Kalam moots World Knowledge Platform

President A P J Abdul Kalam has mooted the idea of creating a World Knowledge Platform that seeks to integrate the core competencies of partner countries to develop knowledge products.

“This platform will enable joint design, development, cost effective production and marketing of knowledge products in various domains, based on core competence of partner nations, to the international market”, said Kalam in his address to the sixth annual convocation of Visvesvaraya Technological University at Belgaum in north Karnataka yesterday.

He cited as an example the successful joint venture between India and Russia that harnessed the core competencies of the two countries despite their different culture, language and design standards. “The product that has come out is of world class, much ahead of other countries, due to the joint working of best of minds from both the countries. This proves that if core competencies of nations are combined, best of knowledge products can emanate well ahead of time”, he said.

Kalam said the proposed World Knowledge Platform should take up missions in Energy, Water, Healthcare, Food, Knowledge Products and Automobile sector in a bid to make the world a safe, sustainable, peaceful and prosperous place to live in.

The World Knowledge Platform could well turn out be a launch pad for many innovations that are waiting to be unearthed only by the combined power of partnering countries.

The concept of convergence of technologies will also play a significant role in the creation of the World Knowledge Platform, he said. After Information Technology and Communication Technology converged to become Information and Communication Technology, Information Technology combined with Bio Technology, leading to Bio-informatics. “Now nano-technology is knocking on our doors. It is the field of the future that has tremendous application potential in the areas of medicine, electronics and material science”, he said.

Through convergence of technologies, Kalam spoke about the creation of a new science called “Intelligent Bio-Science” that promises to lead to a disease-free, happy and more intelligent human habitat with longevity and high human capabilities. “Convergence of bio-nano-info technologies can lead to development of nano robots, which when injected into a patient, are expected to diagnose and deliver treatment exclusively in the affected area”, he said.

Kalam revealed that India was working towards achieving energy security by 2010, leading to realization of energy independence by 2030.
Energy security has achieved importance with the era of wood and bio-mass almost nearing its end and the area of oil and natural gas predicted to be exhausted in the next few decades. The world energy forum has predicted that fossil-based oil, coal and gas reserves will last for another five to ten decades, he said.