The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Poor response to BangaloreIT.in 2007

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Tuesday, Oct 30, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Poor response to BangaloreIT.in 2007

Special Correspondent

The State government plans to set up five integrated townships

— PHOTO: G. R. N. SOMASHEKAR

GETTING TOGETHER: (From left) Rameshwar Thakur, Governor, Government of Kartnataka, M. N. Vidyashankar, Secretary to Government, Department of IT and Biotechnology, Science and Technology, Government of Karnataka and Debesh Das, Minister-in-charge, Department of Information, Government of West Bengal, at an IT meet on Monday.

BANGALORE: The tenth edition of BangaloreIT.in 2007, the information and communication technology (ICT), took off on Monday amidst a disappointing industry response.

Contrary to the organizers’ claim that around 200 companies would participate in the event, one could witness less than 60 stalls at the exposition, which was dominated by the non-IT firms, especially the real-estate companies. Participation by IT firms both domestic and multinationals, and foreign delegations was at an all time low.

Delivering the keynote at the inaugural, Mr Jainder Singh, Secretary, Department of IT, said the IT industry could overcome challenges such as the impact of rupee appreciation, shortage of skilled manpower and wage inflation and rising real-estate prices, by moving up the value chain. The rupee appreciation against the dollar by over 12 per cent since January this year had impacted the exports and the BPO sector in particular. IT firms could look at addressing the currency impact by developing innovative strategies and by tapping the non-US markets such as Europe and Japan, he said. Similarly, in order to address the rising wages and real-estate costs, companies could look at moving to tier II and III cities, which would not only help in decongesting the cities, but also ensure a more balanced regional development.

Karnataka governor, Mr Rameshwar Thakur said the IT industry in the state provides direct employment to about half a million people. The Tier II and Tier III cities in the state such as Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad and Belgaum are becoming alternative hubs for IT operations and have the necessary educated work-force which can be tapped by the BPO and IT sectors, he said.

The state government has decided to set up five integrated townships around Bangalore and the first such township coming up at Bidadi would be dedicated to knowledge sector, he said.

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