[Reader-list] on the mit media lab/india

[geert lovink]

from: www.outlookindia.com

Tough Tech Off  
The MIT Media Lab Asia promises technology for the
masses. But will the corporates pool in? 
 
MANU JOSEPH 

On June 24, Union minister for information technology
Pramod Mahajan widened his grin and told a crowded
Oberoi room in Mumbai: "I'm pleased to get into this
argument with the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (mit)..." He turned a bit serious, of
course, and corrected 'argument' to 'agreement'. Some
may say that it was an omen, but as things stand, the
Government of India has signed a deal with MIT to
create what is called Media Lab Asia. The original mit
Media Lab is, of course, a legendary research unit,
and along with Bell Labs, perhaps the world's
best-known centre for futuristic information
technology initiatives.  
   
The Asia venture will work towards bringing technology
to the masses, creating cheap products that the
poorest of rural Indians can afford and innovate ways
and means through which healthcare and
disaster-management can be improved.

It's all for a good cause.  
 
But it needs money. Media Lab Asia is being touted as
a billion-dollar project. The first year will be an
exploratory period, with the government playing the
beneficiary-it has promised Rs 65 crore or $14
million. Based on the success of the first year, the
government will sign a 10-year agreement with the mit.
Of the $1 billion required, 20 per cent is expected to
come from the government and the rest-$800 million (Rs
3,600 crore)-has to come from non-governmental
sources, primarily from the private sector. And that's
precisely where the hitch lies. Will the Indian IT
segment put in money? 

While the global rate of corporate investment in r&d
is 12 to 14 per cent of the turnover, the figure for
Indian companies is about 1.5 per cent. The government
hopes the mit brand will attract Indian corporates.
The mit Media Lab has over 800 sponsors but India
could be a different scenario. 

An Infosys spokesman said it was too early for the
company to say whether it will be a sponsor. But
Nandan Nilekani, Infosys MD, acknowledges the worth of
the lab. Says he: "This lab, in the Mumbai-Pune
Knowledge Corridor, will be an important step. The
fact that the mit has selected India is a measure of
the importance that the global IT community accords to
India." 

India beat countries like South Korea, China and
Singapore to bag the honours. But the first year will
be an anxious period for all concerned. Says Mahajan:
"This is not a public sector enterprise. In fact, I
want the government to have nothing to do with it in
the near future. The autonomy of the lab depends on a
healthy corporate participation." S. Ramakrishnan,
senior director with the IT ministry, adds: "A crucial
factor during the evaluation of the project, at the
end of the first year, will be the enthusiasm of the
corporate segment. If we are eventually able to raise
Rs 6 crore from them in the first year we'll be
happy."

The biggest incentive for the corporate sponsors is
that they will have free access to the intellectual
property rights (ipr) of the products created in the
lab. Says Mahajan: "The ipr will be shared on a
non-exclusive basis by all the sponsors. Doesn't
matter if one company has put in 1 million and another
has put in 100 million." The entry cost for a company
to qualify as a sponsor is, however, yet to be worked
out. But Indian companies as also the foreign
corporates-like Microsoft and ibm-who may want to be
part of the lab, are worried about the Indian
government's competence in tackling the ipr issue.
Says noted academician R.S. Ganapathy: "The ipr issue
hasn't been completely sorted out.Will there be a two-
or three-year period after which a company can buy off
the royalty for an innovation? Or, will all sponsors
equally share the rights over the products forever?
Corporates need to be very sure that they can make
money at the end of the day." He points out that
corporate sponsorship is extremely vital for the
effectiveness of the lab because, "if the government
stake is more than 40 per cent then, constitutionally,
no employee of the lab can earn more than Rs 25,000 a
month. This will directly affect the quality of human
resource."

But the academic head of mit Media Lab, Alex Pentland,
who is also the chief of Media Lab Asia, is
optimistic. Says he: "There are some negative comments
about how the money may be spent and other such
issues. But otherwise everybody is excited."