Why in News?
Recently government released 'Digital North East: Vision 2022', that aims to leverage digital technologies to transform lives of people of the northeastern states and enhance the ease of living.
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• Under the Digital India programme government had earlier taken various digital initiative in North east such as: State Wide Area Network, Common services centre, National Knowledge Network, SMS based agricultural extension services etc.
58 ©Vision IAS
• The Vision document aims to consolidate all the disparate digital initiatives with a view to restructure, refocus, and fast track implementation in a synchronised manner.
• Launched under the Digital India programme it will be coordinated by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and will be implemented by various central government ministries and governments of north eastern states,
• The document identifies eight digital thrust areas -digital infrastructure, digital services, digital empowerment, promotion of electronics manufacturing, promotion of IT and IT enabled services including BPOs, digital payments, innovation & startups, and cyber security.
• It seeks to utililise the strengths and opportunities in the
North East Region (NER):
o Strategic location: The Act East policy of the government places the NER in very advantageous position to open up e-trade and commerce with the neighbouring countries and the ASEAN region.
o Literacy rate: Literacy rate in NER are higher than the rest of India which provides pool of an easily skill-able workforce.
o Distinct Seismic Plate: As per the Seismic Zoning Map of India, some of the North East States reside in a different seismic zone compared to rest of India, making it an ideal destination for call centres, disaster recovery stations for Tier 3 and Tier 2 cities.
o Cultural heritage: The North East Region is home to
more than 220 different tribes and communities, each
having their unique culture, languages, handicraft and
tradition. Digital repositories of such artefacts will create opportunity for massive digitisation.
o Natural resources: The abundance of natural resources provides scope for developing industries in herbal products, Ayurveda, fruit processing, precision agriculture etc.
• The north eastern region is uniquely placed vis-à-vis the digital profile of India and the region has inherent strengths to be built upon and possess vast opportunities to be tapped for the overall development of India.
6.6. SCI E NCE AND TE CHNO LOGY I N SPOR TS
• Innovation, design and application of technology to competitive sport is of paramount importance to athletes looking to optimize their best possible performance in the future.
• Enhance athletic performance by reducing stress/injury via support aids and equipment and training technologies
• Technology has greatly improved protective equipments in sports such as mouth guards and headgear
• Computer technology has improve d training regimes for athletes through uses computer analysis to monitor performance as well as virtual practice.
• Wearable Technology: Coaches can use wearable tech to understand how an athlete is performing compared to their previous training sessions or games
• The use of non-human decision-making in sports such as Cricket, tennis etc. for clear decision and better outcome.
59 ©Vision IAS
Technological Advancements in Sports
• Hawk-Eye Technology: It helps to take an error-free decision in cricket, lawn tennis, rugby league, football, and baseball. This technology has reduced the criticism of the players and spectators about the decision of the match referee.
• HANS (Head and Neck Support) device used in motorsports saving the lives of driver in the event of a tragic crash.
• Whole body polyurethane swim suits which contains polyurethane membrane which decreases the drag by 24% compared to other suits
• Prosthetic Devices for Disabled Athletes
• Ingestible Thermometer Pills which supervise visceral organs, temperature and heart rate of an athlete and transmits vital information to medical personnel. It will help to minimize death from heat exhaustion which is the second most common reason for athlete fatalities.
Issues and Challenges
• Fairness: The use of technological applications is used as tool to gain a 'competitive advantage' in sports.
o Modern runners and climbers benefit from shoe technology that's better suited to their sports.
o In cycling, riders wear advanced fabrics to maximise aerodynamics and optimise core body temperature
while using different bikes based on terrain or effort.
• Accessibility:
o If the equipment is too technically difficult to use then amateurs will have to move onto something else.
• Affordability:
o If sports equipment and technology is too expensive then very few future athletes will be able to participate.
o Part of the controversy around swimsuits was the fact that only athletes with the right sponsors could access them.
• Safety:
o Headgear in amateur boxing was adopted to provide extra protection to its athletes. But it gives a boxer an increased sense of invulnerability. That’s why there has not been a reduction in the number of
recorded head injuries since headgear was introduced.
• De-skilling’ a sport: De-skilling insinuates that a sport is made easier to undertake as a result of the introduction of a technology or product.
o The sport of aeromodelling has suggested that performance enhancements made to the planes design and controls would reduce the technical skill required to fly the planes
• Governing body oversight issues:
o Having multiple governing bodies of the same sport which operated in different countries has caused issues whereby an innovation was accepted by one governing body but not by another
• Doping: It is the use of banned athletic performance enhancing drugs by athletic competitors.
Way forward
• Sports are based on rules, and by setting those rules, we can choose which technologically enabled enhancements are allowed.
• Only if it is a piece of technology that helps someone run faster, it could be banned.
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