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Group of Technology Companies (G Tech), the industry body of IT companies in Kerala, has sought support of the government in setting up an e-governance lab in Thiruvananthapuram.
At an interaction with the office bearers of G Tech held at Technopark today, Union communications and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government would focus on promoting product companies to ensure sustainable growth of the IT industry.
The minister offered all support for the proposed GTech-led Fast Track Business Accelerator – Katalyst, to be launched in Thiruvananthapuram.
G Tech plans to set up the e-governance lab in partnership with Katalyst and the Kerala State IT mission. “Even as the government tries to widen and deepen the e-governance initiative, there exists a gap between the bureaucracy, which designs various initiatives, and the IT industry, which enables such platforms. To bridge this gap, it is proposed to set up an e-governance lab as a part of the proposed GTech-led early stage Business Accelerator – Katalyst,” said Anoop P Ambika, secretary, GTech.
The lab would not only serve as an interface between various departments and IT industry, but also provide testing platforms for various e-governance ideas. The lab will be the first-of-its-kind in the country.
GTech also sought policy support by the Union government to turn around the sagging fortunes of the IT industry. “Government has to smoothen the transition of companies from one scheme to the other. And for this there has to be better synergy between the various departments and agencies of the government such as the ministry of finance, commerce and IT,” said Suri Amarnath, member of GTech executive committee. G Tech requested intervention by the minister in solving the issue of the income tax department withdrawing the benefits already granted under Section 10B of the Income Tax Act.
State to get central aid for auto training centre
The Centre will support the proposal to set up an automobile park in Kerala to train workers needed to fill the labour gap in the industry, Union Minister of State for Skill Development Rajiv Pratap Rudy said on Tuesday. He gave the assurance to the Kerala’s Minister for Labour and Skills, Shibu Baby John, who said the state government plans to offer technical training in partnership with automobile majors to make the programmes relevant to the industry and to open up job opportunities.
At a function in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Academy of for Skills Excellence (KASE) and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) exchanged an MoU for partnerships across a range of skill development activities.
