ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Technology and Security: Challenges for Diplomacy
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and marketing support to make the product competitive. The lack of proper
understanding of these complex issues at the policy level has resulted in overall
lack of competitive success, except for sporadic success by an individual
company.
Towards India’s aspirations for technology leadership, it may be worthwhile
to make an assessment of its existing strengths and select one or two
technologies for scaling-up to international standards in each five-year plan
period. Such a scale-up in planning, funding and execution can allow the
country as a whole to be recognised as an important player in an increasing
number of high-tech areas. This could enable India to become a partner in
international S&T mega-missions and perhaps invite talent and funding from
across the world for cross fertilisation of knowledge and expertise at an
international level.
The present time period represents a unique window of opportunity for
international cooperation in high technology. After years of being a target of
technology controls, India is finally getting the recognition for its indigenous
technology maturity and responsible international conduct. The sheer strength
of the knowledge based workforce in India has created a new face for India to
qualify as a very important partner in techno-economic affairs of the world.
It is imperative that policy makers and administrators take serious note of
this historic opportunity and steer the country to new heights in science and
technology in the 21 st century.
International Relations and Diplomacy in a Globalised World
There has been an interesting shift from traditional and often secret diplomacy
of the 20 th century to the ‘modern diplomacy’ of the post-cold war era, to the
more recent ‘open diplomacy’. The global integration of ICT and increasing
use of the world-wide-web has enabled unprecedented dissemination of a
variety of information. Information accessibility and transparency has also
undergone a sea change. Internet, just about 25 years young in the public
domain, is having a profound impact on international affairs. The digital media
is a many-to-many type of information technology. From a technology
perspective all this has been possible only due to transformations in digital
electronics and advances in ultra-fast communication technologies, which is
so intrinsic that it is seldom recognised.
The most valuable component of the new media for diplomats is the
ability to listen to new audiences and better understand their views and values.