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The conference, which is aimed at showcasing Tamil Nadu’s strength in IT, will be on till September 21. The Minister also inaugurated an exhibition at the Trade Centre in Nandambakkam.
In his inaugural address, the Minister elaborated how the third edition of the series of Connect is a perfect example of public-private partnership where the state government and CII have collaborated “towards taking Chennai as the preferred destination for IT investments”. “This edition is a bigger B2B event showcasing Tamil Nadu as the global BPO hub”, he explained. Stressing the state government’s steps “to put in an effective mechanics to completely remove violation of intellectual property rights, software piracy and crimes associated with Internet and IT”, he added that the Chief Minister would also be “releasing the IT enabled services policy” and promised to take action to establish the Knowledge Industry Township on the IT corridor. As part of promotion of Tier Two Secondary Cities in Tamil Nadu -- a study has been completed on the feasibility of establishing and promoting Coimbatore as an IT/ITES destination -- the Minister assured that “the government is positively considering the establishing of an IT park so as to provide the infrastructure required by the IT industry to start their operations from Coimbatore”.
While listing out the positive features the state offers in terms of “availability of skilled and educated manpower, comparatively higher standard of educational institutions, sound infrastructure and lower operational costs”, he felt they were the key advantages which would go a long way in making the state a key player in the IT sector. Presenting an overview Mr S Mahalingam, Chairman, Connect 2003, and CFO, TCS, acknowledged the event as “the place to be” in and went on to add how Connect had matured as an event with greater participation and increasing exhibition space every annum. Citing data from predictions by McKinsey -Nasscom as well as Gartner, Mr Mahalingam explained how BPO was the “big ticket for Indian IT” and its dramatic rise in India. “As global outsourcing to India accelerates, captive players and pure-play companies have also entered the BPO scene with software majors”. The three drivers of growth according to him were internal, external and the government. When in-company productivity and use of technology, management and training team up with availability of capital and infrastructure there is bound to be “a competitive environment”. To top it all there is the government’s mission to make Chennai the BPO capital and to propel the state to numero uno position in IT exports. There have been efforts to create a dynamic environment. With this comes a simplified regulatory framework and fiscal incentives and technological and communication infrastructure as bonuses. Spelling out the future of BPO, Mr Mahalingam felt the industry would grow in view of the enormous cost and quality advantages with the emerging of newer business models. “Companies with niche service areas of operation – banking, insurance or telecom – and those providing shared in-house services could lead the way”, he said. Mr Mahalingam finally noted the shift in Connect objective from IT services and technology. “The focus is now on BPO, and this will deal with the shape of things to come”. The Tamil Nadu IT Secretary, Mr Vivek Harinarain quoted from John Adair’s book on Inspiring Leadership about learning urging to “visit the past in order to know the present”.
While commending the growth of the state’s software exports last year despite a downturn in the IT industry, he went on to mention “several factors which might not be easily visible to the casual eye.” Before closing, Mr Harinarain focused on the areas between perception and reality. Mention an unnamed survey by a leading consultant; he added that although leading states were topping the perception list they figured way down in the reality check. Save for Chennai. Here alone reality was way ahead of perception, he mentioned. In a stylized presentation, he claimed Chennai was the “best metro to work from as it ranked first in healthcare, second in law and order and third in human development index and state GDP.” He also quoted a top official of the World Bank expressing his confidence in the city after their experience since the Bank’s back office operations began. The vote of thanks was rendered by Mr Arun Jain, Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu, and Chairman, Polaris Software, who sharing a short story likened Chennai to fine, handpicked “coffee beans” which (unlike carrot and egg in the story) “having been in boiling water” managed to change it, winning praise for its aroma. The Tamil Nadu Minister also released a CD on Connect 2003 Catalogue IT@TN.
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Copyright
2008, Chennai Interactive
Business Services (P) Ltd. |
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Connect
2003, the ICT Show of Tamil Nadu, organized by the Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) and the Tamil Nadu Government, was inaugurated at the Chennai
Trade Centre by the Tamil Nadu Minister for IT, Law and Electricity, Mr D
Jayakumar on September 18.
Mr
KKM Kutty, Chairman, CII, southern region, in his welcome address, highlighted
the emphasis of CII on the need for India Inc. to “be competitive in this
liberalized economy”. In this region, he said “CII had been focusing on
becoming competitive by leveraging the region’s traditional strengths in the
areas of human resources, relatively developed infrastructure and technology –
in both the manufacturing and IT sectors.” It is in this regard, he added that
CII had been focusing on developing the IT industry through the Connect platform”.
He
pointed out, “this does not mean we are not forward looking but what emerges
is a concept in which you build from the experiences of the past - a kind of
ladder approach.”
