Generated locally, distributed globally
Infosys’ Learning Services recently conducted a panel discussion on the topic “ The new world of Learning “. We are running a series of questions that the audience posed. The panelists were - Srikantan Moorthy, Vice President and Head - Education and Research; Dr. Srinivas Padmanabhuni, Principal Researcher- SETLabs and Kaiser Masood, Principal Consultant, Infosys Leadership Institute.
How is local knowledge existing in certain pockets is being shared/distributed globally?
Srikantan Moorthy (Tan)
This question of how can local knowledge be used for disseminating knowledge – if that is the context of the question, I think the language of communication needs to be what will apply to the people who are going to get it and for whom it is intended. If it is intended for a group of people who understand a particular language in the local community, certainly that language has to be in that local language, in terms of how it is communicated. Now, if the intent is to reach to a larger audience, then you have to look at the language that the larger audience understands.
Therefore that is where the English language plays a role in terms of knowledge dissemination and that applies even to what is being shared. I mean if you are a programmer then you would share a lot of things related to programming with a programming community. So it is about the community to which that knowledge applies, not only in terms of the physical language but also in terms of the form of expression.
I think it has to apply in a way that it is effective for the learner and I think that has to be the guiding principle for what you have chosen to use for the dissemination of context.
Extending that a level further, for example, we are rapidly growing as an organization and we started this huge center in Mexico. There will be local learning from knowledge residing in those people, the local culture as well as the way in which they address problems. How do you address the challenge of assimilating that at an organization level so that those learnings can be applied in a larger context as well?
Srikantan Moorthy (Tan)
It is a great question. There again I think technology plays a role, so that knowledge management is an important vehicle for both the capture and dissemination of knowledge. For example, while we started the center in Mexico we launched KM at China for our ability to go and capture the nuances of the local needs which then get translated across for the larger community. Even the reverse scenario wherein something someone learnt, say in London, can then be used in China.
So the use of a knowledge management kind of an environment is our answer to ensure the playing ground is leveled in terms of the access to information that is generated anywhere in the organization.
Dr. Srinivas Padmanabhuni
To add to that, the technologies we are talking about which can act as enablers to make such knowledge management possible are right here. It is Web2.0. It is about the web, it is about virtual reality. If you were talking about playing a role in a massively multi-user, virtual reality game in Second Life, I don’t know whether you are German or whether you are from Sri Lanka or from Jalandhar in India. It does not matter. You are in the ‘second world’, and it is a great leveler.
So in that sense, the web is a great leveler. Today, in fact, even when we are developing applications say written in an open language like Java, we make sure that internationalization is done so that even a Japanese web browser should be able to display it with minimal contextualization.
Similarly, if you look at even the greatest knowledge source that has emerged from Web2, which is Wikipedia, today we have emerging language Wikipedia in each language. We even have it in Indian languages -- there are some 16 language Wikipedia including ones in Hindi and Kannada. We have tremendous sources of knowledge in local dialect and language which can be captured via this technology. I think that way we have to make sure and understand that technology is probably the greatest leveler and is probably the answer to addressing the challenges of a global distribution of knowledge dissemination.
Kaiser Masood
Just one point which I wanted to add, more from a linguistic point of view. I think any language develops within the context of a certain culture and also the entire milieu in which it was born. We have already seen how language has transformed. I think if the milieu is technology-enabled learning and other services, it is going to continue to do that to an extent. At some point of time, whether you are using Hindi, French, English, there is going to be a set of terminologies and the words in them are going to be so common that out of all of this interaction quite a few symbols and languages will emerge which are totally of this generation.
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