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.
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