The European Commission (EC) is keen on enhancing the
partnership with India in the ICT R&D domain via the Framework Programme (FP). Several
projects were funded under FP6 and again FP 7 was formulated with focused areas.
Joint Working Group (JWG) also identified technology priority areas common to
India and EU member states. Despite all this, doubt lingers what is a priority
area for India? Identifying R&D projects of relevance to industrialized countries
was relatively easier as the thrust was on State- Of- Art (SOA) knowledge . Catching up economies like
India the demand is for State- of-Market (SOM) technology and contours of SOM
appear hazy.
Scenario writing, Expert opinion are some of the popular Technology
Forecasting (TF) techniques and Delphi technique was widely used in Japan
and USA. Dr Mary Mathew of IISc has taken up this study and came up with a set
of expert opinion using Delphi. The process is more important than the result
and I feel this process gives much better insights than typical committee meetings. This study by Dr Mary Mathews is one of the few Indian cases on Delhi and a must read for all those interested in TF.
