NASSCOM Spl: Tough times for India IT industry

MUMBAI, INDIA: The 17th edition of NASSCOM India Leadership Forum (NILF), the flagship event of NASSCOM, is being held at a very critical juncture in the short, yet exciting history of Indian IT/BPO industry.

The economic recession in the US and the downturn in India is exerting lot of pressure on IT industry to devise a calibrated strategy to come out of the present uncertain times completely unscathed.

Add to this the situation of mistrust emanating from unfortunate Satyam scandal, which has cast serious aspersions on the structure of corporate governance for Indian IT/BPO industry, a industry which hitherto was seen among the most trusted and transparent industries.

What is expected at NILF 2009?

These unexpected, uninvited incidents put an added onus on the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum that apart from helping Indian IT software and services industry stay on track to help them touch US$60 billion in exports during FY 2009-10, the forum has to imprint the thought that partnering with Indian IT/BPO industry is the best bet for countries to get out of recession.

This year, NASSCOM India Leadership Forum 2009, a milestone event that will mark NASSCOM’s 20th year, will be bringing under one roof industry leaders, thought gurus, analysts, government decision makers, academia and IT users from across the world.

According to Sangeeta Gupta, vice president, NASSCOM, “NASSCOM will be able to put forcefully its view that Indian IT/BPO industry has very strong fundamentals and we view downturn as an opportunity to really emerge as leaders going forward.”

Session on tackling recession to dominate debate

Recession in the US and Europe and slowdown in India will be hot topic of discussion this year. NILF has planned special sessions on how to help Indian companies to pass through these uncertain times.

John Chambers, the CEO of Cisco, the spotlight keynote speaker will set the ball rolling by talking about how the current scenario is going to reshape the global economy.

This will be followed by a debate between top industry CEOs, Nandan Nilkini, Ramadurai, Vineet Nayar, who would be deliberating the reality of recession and the way ahead.