Re: [Pakistan] IT is not a magic wand

["Walther Warnaar" <warnaar@compuserve.com>]

> IT is not a magic wand
> By Pervez Hoodbhoy

Thank you for your very interesting article. I'm living in Bangladesh, and
many things apply equally here.
I cannot say anything about Pakistan, but may I make a few comments with the
Bangladeshi situation in mind?

You discuss the role of government. What I think government here should do
is not so much take action, but mainly keep out. State involvement will
probably create more problems than it will solve. The only roles I see for
the government is ensuring and enforcing good legislature e.g. regarding
property
rights, and improvement of Internet infrastructure.

Certainly education is important. But I disagree that non-academic IT
courses are useless. You state that Fortran programmers are seen as "quaint
relics, belonging to the age of dinosaurs". That might be true, but somebody
who really understood Fortran programming in the 70's, will certainly have
moved on to C++ or Java, and still be able to use his understanding gained
when using Fortran.
Here in Bangladesh, many people working in IT have a degree in other
subjects, such as statistics or applied physics. That will not hamper
development; the analytical skills needed for software development are the
same as the skills needed for these other subjects. The real problem in
education might be that, traditionally, education here is more aimed at
knowledge than at skills and real understanding. And, indeed, knowledge
becomes outdated very fast.

If Bangladesh succeeds in setting up an export-oriented software industry,
it will be due to the many young entrepreneurs who are now starting IT
companies. The competition between them will automatically lead to improved
quality. Especially when they'll work for foreign customers who will demand
higher quality and business standards.
By the same token, I'm much more optimistic that out of the large number of
IT training institutes we have in Dhaka, some real good ones will evolve,
than about the possibility that the government can set up many new
universities.

Of course, these things take time, because, indeed, IT is not a magic wand.
So let's hope that the investors who now invest in IT do have the patience
needed before they get real returns.

Best regards,
Walther Warnaar