Five decades ago, it took many months to calculate corporate accounts, but now it could be done in a day with the help of computers, said Dr M K Panduranga Setty, President of Rashtreeya Sikshana Samiti Trust, while inaugurating a three-day meet on Computer, Communication, Control and Instrumentation (3CI) in R V College of Engineering here.

“Years ago the Communists objected to the use of computers in office, saying people may lose jobs if computers took away their tasks,” Dr Setty said. “But now more people are employed because of computers,” he added.
RV College received 150 scientific papers from Indian Institutes of Technology across the country and other colleges, out of which 88 were selected for discussion during the conference. Speakers from abroad will make presentations on the sub-areas of 3CI.

“The 3CI system is inter-dependan. Those who are already familiar with the subject as well as those who are not, well, I wish them all a very nice experience,” said John Schmalzel, Vice President of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Society (IEEE).

Three days
Former Karnataka Higher Education minister D H Shankara Murthy said he remembered a time when it took three days to connect an outstation call from one state to another, or from somewhere in India to London.

“A communication revolution has happened now,” Murthy said. “You can broadcast this event to the US in seconds unlike five decades ago,” he added.

He gave the example of the political row between the JD(S) and the BJP to explain what a revolution in communication means. “You could be in the US and yet see live what’s happening in Karnataka,” Murthy said.

Meanwhile, the audience agreed with Panduranga Setty’s view that events for students with international participation do not get much support in India. “A business technology event in the US for students was quite a success. In India, such events are rare and people must come forward to support,” he said.

R V College was recently in the news after its students designed and manufactured a racing car. Named ‘Ashwa’, the team that made the racing car at the college workshop in November 2003 had won many awards in Australia and Germany ever since.

“Apart from the racing team, our students have excelled in other fields too,” said Dr S C Sharma, Principal of R V College. The 3CI conference will end on November 23. Students and speakers from India and abroad will discuss papers submitted by the participants.