The Indian IT industry and academic research institutions should be competitive and possess the capacity to be a ‘knowledge system powerhouse’ instead of just a software powerhouse, former President of India A P J Abdul Kalam said here.
Inaugurating the 14th edition of the state government’s ICT event, Bangalore IT.biz 2011, he said, “The Indian IT industry in the last few decades has given a pride of place for India in the world. With the IT enterprises and Indian academic research institutions evolving a new type of creative personnel, they have the capacity to become the knowledge system powerhouse. This would be instead of the firms being a supplier of software engineers or hardware engineers, or marketing piecemeal software or hardware or marketing the human power.”
The IT industry has to compete with itself and deliver excellence. IT with its unlimited potential in every facet of human endeavour offers opportunities and challenges, be it in research, development, social science, governance or individual growth in this context. The sector should not reach a point of saturation. “Saturation of mind is the most dangerous phenomenon against progress,” he said.
He also said when India has a big dream of the IT business reaching the $200 billion mark within this decade, the professionals should be geared up to address a dynamic technological environment.
Earlier speaking during the occasion Karnataka chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda said, the state contributes about 30 per cent of the IT exports of the country.
During the financial year 2010-11, the IT exports from the state were over Rs 90,000 crore. The IT sector contributes around 20 per cent to the state’s GDP and employs around 36 per cent of the country’s software professionals.
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Further the chief minister also said, IT sector being labour-intensive attracted an investment of about Rs 12,000 crore during the global investors meet (GIM) 2010 having a potential of creating 260,000 jobs. Karnataka is also planning to release a policy on animation and gaming to give a boost to this promising sector having prospects of reaching Rs 10,000 crore in revenues next year.
Meanwhile, S Gopalakrishnan the Karnataka Vision Group Chairman and Executive co-chairman of Infosys Ltd, on Tuesday advocated the setting up of a research centre in India to evolve a new model of growth for the developing world with the help of technology.He also said that the state has immense potential for innovation as it has the strength of manpower and presence of many major global corporations.
“There is a huge market potential in the developing world. To meet the needs of the growing market we need to develop products, solutions and services for the developing world, for which innovation is key,” he added.
The three day event Bangalore IT.biz with the theme ‘India Innovates’ provides a platform for the IT ecosystem and also to position Bangalore as the R&D gateway of India.
The event saw a participation of around 500 delegates from across the country participated in the event. As part of the event there is also an exhibition organised where about 130 exhibitors, including eight start-ups and rural BPOs have displayed their capabilities. .
During the three event Nasscom will release a special report on ‘Karnataka — Nurturing Eco-system of Bangalore as an Innovation and R&D gateway to India’.