The thought of an IT publication came into being in December 1981, in New Delhi. After a year of planning, raising money, and hard work, on a chilly December morning of 1982, the Dataquest magazine made its way to the newsstands-and, the rest, as they say, is history

Quite by coincidence, a rather nice one at that, I get to pen a piece on the Indian IT industry every few years. To be precise, I write when there is a momentous occasion or when we, at CyberMedia, are celebrating an event or an anniversary. The last time I had written a piece for Dataquest was for the millennium issue in 2000. Those were momentous times; there was a fair bit of excitement in the marketplace, the BPO industry was growing and the IT industry was buoyed by the Y2K effect.

Much water has flown under the bridge since then; what was a dream then, is a reality now. Way back then, we all hoped that the Indian IT flag would fly high across the globe, and it has. We wished that the 'made in India' brand would be a mark of distinction, and it is. In fact, at times it is hard to believe that all this has truly happened.

But then, it had to, after all the seeds that were planted some 50 years ago. Here we are again, talking about those times, remembering and celebrating the moment when it all started with a gift from the benign USSR 50 years back in 1956-a URAL computer, which was installed at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata, marking the beginning of Indian computing. In the mid '80s, we had carried a special issue: 'Thirty Years of the Indian Computer Industry'. That time CyberMedia was only a few years old and the industry 30 years old.

Now, the Indian IT industry is celebrating its 50th anniversary and Dataquest is on the eve of its 25th. And, this time round, I would like to touch upon this symbiotic association, of an industry on its tryst with destiny and a media group steadfast on integrity.

The thought of an IT publication came into being in December 1981 in New Delhi. After a year of planning, raising money, and hard work, on a chilly December morning of 1982, Dataquest made its way to the newsstands-and, the rest, as they say, is history.

Not many had faith in the future of the computing industry, let alone a computer magazine. We were India's first B2B publication. Besides politics and movies, nothing used to work in the Indian magazine. No successful sports magazines or children's magazine. But, we were planning a computer magazine-that too when there were less than 2,000 computers in the country. Yet, we had faith in the industry and more importantly, in ourselves. The CyberMedia Group has been there through the thick and thin, starting from the times when all the policies and decisions were made by a government body, the Department of Electronics, or DoE, to the current state when Infosys stock is included in the Nasdaq Index.

CyberMedia has played numerous roles through these times, much like the 'hats' marketing guru Edward de Bono so frequently talks about. We have been a chronicler of events in the IT industry, every single issue that has been of significance can be found mentioned in some page of one of the publications. In fact, researchers glean through Dataquest copies to understand the hows and whys of Indian IT. We have also played an important role in educating the market as well as the industry. PC Quest has played a pivotal role in that regard; in its pages you can find explanations and practical ways even for the most complicated IT issues. Dataquest's brand extensions-DQ Channels & DQ Week-have helped develop the channel business in India.

Personally, I am most happy about the prophetic role played by CyberMedia. We not only analyzed the events, but also predicted how they will play out in the future. For instance, in the early '90s, IDC conducted a study for the government of India funded by the World Bank, evaluating software competency in India. Way back then, we had predicted that Indian IT had the capability of joining the billion dollar club; at that time, software exports were barely a hundred sixty million. The World Bank study gave the industry a belief in its own competitiveness.

We have also played a formative role in policy making for the industry. For instance, in 1984, we had carried a big article spanning 40 or more pages on the New Computer Policy-a massive interview of Dr N Seshagiri, the secretary of DoE. Additionally, our role in rationalizing duty structures, piracy, e-Governance, bandwidth, etc has been there for the industry to see.

We have also played the role of scorekeeper for the IT industry. From the second year, we have been coming out with the DQ Top 20 list. The idea was to not only set a benchmark, but also to enthuse a competitive streak in the industry players. Within a short span of time, DQ Top 20 became a standard well accepted by the media and the industry at large. Companies highlight their achievement by talking about their rank in the DQ Top 20. Today, the list spans four volumes, covering the industry, players and verticals in extreme details.

In 1993, we instituted the Lifetime Achievement and the Person of Year awards, the most respected recognition in the industry.

Why, one may think, have we been able to achieve this where many else have failed? The answer lies in the value system at CyberMedia, starting from the very top we have always worked in a transparent and honest fashion. CyberMedia is renowned for its integrity and unbiased coverage of people and events. We have supported and criticized the industry. The values that we held dear in '82, are very much still there with us.

And now, when the industry has turned 50, it is time for us to reaffirm our commitment. We will continue to be the mirror for the industry-the trusting friend and the guiding light. Who knows how things will pan out in the next 50 years? But, I am sure of one thing-Indian IT will be all the more dominant and so will CyberMedia. Meanwhile, you go ahead and pop the bubby, while I will catch you again, during another such celebratory juncture.

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