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Having spent more than a decade with C-DAC, Rushikesh Rajendra was involved as a member of the core team, when the Advanced Computing Training School (ACTS) was set up. Through the columns of ‘First Person’, Rushikesh Rajendra reflects on his involvement with C-DAC and ACTS.
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Recently the Advanced Computing Training School (ACTS) of C-DAC completed seven years of its existence.

The training activities of C-DAC started in the form of short duration workshops of 2-3-5 days, and the first ever workshop on Parallel Processing was conducted in C-DAC on December 28, 1992. Thereafter, a series of workshops on Advanced Computing topics such as Parallel Processing, Data Communication and Networking, Digital Multimedia, Library Networking, X Windows and Motif were conducted at Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad. A consistent feedback of the participants in these workshops was that C-DAC should formulate a formal course in Advanced Computing and this was the genesis of the first ever-formal course called the Diploma in Advanced Computing (DAC).

The journey of ACTS over the last seven years has been full of both turbulence and triumphs. C-DAC’s ACTS today has reached to a stage where it can visualize a situation of generating enough surplus for C-DAC to meet its revenue expenses.

The growth of ACTS has been tremendous. From one course initially we have a basket of 10 courses now. From one centre in Pune we have grown to 85 centres countrywide and the financial growth, which has been achieved, is 1000 times that, which we had achieved in 1992-93. The number of students has also grown from 82 in 1993 to over 60,000 in 1999-2000. The team size at ACTS has grown from 03 in 1993 to more then 100 in 1999-2000.

As on IT institution, ACTS takes pride in supporting C-DAC’s R & D activities, and has also been instrumental in the setting up of infrastructure in its Hyderabad and Bangalore Centre as well as at the National Multimedia Resource Centre in Pune.

To bring some part of its output as input, ACTS also started its activities in software development by taking up projects in the e-Governance sector. The pass outs of the DAC course from the Authorised Training Centre (ATCs) are recruited regularly for this purpose. ACTS has been working as a Turn key Solution Provider Maharashtra Government the Public Works Department, Department of Registration, Department of Archives, Sales Tax Department, Maharashtra Legislature Secretariat and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.

All this has been possible because of a very enabling culture and framework provided by C-DAC and its top management since its inception. The entire ACTS Team under its leadership has worked relentlessly to the extent of sacrificing the prime personal time from their life.

The members of the entire ACTS Team are indebted to their family members for enabling us to dedicate ourselves to this cause.

What lies in the future for ACTS ? ACTS dreams of emerging as a networked institution of higher learning in the field of Advanced Information Technology. Thousands of young aspirants, today, dream of joining some course with C-DAC and venture into the field of Information Technology. The parents of these students have very high expectations in terms of quality delivery of the courses propelling their children into the ‘new generation’ IT profession. Above all, the IT Industry today has come to recognise the utility of C-DAC graduates for their endurance and redeployability.

We have always visualized C-DAC as a networked organization and with a strong belief that we grow only if our partners grow, our network of 85 institutions in the form of ATCs have contributed to C-DAC’s Brand Equity in the IT education scenario in the country.

We also visualize ACTS through C-DAC contributing in its own modest way in bringing into reality that ‘IT’ which in the words of our Prime Minister is ‘India’s Tomorrow’ and also strive hard to realize his dream of making India a ‘Parishrami Bharat’, a ‘Parakrami Bharat’ and a ‘Vijayi Bharat’.