Harvard students to analyse GIL case studies

Students undergoing graduate studies in world's top four business schools, Harvard Business School, Stanford Business School, Wharton School of Business (WSB) and Sloan School of Business, run by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will now study real the life cases from Gujarat Informatics Ltd (GIL), an enterprise run by the state government also the nodal agency for Information Technology (IT) sector for the Government.

The top business brains from the world's top B-Schools will take this opportunity while attending the ensuing Tata Confluence-2004, the annual international B-School meet to be held here during third week of October under the aegis of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

"The case to be studied, revolving around a real-life problem faced by a typical government organisation aiming to increase IT investment in its state, focuses also on the law and order of Gujarat, its infrastructure, governance and policy issues.

"The emphasis will be on coming out with concrete recommendations for the future of IT in the state and the recommendations arising out from Tata Confluence and the students of these B-Schools are planned to be implemented by GIL," said Ashwin Vig, co-ordinator for the IT Fair to be held during the Tata Confluence.

This initiative is being considered as a step towards the social contribution that the students of IIM A, who are also the organisers of Tata Confluence 2004, want to generate from the event.

Vig said that keeping in view the theme for the Tata Confluence, mantras for emerging markets, technocrat aims to look at the role played by IT in the development of such markets.

Principal secretary to the chief minister and the managing director of GIL, Anil Mukim, said, "As far as the economic development of conventional sectors, such as manufacturing, is concerned, the state is one of the premier states in the country.

"But now we are also ready to contribute in the knowledge-related fields. In fact, Gujarat is one of the most wired states in the country. We will be more than happy to listen to the top students from these top B-Schools and this move would definitely help GIL in the long run."

GIL was established as the nodal agency for IT development in the state in February 1999.

The company was started with an objective to promote IT and accelerate the process of e-governance in the state. Along with the announcement of the IT policy, the government has enabled GIL to effectively implement IT projects in the state.

Since its inception, GIL has worked aggressively to make stunning forays in the implementation of IT in the state.