Computer Science conundrum

 

If you have watched the web series Lost in Space, then you can definitely empathize with Information Technologists. Both suffer from the same fate of BEING HOMELESS. In the series, ‘Lost in Space’, few enthusiastic astronomers travel in space to discover life on another planet. In the process, they are lost in translation and keep hopping from one planet to another. The same is the case with IT practitioners. They begin their journey of designing and building new applications in different domains but in the process, they move far away from their own domain of core Computer Science and keep hopping from one application to another. And during this process, the core domain develops so fast that one often feels light years away from it making it really difficult to come back home.

Every day there is so much new happening in this field that people in ICT often feel outpaced by the pace of new development and research. Take for example, till 2008, smartphones were nowhere in the picture, and then suddenly smartphone, and the android operating systems emerged. While technologists were adjusting to this change, Artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning came to the forefront. In parallel, the traditional client-server architecture made way for cloud computing and the cloud became ubiquitous and the whole notion of DevOps changed in a span of 2-3 years. Cybercrime, Datacenter technologies, Software-defined networks and a host of other development happened in a short frame of time that an engineering degree syllabus started looking dwarf and incomplete. Therefore, the biggest challenge which people in ICT face is how to remain connected with HOME in the face of fast-changing contours of technology. 

The key to making a successful career in computer science is to learn, unlearn, and relearn on a continuous basis. The moment you stop learning new technologies, you would simply become obsolete in the field. However, this is a simplified understanding of the subject. People in different job profiles require different strategies to connect with “HOME”. 

The highest in the varna hierarchy of Computer Science are Researchers, Professors, and Core Technologists like engineers at Google and Apple. They rely on research conferences, literature survey, pilot projects, and group-based learning. They have a free and vibrant atmosphere in the university or company which is deeply motivating and helps in updating their knowledge base.

The second in the rung are Technologist, Programmer, Architect, or Team leads in the service-based industry often working to apply the tools of Computer Science in other domains.   Oftentimes, their employer deploys a full battery of HR experts whose main job is to keep the work force up to date with help of sponsored training or on the job hands on training.

The real challenge lies for people working in the government sector as IT professionals. The general atmosphere is not conducive to learning. The security of government jobs and hierarchical setup further takes away any incentive to learn and apply one’s skill. The domain experts often confuse them with contract employees or consultants. Hence a sense of ownership is difficult to develop. The feeling of homelessness is most poignant and incisive for these classes of people. Ironically, they are the poorest in the clan. The limitations of salary do not even allow them to prepare for any mid-life crisis, unlike their private-sector counterparts.

Considering above challenges across the spectrum, it would be good if following things could be institutionalized for IT professionals across the world:

1.     Every workplace should have provision for sponsored training and industry-academia-research linkages.

2.     The working week should be either 4 days or the per day working hours be reduced to 6 hours so that rest time could be spent on learning about new technologies.

3.     Computer Science should be branched out into different sub-branches. The time has come to declare it as a new mother of all branches.

4.     Super specialization should be a must. An emphasis should be placed on projects rather than formal degrees.

However, one should not discount the luxury of being homeless because only a true wanderer with no bonding or desires can achieve real salvation in life.