‘Research must ask the right questions, sensitise technologists, communicate effectively to stakeholders’ Premium

While the problems may look common, what is different is the source of these problems in each city and how they affect the different inhabitants in each city, says Balaji Parthasarathy, faculty at IIIT-Bangalore and Principal Investigator at Fairworks India project. Part of IIIT-B’s Centre for Information Technology and Public Policy (CITAPP), an interdisciplinary research and advocacy centre that focuses on the policy challenges and the organisational demands made by technological innovation, Parthasarathy speaks to The Hindu about the works of CITAPP, the role of research in sensitising technologists, policymakers and other stakeholders about the social implications of technology, and why it is crucial to ask the larger questions.

As a city grows, so do its problems. In the years 2022 and 2024 Bengaluru witnessed some of the worst floods in its history, whereas 2023 was a year of drought. The latest TomTom traffic index has rated the city’s traffic as the third slowest in the world. Plumes of dust from construction debris, potholes and vehicular emission have ensured soaring levels of air pollution in the city.

However, many of these problems are not unique to Bengaluru. Inundated roads and railway tracks during monsoon have become a yearly phenomenon in Mumbai, while Kolkata has the second slowest traffic as per the TomTom index. Pollution levels in Delhi skyrocket every winter.

While the problems may look common, what is different is the source of these problems in each city and how they affect the different inhabitants in each city, says Balaji Parthasarathy, faculty at IIIT-Bangalore and Principal Investigator at Fairworks India project. Part of IIIT-B’s Centre for Information Technology and Public Policy (CITAPP), an interdisciplinary research and advocacy centre that focuses on the policy challenges and the organisational demands made by technological innovation, Parthasarathy speaks to The Hindu about the works of CITAPP, the role of research in sensitising technologists, policymakers and other stakeholders about the social implications of technology, and why it is crucial to ask the larger questions.