India IT Summit 2009 Concludes

The two-day India IT Summit jointly organised by the Confederation for Indian Industry and IT Kerala at The Leela Kempinski, Kovalam concluded on Friday. A glittering array of techno-CXOs, politicians, thought leaders, and trade associations participated in the event  which received praise on its first outing.

In a keynote address delivered by Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, he said “India today has created a brand for itself in IT and we have to make concerted efforts to become the leader in this industry. We have to also make dedicated effort to increase domestic usage of IT for better governance and acceptance of IT as a way of life.”

Dr. Thomas Issac, Minister for Finance, applauded the event and called for it to be made an annual fixture in Trivandrum. He also spoke of Rs 2000 Crore being invested into the IT infrastructure over the next 18 months as well as the social contribution of the IT/ITES industry. He also highlighted the need to dispel misconceptions about the industrial climate in Kerala citing the fact that Technopark had lost less man-days due to harthals and other disruptions than leading destinations like NCR and Hyderabad.

Mr V.K. Mathews, CEO of IBS, underline the positive social impact of the IT/ITES industry with the results of a survey conducted among IT/ITES employees which clearly showcased the economic contribution made by techies.

Speakers at the India IT Summit 2009 included members of the top management of Infosys, IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, TCS, Wipro, Mahindra Satyam, Infotech and IIT Chennai. Most of the speakers emphasised the growing leadership role being assumed by the Indian IT/ITES industry in the global context. They called for innovation to be the key driving factor in the steady move of the Indian IT/ITES industry up the value chain.

Speakers like Dr Ajay Kumar, Secretary – IT, and Aruna Sundarajan, CEO – IL&FS CSC, spoke at length about the progress made in e-governance in India, and in Kerala, in particular. Dr. Kumar also spoke about the Government’s initiative to develop over Rs 10,000 Crores of IT infrastructure in the public sector and in the Public Private Partnership mode. Technopark and Technocity form the center-piece of this strategy.

Both Chief Minister, V.S. Achuthanandan and Dr. Thomas Issac, reaffirmed the Government’s commitement to provide all support to the IT/ITES industry in order to make Kerala a Tier 1 IT/ITES hub.

The Summit also included lively Q&A sessions in addition to the plenary sessions and panel discussions. The audience raised questions about the impact of the recession, the way forward for the Indian and global IT/ITES industry, IT/ITES in the domestic and government sectors and so on, which were addressed by the eminent panelists.

As the curtain fell on India IT Summit 2009, we hope to see the 2010 edition in Trivandrum soon and look forward to more insightful discussions and sessions.