utilitarian science bus standard editorial

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Utilitarian science Published : May 12, 2003 The successful launch by the Indian

Space Research Organisation (ISRO) of the GSLV II which has put a 1.8 tonne

satellite in geosynchronous orbit takes the Indian space effort one step nearer

towards a commercial dimension. In the not too distant future, India will be

able to join a select band of countries like the US, Russia, China and some

European countries who are in the business of commercially launching satellites

for others.

As is to be expected of a newcomer, ISRO will initially aim at becoming a niche

player at the smaller end of the market with the capability to launch 2-tonne

satellites. Currently there is stagnation in this business but to have a

capability is to be ready to grab the opportunity when the market becomes

better and more accessible. The last week has also been marked by another

important announcement that strides the world of science and commerce.

The joint venture between BEL and PicoPeta Simputers is ready to commercially

launch the Simputer in the Indian market.

The Simputer is a simple, cheap pocket computer created by professors at the

Indian Institute of Science which is as easy to use as pen and paper. Through

this device its creators seek to take the fruits of the latest computing

technology in an affordable and easy-to-use form to ordinary people to improve

their lives and incomes.

A little earlier in the year, the first Indian-designed commercial aircraft, the

14-seater Saras, developed by the National Aerospace Laboratories, was rolled

out before the Bangalore airshow. The aircraft, which can serve as a short haul

commercial airliner or executive jet should be in commercial production in a

couple of years. Compared to many other ongoing Indian aeronautical projects,

Saras has worked to a specific budget and time frame and kept its deadlines.

Because of its advanced avionics and low development cost, its developers

expect it to find a market beyond India.

There is a common theme running through these three projects, which is

relatively new to state-funded Indian science — a commercial orientation.

ISRO had a utilitarian approach right from the beginning. But with time it is

both involving the private sector in getting its job done and, through its

increasingly active commercial arm Antrix Corporation, seeking to earn a tidy

buck.

The Simputer marks a sea change in the attitude of scientists at India’s

top research centre, indicating an attempt to use the fruits of science to

break price barriers and produce devices that are both useful and have a mass

market. As for Saras, with luck it will set to rest the long running criticism

that Indian aeronautics has lagged behind, while the space effort has pushed

forward when the global sequence has been the reverse.

Right up to the eighties, India produced scientific skills merely to feed the

brain drain while the foreign exchange-starved exchequer scrounged around the

world for technology. The three examples cited show that Indian scientific

skills are going well beyond software to develop products and services which

are highly affordable even while being hi-tech. If this orientation digs in,

Indian science will play a key role in building a strong economy and removing

poverty.