Hi-tech wires up the sacred space

NEW DELHI: Remove your shoes and tip-toe into the world of wiring religious institutions. For a people that worship instruments of information technology, a marriage between technology and religion is in the making.

Infotech majors like Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, Lucent, Nortel among others are chasing an approximate $5 billion business automating churches, Hindu shrines and gurudwaras all over the world. Industry sources estimated that connecting gurudwaras in UK, US, Canada and India alone would generate $400 million to the solution providers.

"The marriage of the oldest religious institutions and the newest technology is going to bring in a new religious order," says Manpreet Singh, MD, Multiple Zones India, an IT service provider who has automated an Integrated Gurdwara Management System connecting Bangla Sahib, Rakab Ganj, Sis Ganj and Nanak Piao in Delhi. The next step is to connect gurudwaras all over the country. Industry sources said that Vaishno Devi, Tirupati and Jaganath temple will also join the bandwagon.

Dotcoms may be getting wiped out fast, but technology is bringing a fresh transparency into the religious institutions. In the current US slowdown market leaders see new business opportunities in foraying into automating religious places as money movement in these institutions are very similar to that of any manufacturing unit.

Company officials at IBM who supplied hardware for the domestic gurudwara project are excited. "There is huge market waiting to be tapped automating religious places," VP of IBM Shashi Mal told The Times of India. Microsoft supplied software for this project.

Be it Reformation Church outside Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA or your neighbourhood gurudwara --Enterprise Resource Planning is the buzz word. Industry observers said that devotees globally are set to embrace electronic fund transfer system that allows individuals to offer the almighty online.

Religious managements are open to investing in automating their religious enterprises. 'We are confident that the technology would solve the pilferage that is currently taking place in our system," said Avtar Singh Hit, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. He said that adapting this technology would save crores to the gurudwara. "The amount we are investing is negligible compared to what we are going to save," he added.

Manpreet Singh's company has formed a task force to connect and automate Hindu religious institutions and even looking at Churches. "We are looking at a global market. We have deviced a donation management control including foreign donations through various modes like credit cards, debit cards and foreign exchange," he said.

Some critics said that electronic donations may diminish the religious significance. "I won't offer money via credit card. That's not spiritual," said a devotee. Disagrees Hit. "We don't differentiate from online and off-line contributions. Our idea is to bring transparency into the system."