Bengaluru: Infosys co-founder and chairman of the Governing Body of International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B) Kris Gopalakrishnan on Sunday said that spending more on research is essential to improve the economy and to ensure progress of the nation.
At IIITB’s 18th convocation, he said, “While South Korea spends 4.2% of its GDP on research as an economy driven by innovation, India with 0.8% spending should soon see how essential it is. Spending on creating new knowledge is essential. The private sector should contribute at least 10 times more of what they do now to build an economy driven by innovation.”
Earlier, Mr Gopalakrishnan and Prof V. Ramgopal Rao, Director of IIT-Delhi, gave away degrees to 280 graduates from different postgraduate programmes – the largest-ever batch to graduate in the IIITB history since its inception in 1999.
Prof Rao said that the universities in the country need more restructuring to ensure quality and effective education. The quality of faculty, rather than the infrastructure, contributes to the prestige of a college/university. “Students should turn into job-providers and not job-seekers. They should connect to society to ensure R&D is delivered to the needy at the right time,” he said.
“Students should gain a global perspective and adopt a do-it-yourself (DIY) and multidisciplinary approach. Faculty members should adapt updated technological ways of teaching,” he said.
Dr Aloknath De, Chief Technology Officer, Samsung, advised students to be ‘learners for life’ and update their knowledge regularly to stay relevant.
While 175 students were awarded a M.Tech degree, 56 and 31 students received their degrees in Integrated M.Tech and M.Tech (sponsored by Samsung) respectively. IIIT-B director S. Sadagopan congratulated eight students who are pursuing Ph.Ds from renowned universities, including Harvard.
