Bangalore: Electronics 2007, a three-day industry expo and series of seminars, was inaugurated here on Tuesday.

It is supported by the Electronic Industries Association of India, the Consortium of Electronic Industries of Karnataka, the Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association of India and other major trade bodies.

Chairperson of the event P.C. Gulati told reporters on Tuesday that there would be seminars spread over two days, covering both the hardware and software segments and "both may be speaking the same language because of increasing interface. Software development is logic turned into machine language."

Hardware sector

The hardware industry needed relatively larger investment because of precision manufacturing for specific products.

A company requiring a software solution for an application may approach several developers and choose the best based on cost and the reusability factor, Mr. Gulati said.

Assistant General Manager of Bharat Electronics Ltd. K. Natarajan said while the country's hardware industry was right now barely 5 per cent of that of China, India had some inherent strengths in specialised fields such as nanotechnology, which is finding increasing applications. This new technology now had applications in about 10,000 appliances.

"Our exports in embedded systems now amount to $2 billion annually and may grow at a 15 to 25 per cent annual rate to reach close to $12 billion by 2010 if our technology research keeps pace with demand from industry," Mr. Natarajan said.

Embedded software has become an important component in high-end cars. "Almost 40 per cent of their cost is from electronic components, and this may keep going up. And most of the software used by automobile majors is developed by companies in and around Bangalore and Chennai, together contributing to 20 per cent of what the car makers use," he said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail