Kerala is not just a beautiful state boosting great tourism; it is, rather, a state that has IT bigwigs betting big on it. While the trend to move away from metros has brought Kerala in the limelight, the state certainly has whatever it takes to make an impact as an IT destination. Its human resource, a developed social infrastructure, good quality of life, and most importantly, great connectivity, both data and physical, are ideally suited for the knowledge services industry. Its performance on the governance front is another feather in the cap. Kerala has been ranked #4 in the Dataquest-IDC e-Governance overall score of Indian States 2007. In an email interaction, IT secretary of Kerala, Ajay Kumar, gave a detailed account of the states bubbling IT industry and the ongoing e-governance initiatives. Excerpts

Dogged by labor unions and strikes, Kerala had been a state industrialists used to shy away from. If the growth of the IT industry is anything to go by, it seemed more like a misplaced perception. How did this happen?
It really was a perception issue rather than reality. The last ten years have not seen any labor problems, in fact, the industrial front has been peaceful in Kerala. The Technopark at Thiruvananthapuram has been there for close to fifteen years now. There has neither been a strike nor a day lost due to labor problems in any company. This is true for the Infopark in Kochi as well. The IT companies that have grown from Kerala, like IBS, UST Global, among others, tell a very positive story. IT majors that have centers in several cities of Kerala like Infosys, have maintained that the productivity of their Kerala units is among the highest.

Has Kerala finally started to hard sell itself as the IT destination? Can you quantify the investments that are expected to come into Kerala?
The Kerala government has set up a new company, the Kerala State IT Infrastructure Company, which will eventually have 51% government participation and 49% private stake to lead the development of the IT infrastructure of the state. This is expected to increase the investment in IT infrastructure manifold. Some projects being carried out by KSITI are Tecnocity in Thiruvananthapuram, an IT park in Calicut, and IT parks in other districts.

Smart City and Technocity alone will see an investment of over $2 bn in the next 5-10 years. You will see a minimum of $4 bn being invested in IT/ITeS infrastructure in Kerala. All recent market studies have rated Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi as the best tier-2 destinations for IT. We are seeing a rush of IT/ITeS companies wanting to start operations in Kerala.

Ajay Kumar secretary IT, DIT, Government of Kerala

Specifically, the Smart City project in Kochi, which is likely to generate employment close to 90,000, is expected to change the face of Kerala. Your take on that?
Apart from the Smart City project, there are other equally big projects like the Technocity and Infopark Phase 2. All these projects are being developed in public-private partnership. Keralas human resource is ideally suited for the knowledge services industry. Kerala has everything needed by the knowledge industryhuman resource, excellent connectivity, both data and physical, developed social infrastructure, fine weather, and good quality of life. With IT parks coming up in all the fourteen districts of Kerala, you will see the state emerging as a silicon coast.

Are there any plans on working closely with private companies to promote Kerala cities as cosmopolitans like Bangalore or Chennai?
It is like a chicken and egg situation. As the industry is developing, more and more people from other states and cultures are coming to settle in Kerala. This is bringing a cosmopolitan outlook to the state, and it is happening fast. People in Kerala are exposed to all types of people and cultures, thanks to the established tourism industry here. They are open to embrace people from other states and countries without any reservations. Kerala is inviting private investment in various sectors to bring in that cosmopolitan ambience to the cities.

Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation or Keltron, has recently signed an agreement for imparting technical training from its centers in Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad, Kollam, and Kozhikode. What is the MoU looking at, and what are the other plans on developing a technically sound workforce?
Keltron has been in the training space for nearly a decade. Due to its continually improved showing, it has been able to expand its operations in several spheres including IT education and training. This is a welcome move because the demand for IT human resource is huge and Keltron is contributing its share in meeting this demand.

You have been quoted as saying that constraints of capital, technology, and management have delayed effective implementation of e-gov? How is the state planning to overcome these hurdles?
E-governance projects require huge capital investments. A very rough estimate would suggest that computerization of major departments in Kerala would require an investment of approximately Rs 4,000 crore. In other states, the demands may be even bigger. We have been spending roughly Rs 80-100 crore per year on e-governance. At this rate, it may take forty years to complete the e-gov initiatives. The Indian government has promised funding under the Mission Mode Projects (MMPs). In Kerala, we are hoping for support for three of the MMPs under World Bank funding. However, this will address only part of the requirement. There is a need for greater capital investment and the state and Central governments will have to jointly address this issue.

What major e-gov initiatives is the state government planning? Specifically, what is the status of SWAN?
Kerala SWAN is at an advanced stage as compared to most other states. It covers all district headquarters, all block headquarters as well as ten remote points below the block level in each block. There are three NOCs in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, and Kozhikode; networks connected in a diamond network providing redundancy and business continuity. The NOCs are connected on 14 Mbps connectivity, which is possibly the highest in the country. The NOCs are connected to all the district headquarters. The connectivity from NOCs to district headquarters is presently 4 Mbps and is being upgraded to 14 Mbps shortly. Several applications are running from the district to the state level on KSWAN, including the commercial taxes application, transport department application and videoconferencing. We find that existing capacities are inadequate to cater to the demands coming from different departments. We are therefore taking steps to enhance the NOCs and district HQs.

What is the update on the mission mode projects and the two e-district projects?
The Indian government approved the e-district project for Kerala in February this year. We have selected two districts for the purpose. The implementation will begin during the coming year. Using this project, we will be able to link our DC Suite project with Akshaya Centers, and provide additional G2C services based on digital databases, which have been created in several departments.

Urvashi Kaul
urvashik@cybermedia.co.in

Page(s)   1