kochi

Kochi , 19th Sept: The profile of Kochi as an Information Technology destination has undergone a sea change during the last decade. No longer are any eyebrows raised when talks are about attracting IT investments to the city. A good part of the credit must go to Infopark Kochi. For it definitely repositioned the city in the map of global IT destinations. “In the last three years, the total turnover in terms of exports was close to Rs.1, 000 crore while growing at the rate of 85 per cent,” State Principal Secretary for IT, Ajay Kumar told us. Infopark Chief Executive Officer Siddhartha Bhattacharya supports this stating that since its inception n 2004, the IT sector in Kochi has grown to nearly 15,000 employees and over 100 companies. He said that a number of developmental initiatives aimed at further accelerating the export growth of the city have been undertaken. Mr. Bhattacharya said that Infopark now accounted for over a third of the State’s total IT turnover. Given the significance of the city as a commercial capital, it is a major point of future customer base and hence will factor as an important destination of IT within Kerala, he said. Mr. Kumar hailed the research and development initiatives in IT undertaken by Infopark in the recent years. One of the significant developments boosting the IT potential of the city is the perceptible improvement in the “employability” of its youth. Mr. Bhattacharya finds a “remarkable change” among the educated youth of the city when it comes to their competence for jobs in the IT sector. “They are now more aware of the changing technology and also of the global culture and to cater to these needs the government as well as the private sector have begun various initiatives to ensure that they are updated on the latest trends in the global market. Programmes like Mass HR, ICT academies and model finishing schools are driving it up,” he said. Besides, good connectivity, talent base, upcoming infrastructure, metropolitan culture, affordable cost of operations and initiatives for Kerala IT, the State government initiative for attracting IT investments to the State, are among factors that makes Kochi a favourite IT destination. It, however, does not mean that the city has done everything to explore its full potential as an IT destination. There definitely is room for improvement and areas to focus on. Mr. Bhattacharya felt that the city could do more in improving soft infrastructure and round the clock world class amenities among other things. He has no doubt that with its ever increasing base and current growth, Kochi and Infopark will be one of the top 10 IT destinations in the country in the next ten years. courtesy : c2clive URL: http://8bt.in/JV6f4j Share