Over 250 companies to take part in trade show

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, OCT. 29. The Minister of State for Information Technology, Prof. B.K.Chandrashekar, on Monday said the State Government had ``great satisfaction'' that the fourth edition of Bangalore IT.com was ``happening, and business will be as usual despite the doubts expressed by some.''

Speaking to the media at the IT.com venue on the Palace Grounds here, he said the event, which would take place from November 1 to 5, would have some of the top global majors even if the number of participating corporates appeared less in absolute numbers.

More space - 8,100 sq metres - would be occupied this year by participating corporates.

The event was happening at a time when the economy was trying to recover from a depression caused by several factors, beginning with the global meltdown on technological stocks as a fall-out of the dotcom bust, and culminating with the tragic events of September 11 in the U.S., and the subsequent plunge of the stock markets the world over.

``Given the circumstances, it is heartening that Bangalore IT.com 2001 has managed to come through largely unscathed, and we are proud to announce that this year too it will be the largest IT event in this part of the world,'' Prof. Chandrashekar said.

The Secretary for Information Technology, Mr. Vivek Kulkarni, said the events this year included a trade show and a multi-forum conference along with the global buyer-seller meet, the Rural IT Quiz, and the Internet World for students. The trade show would have 252 companies from India, including the MNCs based here, and representation from 15 countries, including the U.K., Europe, Japan and Hong Kong.

This was considered significant with the State Government trying to encourage the Bangalore-based IT companies to explore the non- U.S. markets; 75 companies from outside the U.S. were participating this year. There would be delegations from 11 State governments.

Mr. B.V.Naidu, Director, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), said: ``All apprehensions have been belied, and we have sailed through with good response from IT companies despite the slowdown.'' Compared to five countries last year, 15 countries would be represented this year with a delegation from Mauritius which was keen on doing business with IT companies in Bangalore.

The major sponsor of IT.com, Microsoft, was launching its new Windows XP at the event.

Connectivity would be broader this year with two large gateways each estimated at Rs.70 lakhs to Rs.80 lakhs provided on Palace Grounds and at Kanteerva Stadium (venue for the Internet World) forming the ``fibre backbone,'' Mr. Naidu said.

For the technical sessions, 300 overseas delegates had confirmed their participations; these included those from Stanford University and other U.S. organisations who were coming despite the travel restrictions for U.S. citizens.

Mr. Gopal Hosur, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Zone), said security arrangements had been made with the post-September 11 scenario in mind.

There would be metal detectors and selective frisking at the entrances, a large number of plainclothes personnel, and a police control room at the venue.

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Section  : Southern States
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