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| Sunday, 10 November 2002 |
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Emerging sectors focus of Bangalore IT fair by Surekha Galagoda Bangalore IT.Com, Asia's largest international Information and Communications Technology exhibition, was held at the Palace Grounds, India from October 28 to November 1. It was opened by Indian President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. The President, addressing the opening ceremony, called for a national policy on e-governance with each state specialising in its area of expertise. "If each state works on its own, overall progress will be slow, but if each state specialises in the area of its expertise and share the know-how, we can compete globally," he said. He said that all sections of the economy including industry, government and academia should work hard to achieve economic strength to ensure a developed India. President Kalam said that development and peace must go hand in hand. This is only possible when there is a networking of knowledge, transport and rivers connecting the urban with the rural. He requested the industry, policy makers, academia and leaders to go beyond their present activities and to embark on a mission and vision to ensure a poverty-free and developed India. Economic strength should be driven by competitiveness and this can only be achieved by building knowledge and power driven by latest technology and proper investment of resources, said the President. Chief Minister Andra Pradesh Chandra Babu Naidu said that IT was accelerating the pace of economic growth and poverty alleviation in India. He said remote services have opened an important window of opportunity for the IT industry. He also explained the initiatives of his government in e-governance including the plans for a paperless office in the Secretariat and computerisation of all files. The state would also set up call centres to record citizens' complaints relating to the functions of the government. All files will be computerised from November 1 to enable effective monitoring of implementation. The highlights of the mega event with over 250 participants from 17 countries were the emerging sectors Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), e-governance and banking and finance. The exhibition area spanning 15,000 square metres had several pavilions such as IT nations, country pavilions, software technology parks, software BPO, telecommunication networking, Yuva.com, spectrum and infrastructure. A special pavilion called 'tech states' featured state governments that are innovative and seek to attract technology industries to their states. Several conferences were held parallel to the exhibition. Among the regular attractions were the Students Internet World and the Rural IT Quiz. The Students Internet World was presided by Dr Kalam who had an interactive session with 600 students on exploring the resources of the Internet. The finals of the Rural IT Quiz was held on October 31 where six teams representing six districts emerged as winners. Organised by the IT department of the Government of Karnataka and Tata Consultancy Service, the quiz saw 48,000 participating in the initial round. Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandirgah Lt Gen. J.F.R. Jacob said a technology park spanning 100 acres equipped with all infrastructure will be set up in the near future. This could become the emerging IT hub of North West India. "Sixty IT companies have already started operations in Chandigarh and we export 100 crores worth of software," he said. Among his plans is the establishment of a Bio Science park. He is confident that everything will succeed due to the well defined IT policy and the commitment of all concerned. He said: "I attach importance to IT because it is Human Resource intensive." The government of Karnataka and Software Technology Parks of India initiated Bangalore IT.Com to facilitate business between technology companies across the globe. The fifth in an annual series, it targeted a large audience and highlighted emerging sectors. |
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