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Bits and bytes from Bangalore IT Biz

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE, INDIA: Let's take a look at a few major announcements and launches that took place at the 13th edition of the Karnataka Government's flagship IT event Bangalore IT.biz 2010.

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Though the absence of Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Telecom Minister A. Raja was felt at the inaugural event of the 'Billion Strong: Empowered by ICT' event, it wasn't short of announcements and fanfare.

Launch of ePCO

Similair to its Rural BPO initiative, the Karnataka state government today launched ePCOs scheme.

ePCO is an effort to rehabilitate PCO operators, who have been hit by mobile boom, and bring them into the mainstream of IT evolution and equipping PCOs with computers and Internet. The scheme is being promoted by state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd (Keonics) with global chip maker Intel and Suvidha Group.

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Karnataka IT&BT Minister Katta Subramanya Naidu believes that initiatives such as Rural BPO and ePCO will take IT to grassroots.

The government has sanctioned 32 rural BPOs so far and is planning to open 100 rural BPOs and 5,000 ePCOs this year.

Semiconductor, electronics, IT Policy on card

The Karnataka government has released Semiconductor Policy and is in the process of revising the IT policy.

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Delivering the presidential address, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said the state government was revising its ICT policy to include telecom as mobile telephony was bound to be the growth engine of the rural economy.

Texas Instruments India Managing Director Biswadip Mitra, said, "India is at a very important juncture of electronics product growth. Innovation in this space is further facilitating the growth."

The state is also considering Electronic Hardware Policy to encourage electronic hardware manufacturing.

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An Animation and Gaming Policy is also under active consideration.

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Broadband to all panchayaths in two years

Sachin Pilot, Union Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology, Government of India, said that by 2012 the government will ensure that every single panchayath in the country will have access to broadband.

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IT not only for Engligh/Hindi-speaking class

Pilot also said that IT industry is not only for the educated class residing in a few cities across the country.

He also added that it is also not meant for the English or Hindi speaking population in India. All Indians, irrespective of their language, should have an access to the benefits of IT.

Earthquake, mine disaster hit Chile to outgrow India

The Chilean Ambassador to India Christian Barros started off his speech in a candid manner mentioning the earthquake and Chilean Mining disaster that had struck the nation.

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His reference of the mining rescue efforts evoked an applause from the audience. And he went on to say how dynamic the Chilean economy is, which is growing at 5.5 percent and how its ICT industry holds tremendous potential.

Maybe, he was in an effort to smoothen the India-Chile business trade talks that are on cards for 2011.

Israel will enter into a bilateral agreement with Karnataka aimed at sharing latest technologies and co-operating in R&D projects. Keonics, on behalf of Karnataka and MATIMOP — the Israeli Industry Center for R&D, on behalf of Government of Israel, will be signing the agreement shortly.

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IT industry to create 1.5-1.7 lakhs jobs this year

Kris Gopalakrishnan, President and CEO, Infosys Technologies, said that IT services will grow 13-15 percent this year, up from five percent last year. Moreover, IT/BPO industry will be a $71.71 billion big industry this year.

Thus, the ICT industry will create 1.5-1.7 lakh jobs soon.

One in IT is equal to four in other sectors

The IT industry is capable of creating huge impact. For every one job in IT sector, four other jobs are being created in other sectors simultaneously," said Kris Gopalakrishnan, President and CEO, Infosys Technologies.

Of late, there has been a lot of commotion that Bangalore has reached its saturation point and there is a need to look out for other destinations and develop Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities as IT hubs. However, Kris notes that growth in the Tier 1 city is an absolute must to support the growth in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

In a recent survey, it was found that 40 percent of the new employees come from a background where either one or both the parents haven't completed tenth standard.

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