try and summarize the recent history of IT in India, to elaborate this point. 

A brief history of IT in India:

Liberalization of Government policies in early 1990’s led to the substantial and rapid strengthening of several computer science majors, such as Infosys and Wipro. The focus of these companies on quality, market expansion and cost effectiveness led them to bringing hundreds of millions of dollars of solutions projects to India. In addition, the business of providing trained manpower as consultants to the Developed World thrived, generating large short-term profits. On the basis of the short-term successes, agencies in India and throughout the world predicted a rapid growth of outsourcing opportunities in India. Consequently computer science education programs mushroomed in the country.

It is important to note that, although the above growth in numbers was substantial, it was one-dimensional. Number of programmers increased, and so did the number of solution companies that supported these programmers through dollar-funded projects. The basic foundation for success however remained as dollar-rupee conversion. Intellectuals and experts in India and abroad were keenly aware that this trend was not to stay forever. They had warned the markets about “irrational exuberance”.

US hi-tech stock markets, which soared between 1996-2000, started self-correcting in the early part of this century. Internet companies, which got enormous funds based just on back-of-the-envelop proposals, started realizing that “sticky eyeballs” alone are not sufficient to sustain a business. They realized that business, whether computer or Internet-based or conventional, had to run by the same basic principles of controlling costs and generating surplus revenues. Considerable consolidation happened in the telecommunication sector, resulting in tens of thousands of jobs being lost in computer-connected companies like Lucent. Hundreds of start up companies worldwide closed down. NYSE, NASDAQ and other stock markets took considerable beating, and a lot of Indians in areas like the Silicon Valley lost their jobs and returned to India. Companies in India whose fortunes were intertwined with those of their US counterparts also either downsized significantly or closed shop. This entire phenomenon of “IT Coming Of Age” was referred to in the media as the bursting of the IT bubble. Seeing that many computer companies which started with large promises closed down, and that the recruitment in large established companies went down significantly, the enthusiasm of Indian parents and students about computer science significantly came down. 

The lessons

The history of the bubble bursting is important because we as a society should examine it and put it into context. For example in the years following the invention of electricity there was a craze for everyone to get into a profession directly connected with electricity. This surge of interest is essential to ensure rapid initial expansion. As the field matures, however, speculative enterprises get closed down or corrected, and opportunities become more stable. We are witnessing the same trend in IT in India. Information Technology in India is passing adolescence.

As a population matured in education, we need to examine and appreciate Computer Science not just as a fad, but as a fundamental step forward in science and technology. IT bubble bursting is a historical statement about stock market’s irrational exuberance in the West. It is not a statement about the relevance of Information Technology worldwide, or about India’s IT abilities. 

There exist thousands of organizations worldwide, which are still using non-automated methods of data collection, storage and analysis. The productivity of these organizations will radically improve through computerization, and computerization is bound to reach these entities. Very few governmental, non-governmental and private activities in India have seen the benefits of computerization. Tens of thousands of computer-savvy young men and women are required to change the face of governance and private enterprise in India alone. Every day there are substantial innovations in areas like healthcare, biology, biotechnology, law enforcement, engineering, fashion design, etc which makes computer science inseparable from the future of these disciplines. Tens of thousands of individuals, with skills in computer science as well as one of the above domain areas are required. Even in conventional computer science areas such as computer architecture, algorithm design, data storage and sharing, etc., new and substantial advances are being made everyday, which require thousands of trained professionals to implement and enhance them. Large corporations throughout the world are fast realizing and embracing Indian capabilities in high-end work in computer science, such as in research, system design, security auditing, etc.

In the remaining four parts of this series, we will cover specific opportunities and advances in computer science worldwide. We will analyze the computer science job market, segment-wise, for entering and expert professionals. We will discuss the new flavors and skills that computer science students require for these emerging job opportunities. Let us conclude this article by saying that the future is stable, exciting and extremely bright in computer science.

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