1998

The IT industry once again proves its grit, in An year marked by political uncertainty and anticipated repercussions of the nuclear blasts and the general beating the economy took, industry manages to keep afloat at 34% for the half year ended September 1998. 

The savior once again comes in the form of exports at 54.2%, the domestic industry grows at 22%.

Acknowledging the significance of IT, not only for automating and simplifying processes, but also for the economy, the Government of India formed a National IT Task Force in May. The 108 recommendations made by it in the first report were all accepted in a record time, setting off a sense of jubilation in the industry. 

Various state governments, led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Chandrababu Naidu’s exemplary initiatives in his state, follow suit. Task forces for IT become the new credo in a number of states. 

l Industry and academia come closer. Intel sets up a multimedia laboratory at IISc, IBM opens its research center at IIT Delhi, PTC donates 100 Pro/E seats to IIT Delhi and Nokia sponsors IIT VLSI course.

The net fever catches on. In Chennai cyber cafes mushroom in every locality and at least 1 STD booth per street boasts of email connectivity. Similarly indifferent parts of the country the telephone kiosks prepare to become tele-info kiosks, offering net connectivity.

November sees a much clarified Internet Policy and on 22nd the first private ISP, Satyam Infoway, begins its operations in Hyderabad. 

l MNC juggernaut rolls on. Belying doomsday predictions about the negative impact of nuclear explosions on MNC investments in the country, India saw several major global players coming into the country. To capitalize on the Indian potential, MNCs set up subsidiaries, formed JVs, appointed channel partners or pumped in more investments in the country. The high points included setting up of Microsoft’s software development center and India visits of Intel and Novell chieftains. Quite a few companies established outsourcing and R&D centers in the country.

PARAM 10000 is launched amidst much fanfare, from the Pune-based Center for Advanced Computing, mitigating fears of cutting of supercomputing aid from ‘foreigners,’ who were bound to comply with their government’s dictates in the wake of nuclear explosions. The machine’s arrival put India firmly onto the supercomputing racetrack.

l Venture capital concept gets known. Though the environment for entrepreneurs in the country is still a far cry from that haven called Silicon Valley, a number of venture capital funds are announced, both by the industry and the government. 

The government, acknowledging the need for funds for software companies, set up a Rs100-crore venture capital fund. For starters, VC becomes a hot word. Y2K fire detected at home. The government sets aside Rs700 for domestic Y2K conversion in its departments, banks etc. 

ERP zooms. The technology that saw stupendous growth in usage and investment was, undoubtedly, ERP. With most global vendors having a field day in the Indian market, domestic players, too, got onto the bandwagon with a number of homegrown offerings.