By the Executive Director

I am very happy to communicate with you on the occasion of this anniversary issue of C-DAC Connect. It coincides with the time when we are celebrating our Fourteenth Foundation Day, the day when we present and share our achievements of the year with our patrons, associates and customers; the day when we introspect over the happenings of the past year, and the day we rededicate ourselves to the tasks ahead, while correcting our course, to tap the opportunities and bring laurels to our almamater.

We are amidst an exciting time when information technology has thrown up mind boggling opportunities to the fore. But the challenges are no less too. Like any forward moving enterprise, we are engaged in creating value from the opportunities and transforming them to business gains. This has been possible due to our continuous focus on Research & Development which has enabled us to build skills in identified areas, and offer solutions. The examples are : GIS based products and technologies, Artificial Intelligence based simulation and modelling, Web based language learning, Machine assisted Translation and Multilingual tools, Data Mining and Data Warehousing, Network Security, Telemedicine, Digital Library and Real Time Systems. Another area where we have been recognized as a solution provider of repute is e-Governance. This together with our GIST based multilingual computing products and services have enabled our presence in practically every State. To this list we are adding application services (ASP), open sourcing software, e-learning tools and many others.

Our advanced computing training services have grown manyfold with the number of our authorized centres touching the proud three digit number : 100 this year. Growing rapidly, but we are cautious in ensuring that quantity does not compromise on quality. This fiscal year has seen over 20,000 students pass out from our 10 different course offerings addressing diverse segments of market needs and skill requirements. The new courses being added from this year are on GIS, Internet and Network Management, Unix (Solaris) and Network Administration

Our High Performance Computing teams have completed a major and important project on delivering the PARAM 10000 system to twelve selected premier academic institutions in India. More than 100 project activities have been identified in various science and engineering disciplines of their interest, and over 200 scientists and researchers would be working at these institutions creating a large mass of expertise that will be available in the country for front line compute intensive applications. C-DAC has also identified 18 projects of its interest which will be supported at these institutions.

Exactly a year ago, we had decided to add ‘C-DAC Connect’ to our channels of communication among C-DAC members at various centres, and between C-DAC and its associates. Each of the earlier four issues published, thus attempted to spread communication on various happenings in C-DAC and provide focus on its major activities. The past issues accordingly covered Network Security, Digital Library, e- Governance and Hardware Technologies as the major activities currently in progress; showcased our newly released products; profiled some of our members both young and old (not by age, but by the length of service rendered); presented views of our associates and customers about our products and services, and also of our own members about the new technologies they are dealing with. The feedback reveals that the house journal is very professionally published and has indeed helped in enriching the communication through its wide circulation. We have it on our web site too (www.cdac.in) which is heavily visited from both within India and overseas.

This issue brings new dimension to this mode of communication, as it presents the reminiscences of our past members who (in very large number) have shared their experiences with C-DAC, and also our own members who have volunteered to express themselves with utmost freedom that we practise in all our processes. We greatly value their comments.

( R. K. Arora )