National

Nasscom suggests 20 cities to set up IIITs

NEW DELHI: The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) on Thursday suggested the 20 cities for setting up new Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT).

Delhi, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore and Jammu are among the cities suggested.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had announced the initiative during the 11th Five Year Plan.

In its model detailed project report (DPR) presented to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Nasscom, the trade body representing the Indian information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry, has also included the names of Chandigarh, Dehra Dun, Lucknow, Patna, Shillong, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Indore, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar, Pune, Visakhapatanam, Mysore, Mangalore and Coimbatore for establishing new IIITs.

In its model DPR that will serve as a template for preparation of the DPR for each individual IIIT, Nasscom has proposed that the new IIITs be set up as a fully autonomous institutions, through public-private partnership (PPP). The partners should be the Ministry, the respective State governments and industry members.

According to Nasscom president Som Mittal, each IIIT has been envisioned to become a world-class academic institute and evolve into 0a technology and functional ‘Centre of Excellence’ through a strong focus on research in frontier technology areas.

To achieve this, it is imperative to attract the best-in-class faculty, and students; develop sustainable linkages with industry; and provide an environment conducive to research excellence.

To justify the large investments being made in the IIITs, it is important that they provide a sufficient scale at the undergraduate, post-graduate and doctoral research levels, he added.

“We recognise that this was an initiative of national importance and of great significance not only for the Indian IT industry but also for the other sectors of the Indian economy.

It is also a critical focus area for Nasscom as part of its education and skill building initiatives,” he said.

“The model for the new IIITs proposed in the DPR focusses on both academic and research excellence through innovative governance and operational approaches and a strong and sustained participation from the IT industry.

“However, achieving this will not be easy and it is important that each institute is supported, especially in the initial years, and is also allowed complete autonomy to define its road map and implement it,” Mr. Mittal added.

The IT industry was very keen to work with the government and other stakeholders to realise the objectives of this initiative.

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