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Traditionally,
information-like water-has flowed from higher levels to lower, from
large reservoirs to millions of dispersed users. Almost all conventional
technologies encouraged and facilitated this. Print, radio and television:
each of these works on the model of a centralised 'source' disseminating
information through a channel to a large number of 'recipients.'
This conventional model of source-channel-recipient was monetised
through the business paradigm in which multiple users (the receivers
of information) are the source of revenue, either directly (through
book sales, for example) or indirectly (through advertising revenues)
or by a combination of the two (magazines and newspapers).
In using modern information technology, the
business models have largely followed the conventional pattern.
Web sites, for example, aim to attract millions of users and generate
revenues either through a subscription fee, or by carrying advertisements
and charging the advertiser, or both. In the fledging area of e-governance,
a similar approach has been adopted, with a business model based
on users often paying a fee for specific services.
Looking at these models, one is struck by the fact that they use
only minimally the two-way and anyone-to-anyone connectivity features
of it networks. Thus, for example, in downloading information from
the Internet, the return link is used only for queries. This gives
rise to asymmetric information flows, with a large volume of data
flowing in one direction (downloading) and very little data (a search
or query) in the other. Also, revenue flows, if any, are entirely
one-way with each user paying for information that is downloaded.
Making better and fuller use of the potential of it requires a complete
recast of this traditional information flow and of the conventional
business model. In the new paradigm, the information would flow
in both directions, giving rise to corresponding two-way revenue
flows. Thus, a villager may not only download information from a
local or global database, he would also upload information onto
the Net.
The range of possibilities for this new model
are truly vast, and constrained only by our imagination. Consider,
as one example, packaged goods. The manufacturer needs to know regularly,
as soon and as accurately as possible, the sales and stock positions
of each product, in each size and of every brand. This is essential
information for despatch, and also for inventory management and
for manufacturing. It may also determine advertising and marketing
strategy. A system whereby he gets near-instantaneous reports on
sales from each of the tens of thousands of outlets would obviously
be invaluable in optimising the efficiency of the supply chain.
Similarly, the government too needs and already
collects data (somewhat inefficiently, and with questions about
the authenticity) on all kinds of issues at the local level. In
this situation, as also in the example of the packaged goods, a
local information kiosk, accessible to all, supplemented by the
data-gathering and local knowledge capability of an entrepreneur,
can provide all the specific information required. This information
can be uploaded to a company network server or to a government database,
as the case may be. Since this information is of great value, both
(corporates and the government) should be more than willing to pay
for it.
This reverses the traditional source-receiver
model, and brings in a new architecture. There is a now a two-way
flow, and a two-way transaction. The village kiosk is no longer
a mere receiver of information-often paid for-but also a generator
of information that, in turn, is uploaded. This information will
be paid for by the users. The concept is of a grid, with contributions
(inputs) from any of the nodes. Thus, even remote villages are not
to be seen as merely passive recipients of information that is provided
by some all-knowing source; rather, each community is also a generator
of information, and gets paid for all the relevant information that
it puts out. In a sense, this stands the traditional information
architecture on its head, as it does the business model. Water,
it seems, can be made to flow uphill.
These are the personal views
of author and not necessarily of NASSCOM. The author can be reached
at kkarnik@nasscom.org
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