Research On The Establishment And Development Of Computer Discipline In Indian Institutes Of Technology

The Indian Institutes of Technology(IITs)established by the Indian government are regarded as the key representative of institutes of national importance and the product of significant innovation and reform in the Indian higher educational system.The computer education of IITs has a great influence both in India and the world.It has cultivated lots of world-renowned advanced computer talents.These computer talents enjoy an international reputation and have become the employees chased by many influential multinational companies.The cultivation process of computer talents from the birth,growth,and expansion is consistent with the historical development process of the computer discipline from its establishment,development and make it become first a domestic first-class discipline and then a world-renowned discipline ultimately.Compared with the world Class universities and disciplines of the developed countries in Europe and America,the growth path of the computer discipline of IITs is more valuable for Chinese higher educational system because China and India are relatively similar in terms of national conditions and historical development backgrounds.The Chinese universities would benefit from the successful experience that IITs has gained in constructing a world-class discipline,successfully conducting computer education and effectively playing a role of serving for the social economic development as a result.The dissertation probes into the historical development of computer discipline of IITs in a three-dimensional and systematic way by adopting historical research method,case study and literature research method.By analyzing the characteristics of different historical stages,the dissertation explores the features and interactions of the necessary elements of the discipline construction such as academic platform,faculty,scientific research,talent training,academic exchanges,management systems and social services in a chronological order.The aim of the research is to summarize the construction experience of the computer discipline of IITs,point out the shortcomings in the discipline construction and clarify the historical value of building a world-class discipline in China.The research is developed and expounded in detail attentively.The computer discipline of IITs formally came into existence in 1963 with the establishment of Computer Center in IIT Kanpur as the main symbol.The computer education carried out in Computer Center,Electrical Engineering Department and Mathematics Department in the early development period from 1963 to 1982.A more standardized academic platform established in 1983 when the Department of Computer Science and Engineering was formally established.Relying on the more professional academic platform,the computer discipline of IITs develops vigorously and rapidly with diversified academic projects and more practical research activities conducted.Indian government has given great support to it in terms of national financial expenditure and national policies from the very beginning.In the 1980 s,computer discipline quickly climbs in the first ladder within India with series of measures taken by Indian government in terms of academic platform,faculty,scientific research,talent training,academic exchanges and social services.In 1992,“Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer” established in IIT Delhi,which marks the discipline ushering a new period of sustainable development.It is a platform that industries integrate with IITs and promote together.From the perspective of serving for the country’s economic and social development,computer discipline actively undertakes government-sponsored and enterprises consultancy projects.It not only maintains a high degree of consistency with the national science and technology policy as well as national development strategy but also promotes a novel model of the coordinated development of enterprises and universities and a collaborative education conducted by them.Driven by the wave of the world information revolution and guided by the national strategic goal of establishing a superpower in the information technology industry,the computer science discipline of IITs has continuously developed and improved steadily.The outstanding computer talents cultivated have played an important professional role in internationally renowned computer companies.It is necessary to summarize the main reasons for the rapid rise of the computer discipline of IITs from the core elements of discipline construction.It is reasonable to conclude that the rapid development of it results from the combination of both external and internal factors.The external factors refer to the development of world computer technology and computer revolution as a global environment as well as the strategy of developing science and technology vigorously and establishing a computer superpower by the Indian government as a national environment.The internal factors refer to a series of measures taken by IITs to promote the discipline platform,faculty quality,scientific research,talent training,academic exchanges and social services.Finally,the dissertation concludes the main reasons for the rapid development of computer discipline in IITs.It includes the following elements,for example,clarifying the development direction by following the national development strategy closely,paying great attention to high-level faculty team to provide enough manpower,promoting the sustainable development by advocating interdisciplinary cooperation,deepening international exchanges by making good use of international aid as well as providing financial guarantee through seeking varied financial support.In recent years,the discipline construction has encountered some problems.The following should be taken into consideration.The Indian government has interfered in management and might weaken academic autonomy as a result to some extent.Some challenges come from the insufficient quantity of outstanding faculties,which causes the unbalanced state of the rapid development of the discipline.The output of high-level scientific research is not as fruitful as before which may influence its international reputation.However,just as the ancient Chinese saying goes“Stones from other mountains can grind jade” which means wise men can learn from other’s valuable experience and correct their own.Without any doubt,the enlightenment of the computer discipline construction and development of IITs is valuable to consult and learn.