labels: confederation of indian industry, it news
States showcase its offerings at Connect 2002 news
Venkatachari Jagannathan
20 September 2002
Chennai: If Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa announced the new state IT policy at the inaugural session of Connect 2002, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on 19 September 2002, then the exhibition, which was simultaneously inaugurated, endorsed in part her policy of showcasing the best that her state has to offer.

The state government is actively participating in its various stalls Tidco, Elcot, Sipcot and others. Though the state has been active on the IT front since the last one year, the efforts are more vividly visible this time.

The Software Technology Parks of India stall, besides showcasing in a map wherever gateway connectivity is given in India, made a specific point to highlight the smaller centres in Tamil Nadu where IT-enabled services are actively encouraged. These are Tiruchirapalli, Thiruvallur, Thanjavur, Madurai, Thiruvannamalai, Vellore, Madurai and Coimbatore, the centres that contribute to software exports, too. The IT policy states job opportunities at rural and mofussil centres is an important goal for the state.

There are many small and medium companies showcasing their strengths in networking technologies, switching technologies, voice over IP, call centre technologies and other IT-enabled services (ITES). The state government has again promised incentives for start-up companies in ITES and this would increase the entrepreneurship in the state, says an exhibitor with a networking company.

Company officials in the stall of Bay Talktech, a Chennai-based company providing IVRS and speech to text solutions, say their company has also ventured into providing solutions for small call centres starting from two seats. There is enough demand for them in the country; not all start-ups can invest crores of rupees and many feel there is an opportunity to service Indian companies with lesser requirements (compared to a multinational company).

Says Axes Technologies S Bala Vignesh, who is part of the technical staff: "We were surprised to find an equal number of students and businessmen enquiring about our gateway product. This, incidentally, provides voice over IP solutions and is targeted at corporates having leased lines or ISDN lines connecting their offices. The service is expected to get popular, as corporates would be able to extract that much more mileage from their leased lines with no disturbance to existing infrastructure."

Marah Hoessein Salim, chief executive, Ascendas (India), a subsidiary of Jurong Town Corporation, which sets up industrial infrastructure globally, however, feels that exhibitions in India need to "mature" and CII as an influential body can help in disseminating what was done in Singapore and elsewhere. "Tamil Nadu has tremendous potential, but it should be highlighted in a better manner."

The biggies, too, are present at the venue: TCS, Bharti Telenet, Wipro Infotech, Ramco Systems and RPG Cellular Services, among others. A slew of product launches is planned in the following three days.


 search domain-b
  go
 
States showcase its offerings at Connect 2002