BANGALORE, INDIA: After being the pioneers among the IT organizations in India, Computer Society of India (CSI) is now looking to synergize with Nasscom and MAIT rather than target as competitors. In an exclusive to CIOL Bureau, K.K. Aggarwal, president of CSI spoke to Manu Sharma, Associate Editor of CIOL on the growth of CSI and how it plans to counter threats from competitors.

CIOL: What is CSI and when was it started?
KKA: The seed for the CSI was first sown in the year 1965 with a handful of IT enthusiasts who were a computer user group and felt the need to organize activities. They also wanted to share their knowledge and exchange ideas on what they felt was a fast emerging sector. Today the CSI takes pride in being the largest and most professionally managed association of and for IT professionals in India.

CIOL: What is the objective of CSI?
KKA: The purposes of the society are scientific and educational directed towards the advancement of the theory and practice of computer science and IT. In a span of less than four decades, the organization has grown to an evitable size of over 36,000 strong members consisting of professionals with varied backgrounds including software developers, scientists, academicians, project managers, CIO's, CTO's & IT vendors.

CIOL: How has CSI spread over the years?
KKA: It has spread its branches all over the country. Currently rooted firmly at 62 different locations, CSI has plans of opening many more chapters & activity centers in smaller towns and cities of the country. The idea is to spread the knowledge, and provide opportunities to as many interested as possible.

CIOL: What has been the outcome of Nasscom and MAIT coming up?
KKA: The recent boom in the IT industry has led to the mushrooming of Nasscom and MAIT to cater to the industries. Nasscom come up as a consortium that serves as an interface to the Indian software industry and Indian BPO industry, while MAIT came up for purposes of scientific, educational and IT industry promotion representing hardware, training, design/R&D and the associated services sectors of the Indian IT Industry.

CIOL: Where is CSI heading now?
KKA: As far as the IT professionals are concerned, CSI was the only organization earlier. But as Nasscom and MAIT came up as representatives to cater to the industries, we would now like to use this forum for more closer interaction with industry and academia by making sure that students are better accepted by the industry and similarly the academic world will be better connected to the IT world.

CIOL: Has Nasscom and MAIT emerged as competitors to CSI?
KKA: We feel that all three of us can coexists together and bring all the IT members and work closely with Nasscom and MAIT and not look at them as competitors.

CIOL: How many members does CSI presently have?
KKA: With the coming of these organizations, we did not actually loose out memberships but have not grown unlike earlier. But it is not a serious concern. Presently we have 11,000 full members and about 25,000 student members and expect it to cross 50,000 by 2008. Besides we have about 50 institutional members.

CIOL: How do you look at Nasscom and MAIT?
KKA: The IT community is so large that the entire three bodies can coexists very well. In fact, we can synergize with each other and jointly organize events. 

CIOL: Are you planning for any joint events?
KKA: Yes. We would be jointly organizing the 'Innovation Awards' in 2008. All three of us will come together and encourage innovation in the country. The Best Innovation Award will be given away on a CSI platform along with Nasscom and MAIT.