'Mysore IT.com should have own character'

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE, NOV. 23. The MysoreIT.com should cease to be a pale imitation of the Bangalore version and should develop a character of its own if it is to make any headway, Mr. Sanjoy Das Gupta, Director, Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council, has said.

The event should generate new ideas and give a thrust to the local IT industry here. Bangalore was too huge a player, and the MysoreIT.com organisers should ensure that the event was not overshadowed by events in Bangalore. He also called for the convergence of the IT fair with the peak tourist season during Dasara to package and showcase Mysore as a place with its own character.

Mr. Gupta was interacting with presspersons during a seminar on IT exports and new growth markets. In this context, he said Mysore had its own vibrancy and should capitalise on its strengths. He suggested the idea of specialisation in embedded software technologies which, he said, would dominate in all IT- related spheres in the new century.

He allayed fears that it was too soon to talk of specialisation in a specific field to attain international recognition in the absence of a critical mass of industries in Mysore. ``We can have a policy to locate embedded software technology units in Mysore, and the critical mass will emerge. If the policy is in place, then the units will emerge and the momentum can be maintained.''

Domestic market: IT industries in the country were undervaluing the domestic market in their quest for foreign projects and larger margins. While the Indian players were studying and analysing foreign markets, foreign IT players were studying the Indian scenario and gaining a grip over the domestic market as was evident by the large presence of IT-enabled products pushed by multinationals, he said.

Mr. Gupta pointed out that India had a huge market as was the case with China, but the Japanese and the Singaporeans were making a foray into the Indian market. They had a vision, but the Indian IT firms were looking for larger margins from other countries. He suggested the idea of a strategic alliance with Taiwan and China for hardware in return for embedded software.

He said this arrangement could be in place till the country made sufficient progress on the hardware front. Indian companies lacked what he called ``product vision'', and were still into services and solutions which were at the lowest end of the IT sector.

He said exports worth $5 billion to $6 billion was insignificant in a global market valued at $1,500 billion, and called on IT entrepreneurs to emulate Israel which had products in every sector. Mr. Gupta also called for some kind of regulation and quality control in the field of IT-enabled services, and suggested the idea of a constituting a certified authority for the purpose.

Referring to the new markets and the opportunities available, he said around 25 countries around the world had been identified which could provide business to the tune of $100 billion to $500 billion over the next few years, and efforts must be made to tap those countries. The recession in the IT sector and in the U.S. economy had had an impact on the software industries in India and, hence, the need to develop alternative markets. The countries identified by the export promotion council included those from the European Union and Latin America, Japan and China.

Mr. Gupta said members of the council could visit these countries to apprise themselves of the market situation. They would be reimbursed 75 to 90 per cent of the expenses.

Delegates from Bahrain made a presentation about the opportunities in that country.

A seminar to bridge the digital divide in the country would be held in Bangalore in March 2002. Titled ``Towards Digital Unity'', the seminar would address ways and means to bridge the gap between the computer-literate and those who were not, and to promote IT among the masses, Mr. Gupta added.

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