National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) has set up its fifth regional council here with the aim of promoting Kerala as a hub for innovation, R&D and professional services.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy inaugurated the regional council, existing four peer facilities of which are situated in the IT centres of Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Delhi.

FIRST STATE

The Chief Minister said in his address that Kerala was the first State to moot the concept of a central IT infrastructure in Technopark, which had since gone on to become the country’s largest.

Based in Thiruvananthapuram, Technopark has 300-plus companies operating from under its roof; has a built-up area of seven million sq ft; and employs 45,000 professionals.

With the proposed addition of one million sq ft very soon, another 30,000 professionals will join the community, the Chief Minister said.

IT majors TCS, UST Global and Infosys are setting up their own independent structures outside the Technopark campus.

PRIVATE SECTOR

Kochi and Kozhikode are the other IT hubs being promoted. Kochi houses Infopark while Kozhikode has Cyberpark.

The proposed SmartCity project in Kochi, which will soon receive environmental clearance, deserves special mention, the Chief Minister said.

The State government had also come up with policy intervention to allow IT parks in the private sector. Chandy referred to the world-wide recession and protectionist tendencies growing in the West, which is India’s main market for IT products and services.

SQUARING UP

But rather than getting overwhelmed, the country’s IT sector should take this as a challenge and an opportunity to improve competitiveness and try to square up in the longer term.

Right from the initial days, ICT (information and communication technologies) had been identified as an engine for economic growth since it was environmental-friendly and labour-intensive, Chandy said.

E-GOVERNANCE DRIVE

Meanwhile, meaningful e-governance initiatives such as the Akshaya kiosks helped bring benefits of IT to the masses and fill the digital divide to a great extent.

The Government had been equally concerned about the quality of human resources that it was generating. Finishing schools were set up to meet this challenge, the Chief Minister said.

It was now working to promote entrepreneurship among youngsters and students. Start-up Village in Kochi represented the fruition of its initiatives in this connection.

The policy decision to allow grace marks for students who take time off to pursue entrepreneurship too had been well-received, the Chief Minister said.

> vinson.kurian@thehindu.co.in

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