HEADLINES
JOBS
COM:PORT
POLICY POLICE
ARCHIVES

The show opens with promise of cyber laws

A sunny winter morning in New Delhi is invigorating for delegates and information technology enthusiasts who have gathered at the Lal Chowk amphitheatre of Pragati Maidan to witness the inaugural ceremony of IT World '98 / Comdex India exhibition and seminar.

The event is being organised since 1992 and has become the largest and most important jamboree of the Indian information technology industry.

This year's show is different in the sense that the mix of the organising partners has changed slightly. Business India Exhibition, Ziff Davis (event organiser and owner of the Comdex brand) and the National Association of Software and Service Companies teamed up once again after a bad spat some months ago. Only the Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology did not return to the fold.

NASSCOM President Saurab Srivastav summed up the sentiment among the organisers: "The show must go on."

Among the regular set of IT luminaries that graces Comdex inaugurations this year was a face that brought some much desired freshness: Chess wizard Vishwanathan Anand. He is scheduled to play five opponents on computer on every day of the exhibition.

In his presidential address, Union Industry Minister Sikandar Bakht counted the initiatives his government has taken to accelerate information technology in the country and to remove bottlenecks in its path.

Promotion of IT is being given the top priority, said Bakht, citing the IT policy announced through the National Task Force on Information Technology. The IT effort will encompass a spectrum of activity like telecom, finance, electronics, human resources and research and development, he said.

The government is taking steps to reach IT to semi-urban and rural areas and this can happen only through increasing localisation through vernacular adaptation, Bakht advised.

India is poised to fully take advantage of the emerging knowledge based economy, Bakht said, stressing that the government is keen on building a world-class IT infrastructure. Many incentives for proliferating IT use are on the anvil, he declared.

Bakht invited overseas investors to set up base in India in view of the very positive atmosphere here for IT development.

Ravindra Gupta, secretary, Department of Electronics, in his keynote address, detailed several of the developments in IT and telecom policy in the recent past and the future course of action for India so that it can achieve a prominent place in the emerging cyber society.

Gupta recalled the ancient Indian thought "vasudaiva kutumbukam" (the world is one family) and observed that the concept is now rally coming true through the cyberspace. Software parks are coming up in the private sector with their own earth stations and uplinking facilities, he pointed out.

A framework for cyber laws is ready and the bill would be enacted into law during the current session of parliament itself, Gupta assured.

A clear venture capital framework is being put in place and this, Gupta said, would be at par with that in the US. A national venture capital fund for it is soon to come up and will probably include representatives from Silicon Valley along with SIDBI, ICICI and the local IT industry.

To upgrade skill levels of engineers and software personnel after their basic qualification, the newly set up institutes of information technology will run focused courses for 9-12 months. This will create over 50,000 top-quality software personnel every year, according to Gupta.

Low cost PCs are another important focus for the government, Gupta said, adding that the target is to offer a quality configuration PC with monitor at below Rs 20,000.

The IT-citizen interface is being looked into for ensuring transparency and to reflect the human face of government so as to assure citizen's comfort, Gupta said.

Revealing that about 30 per cent of the world's IT workforce would be from India in the near future, Gupta expressed optimism that India would gain its place as a global IT superpower within the next decade.

Tell us what you think