..| .. |
October, 2001 FRONT END |
|||||||||||
|
Master
File CHANNELS Politics
|
In version 1.0, the IT mega-show in Chennai offered a platform for industry leaders to deliberate over concerns like infrastructure creation and e-governance. By K. Jayadev
If Bangalore hosts an IT mega-event, can Chennai be far behind? The governments of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are known to vie with each other for creating IT infrastructure, embracing e-governance, attracting investments and pushing up software services exports. Last month Chennai rivalled Bangalore's IT.com by hosting Connect 2001, an international conference and IT exhibition. The show ended as a platform to "create awareness of what is happening with regard to IT in the state." The then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha also promised to make Connect an annual affair while inaugurating the event. Setting the tone The topics and issues at the conclave varied from hardware manufacturing and e-governance to infrastructure development. F.C. Kohli, former chief of TCS, in his inaugural keynote, urged everyone to provide a thrust to the hardware industry. "For the IT industry to keep its promise of bringing about an all-round national development, we need to promote the hitherto neglected hardware industry," stressed Kohli.
While most states are now thinking of setting up hardware parks, little thought is given to the creation of infrastructure, said Balu Doraiswamy, managing director of Compaq Computers India. "Unless we create the right facilities, the industry will face an early death. Too many standards, carriers and protocols are becoming hurdles in developing apps for next-generation knowledge industries. We need to standardise them for faster deployment of new apps," he said. Looking at the wireless market and the infrastructure available for mobile access in India, Ashok Jhunjhunwala of the TeNeT group, IIT Madras, rued: "We have not been able to exploit the full advantages of technology and communication networks in the country. The number of people using telephones at home was less than one per 1,000 persons before 1987. But with the introduction of STD/PCO booths and the slashing of tariffs (during nights and holidays) almost 30 per cent of the population has started using telephones. Likewise, we need technological and policy innovations for Internet access networks to significantly bring down costs and expand their reach." Infrastructure and e-governance The mandate at the conference was clear: India requires a transparent policy for wireless access. We must help companies that are developing cost-effective solutions in this area to grow, build solutions and deploy them, was the common refrain. That in turn would take the Net to rural India. Most believed e-governance would be possible only when the fruits of the technology start reaching the masses.
Professor Carl Ullman of New York City University said, "To distinguish it from e-government, current usage of e-governance goes beyond e-payments and information access to include new concepts of citizen participation in planning and policy making processes." According to Ullman, for e-governance to take roots a government should be transparent, accountable, efficient and effective. But he warns: "E-governance's tendency to empower citizens can be a double-edged sword, threatening centralised and secretive practices." According to him, the Internet, by its nature, is uncontrollable. These lead to abuse of privacy and taxation issues. It can also lead to a true 'town meeting' democracy in real time that disintermediates frictional elements and reduces transaction costs. "Be careful what you wish for. One man's perfect democracy may be another's brave new world," Ullman quipped. Reference to case studies and hands-on examples broke the talkshop monotony. For infrastructure, P. Ramakrishna of Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore enumerated investment facilities Singapore has created for leading companies, while the representative of the Andhra Pradesh government explained how the state has implemented e-governance and land-records computerisation projects. Hard thoughts on software
The thought of further increasing software exports, however, was not lost in the hullabaloo of e-governance. Explaining the reasons that are driving software demands in the US, Raghavan Parthasarathy, a faculty member of New York City University and president of the Strategy Consulting Group, said, "First and foremost, the USA is the highest IT spending country in the world, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of global IT expenditure. With a high-tech driven economy, it has the largest installed base for IT hardware. The country also spends a significant amount of money on its high-tech defence, providing immense IT outsourcing opportunities for Indian companies." But a word of caution came from R. Seshasayee, managing director of Ashok Leyland. "The level of risk-taking ability seems to be low at the moment. I think there is need for our companies to work on new technologies and segments. Everybody should not be following the same model just because a few people made money out of it. Indian companies have to explore new areas which are still uninhabited by the IT, for that is where the real fruits of IT lie." Here, P. Rajendran, COO of NIIT, made a point, "Today, we are looking at computing challenges from new frontiers. To meet them we need to create a reliable and scalable infrastructure." Low on exhibition
The US economic slowdown and the terrorist attacks in the country apparently affected the exhibition. Barring TCS, Polaris and Compaq Computers, the rest of the stalls belonged to small, local vendors. An interesting attraction, however, was the Coimbatore pavilion. It was for the first time that such a huge contingent from the Coimbatore IT industry had participated in a show. Tamil Nadu principal secretary P. Shankar said the government was promoting Coimbatore for its availability of skilled manpower. "Such shows are never meant to generate business. They are more for creating awareness among the industry and people. We have initiated a regular show. Now we need to carry it forward and make it a platform for the IT industry," said Arun Jain, chairman of Connect 2001 and chief of Polaris Software Lab Ltd. |
|
Issue Contents Write to us Subscriptions Syndication INDIA
TODAY | BUSINESS
TODAY | INDIA TODAY PLUS © Living Media India Ltd |
 |
 |
