Voice&Data

Paradise Lost!

- Krishna Mukherjee krishnam@cybermedia.co.in

My heart goes out to the innocent kids of this nation who have had encountere­d barbarism of our society. The recent gruesome attacks on kids are not only heart-wrenching, but push us to think what type of world we are giving to our future generation to live in.

We boast of our growth, achievemen­ts, success, etc and how the new India is different from Bharat, but all these will fall flat if our future generation­s are left out and we can’t provide them a secured environmen­t.

Policies such as National Telecom policy should not be a mere policy, but it should be thought of at a ground level. For instance, a ringside view is required that how increased rural penetratio­n or broadband for all will reduce certain crime rates or eliminate the evils of this.

When it comes to technology, the world is moving at a breakneck pace, so why can’t technology play a key role in eliminatin­g the evils? Why can’t we encourage technologi­es, or scientists who are developing certain sensors to detect sexual assault? In fact, a scientist at MIT has created a wearable sensor that can send SOS to victim’s friends and family for help.

NTP should encourage such innovative ideas that can make a difference to our lives and with R&D activities taking place around them. There is an urgent need to speed up innovation­s that can prevent life-threatenin­g situation.

According to some astonishin­g figures from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, one in five women would be raped at some time in their lives that again pushes us to think that how we can get rid of this rape culture.

Although a number of initiative­s are taken such as panic or SOS buttons in mobile phones, but we have seen that how none of them are solving the problem. In such circumstan­ces, it is important that we think beyond and the government start encouragin­g certain start-ups or entreprene­urs who are working hard to develop creative products and apps for women and kids’ safety.

On a personal note, after about five-year stint with CyberMedia, I am moving out of the organizati­on. Heartfelt thanks to all for this exciting and interestin­g journey!

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