NID's IT Vision: Design, undeniably, has become the driver for adding value to products and services in the global economy. Value creation in the knowledge economy is done by design thinking for customization and enhancing experience in products and services leading to market leadership and competitive advantage. The technological revolution brought about by information and communication technologies has made a remarkable change in design thinking and practice. Augmenting products with services and replacing services with virtual products has created the rationale for the integration of IT with Design. Methodology and tools in all stages of the design process are undergoing rapid change and digital design as a new medium of design is gaining momentum.

In the given backdrop a strategic approach for providing digital support to the traditional and emerging areas of design is being felt strongly. To give it the required fillip, NID has made a beginning by creating a platform for interaction and constant feedback between the NID community and the IT majors in the country. Some path breaking IT integrated initiatives in the field of design education such as Macmillan-NID “Good Design” online education programme introduced in April 2002 which has trained over 100 people. Other IT integrated facilities like New Media Lab, Film & Video Lab, Textile CAD Lab, K-Portal are some of the landmarks in the IT enabled design education. In a supporting move, integration of IT as a knowledge management tool in the design education curriculum is underway at the NID, which will be subsequently expanded in different phases during the 10 th Plan period.

In the globalized ethos creation of knowledge alone is not sufficient. The knowledge created must be managed well and reached out to people who need it most. Hence, the creation of Knowledge Management and Information Service (KM&IS) was the need of the hour. Now armed with Digital Documentation, Internet, Intranet, Knowledge Portal, On Line Reference Service etc, KM&IS are fully IT integrated services at NID which facilitate the Faculty, Students and Researchers get access to various information and disseminate at the same time.

Efforts are also underway to redefine design education in the context of IT. The methodology anticipates strong generalist education at undergraduate level and specialisation at postgraduate level supported throughout by cutting edge research. A major shift is being proposed in the curriculum through integration of new technologies, shifting from teaching mode to learning mode and an online integration of IT and design. A spread time for student to absorb and to correlate, introducing credit based system and evaluating portfolios and online international projects etc are being contemplated to provide standards with continuously widening knowledge base and clubbing learning objectives and outcomes. Internet flexibility, global "plug & play" systems etc. are part of this major transformation. The labs and studios of NID are being tuned to integrate IT to design education and practice. Recognizing the vision and new thrust of "IT for Design and Design for IT", the critical role of design in the knowledge economy is acknowledged to stimulate the thought process.

IT Centre at NID embodies NID's 21 st century vision and new age agenda of helping in the creation and dissemination of knowledge. The efforts, as discussed above, are part of the vision which is based on NID's commitment to provide universal access and participation in the state of the art information and communication infrastructure, supported by Digital Information access and distribution. This has been made possible only through a seamless integration of the state of the art Digital Communication technology and hi-tech IT infrastructure implementation.

In the year 2002 NID's KMC and IT Centre were merged to create KM&IS where library, prototype, audio-visual, digital and other resources were integrated to create a contemporary center for efficient resource retrieval and reference. Ever since the Digital technology has arrived the IT Centre at NID is providing Digital Internet-leased lines, state-of the art Digital Networking using backbone Fibre-Optic Cables, a Knowledge Management Intranet Portal and connectivity for everyone on campus. Thus it facilitates to create a Design Broadband platform through absolute convergence of Design Semantics with Broadband Information Technology. IT Centre is responsible for providing information mobility through next generation digital networks. It will help to develop a society which is creative, innovative and enterprising, disseminate Knowledge and create wealth for the betterment of the Society at large.

IT Infrastructure & Activities

During the period (2004-2005) under review Internet Bandwidth was increased from the existing 256 kbps to 1024 kbps (1 mbps). The Local Area Network (LAN) facility was also extended to the student's hostels and faculty residence through fiber optic backbone connectivity. The entire campus Local Area Network (LAN) was successfully completed on 15 June 2004 , with approx.1051 terminals connected to centrally located server in main building students from hostel access to Intranet from 9.00 pm to mid night and faculty residents access throughout the centrally located server in main building with their login user name and password. It is proposed to increase connectivity for a few hours in the morning for the students depending on user traffic. Out of the total nos. of connects of 1051 in the campus (550 hostel and 500 in the main campus) concurrent users are approx. 400 to 500.

IT team is continuously providing network connectivity service to the students in hostel and constantly proving IT service and support to all members of the institute. The team is continuously taking incremental and full Data backup from all servers as per policy/schedule made. The Centre has collected the latest information on various IT knowledge tools and procured Hardware/Software systems etc.

The IT team completed the set up of infrastructure in terms of structure network cabling, configuration of 40 nos. of computer systems, peripherals and servers along with Internet facilities with 128 Kbps lease line at extension campus, Gandhinagar.

IT team completed installation of passive and active network components for HPV Lab and also UPS power supply for Design Vision Centre. They have been involved with SGI team in setting up the SGI Onyx 350 system and Demo. The IT centre organized the training programme on Alias Studio Tools & Maya software on 14-19 February 2005 for five selected technical staff & faculty of NID in Design Vision Centre.

The team successfully tested wireless connectivity with laptop having infrared or blue tooth facility in the main lawn area with cost effective solutions. IT staff worked in coordination of the Video department for covering the main Convocation function, President-Students interaction session at the auditorium and the inaugural events of the Design Vision Centre.