Karnataka government launches IT.biz 2012

BANGALORE, INDIA: The fifteenth edition of the country's premier Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Bangalore IT.biz 2012, was launched in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Over the years, the event has evolved in line with the industry's changing trends and needs, and according to I.S.N. Prasad, Principal Secretary, Department of IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka, this edition's focus would be on promoting entrepreneurship and innovation, with its theme,  Future of ICT — India's Big Shift to Innovation.

Organized by the government of Karnataka, the event will be held between October 17 and 19 at the Karnataka Trade and Promotion Organization's Trade Centre at Whitefield here.

Addressing at the official launch announcement, Infosys Limited's executive co-chairman, Kris S. Gopalakrishnan, said that about 25 per cent of contribution to the state's GDP is by the IT industry.

"In Bangalore, it is estimated that there are about 600,000 people employed in the IT and ITeS sectors out of about 7 million population. It makes about 10 per cent of the entire population. Bangalore is known as the Silicon Valley — which is not a city, but a region — but our city shares similar statistics with the latter. It is very unique to Bangalore," explained Gopalakrishnan, who is also the chairperson of the Karnataka's Vision Group on IT.

He also lauded the way the event had adopted to the changing trends and how it evolved over the years to cater to the needs of the industry. According to him, cloud, mobility and ESDM would play a major role in security and other technological domains in future. Added Gopalakrishnan, "It's a level-playing field, where every stakeholder can share their thoughts."

This year's IT.biz will have a platform for young engineering students, called ImpressIT, to showcase their ideas and skills, the YESSS forum for startups, besides the IT Excellence Awards, IT Export Awards, Exhibitor Awards and other awards by industry associations.