In an interview, Sam Pitroda discusses his role as the as Chairman of the National Knowledge Commission, and his hopes for the future of information technology in India.

According to Sam, the Commission’s to spark the national debate about knowledge. The Commission was able to jumpstart the National Knowledge Network. Sam’s mission with the Network was to facilitate easy discourse and collaboration, modernize education, standardize digital health records, and to alleviate the massive backup in the court system by making high bandwidth accessible.

While he says that India needs more innovation, Sam suggests it does not have to be the ‘Western kind’. He says, “The best minds in the world have been engaged in solving the problems of the rich, not the poor.” He discusses the types of innovation he would like to see and what he hopes 2050 will look like for India.