MUMBAI: As the curtains come down on the annual industry leadership forum of the three-day Nasscom 2004, the chieftains of the industry are very bullish and in a single voice ascertain the optimistic outlook for the year.

They are bullish while stressing the point that the market has reached the next level of maturity. "The roadmap is clear and India can be a global leader by companies focusing on globalization and get ready to compete with the world leaders in their peer group," said a visibly happy, Kiran Karnik, President of Nasscom. "Last year the focus was on the customer, this year it is clearly on the overall market."

Adding to it, Som Mittal, Chairman of Nasscom, said, "Security, Safety and Privacy are the stressing factors of the industry not only in India, but across the globe. Sometime in October this year, a team from Nasscom will go the US to meet the leaders and brainstorm the issues of concern. The launch of Nasscom Security Forum was in line with that."

BPO continued to be the most popular of the four tracks in the event attracted by various outsourcing issues. It was followed closely by Country Forum, where a large number of Indian companies were looking forward for information on issues such as visa, taxation, business opportunities, etc. UK, Wales and Scotland were particularly drawing crowds. The Technology sessions had few takers, as the sessions were mediocre in terms of attendance, according to Karnik.

Another encouraging factor, according to the head honchos of the industry, is the growth of the domestic industry. "The government's move on giving hardware tax sops and e-governance has been a encouraging move towards the growth of the domestic IT industry," added Karnik. Overall they pointed out that the situation was encouragingly optimistic.

CIOL Bureau