Hello... Kerala Calling

Did you know which state pioneered the IT park concept in India? It was

Kerala with the Technopark at Trivandrum. The park was launched way back in 1992

when other states were just beginning to accept the implications of the

information revolution. Ironically, neither Technopark nor Kerala have caught

the fancy of the media over the years with Bangalore and Hyderabad hogging much

of the limelight. But things are likely to change soon. The recently concluded

IT Kerala 2002 held at the sprawling Technopark campus, drives home a strong

message — Kerala is fast emerging as one of India’s most prominent IT

destinations.

	“We were the first to jump on to the IT bandwagon in the ’70s. But along the line, we lost track of things”
AK Antony chief minister, Kerala

Despite its inherent strengths, Kerala was not able to capitalize on the IT

revolution that swept India in the mid 1990s. The state has successfully

marketed itself as ‘God’s own country’ attracting throngs of foreign

tourists every year. But in terms of industrial development and FDI inflow, the

state is way behind its southern counterparts. It was against this backdrop that

IT Kerala 2002 started rolling.

THE BIG LEAGUE: Karnataka chief minister SM Krishna with special invitees at the launch of Bangalore IT.com

The theme for this year’s convention was ‘Enabling enterprises’. Says

Aruna Sundararajan, IT secretary, Government of Kerala, "We selected this

theme because it has two specific windows of business opportunities. The ICT

exposition demonstrated the convergence of business opportunities and the

conventions set the stage for managing change in the e-economy".

The four-day event included discussions on wide ranging topics from

sustaining e-governance to choosing the right PC. However, the focus was on ‘IT

for the masses’ with various e-governance initiatives and models highlighted.

Around 70 companies participated in the exposition, including TCS, Microsoft,

AMD, Datakraft and Canon India. The event drew over 80,000 visitors.

Advantage Kerala



Planned as a launch pad for leveraging IT investments into the state, the

event saw discussions on branding Kerala and a serious look at ‘Why Kerala has

not able to market its IT potential?’ One answer that emerged blamed it on the

manner in which MNC’s and other Indian states perceive Kerala.

Says Aruna Sundararajan, "This pre conceived notion is bound to change.

With the government taking a proactive role in promoting IT, the state is

rapidly repositioning itself as a major IT hub and an investment of choice for

IT-enabled services." Kerala chief minister A.K.Antony agrees, "We

were the first to jump on to the infotech bandwagon as far back as the 1970s.

But somewhere down the line, we lost track of things." Kerala did lose

track of its IT vision and withdrew into a shell. But the last couple of years

have seen it on a comeback trail as was showcased in IT Kerala 2002. Today,

Technopark has emerged as one of the top software parks in India. With 1.5

million square feet of built up space, the facility is probably one of the

biggest in the country. Technopark is home to around 50 companies and employs

roughly 5000 professionals. The park is connected to the Kochi International

Gateway that boasts of 15 GBPS bandwidth.

The event also worked as a platform for the state to showcase its recently

announced IT policy for 2001-2005, touted as one of the most progressive

policies framed in recent times. At the end of the day, what emerged is that

Kerala today is breaking free from its socialist, trade unionist mindset by

utilizing the full benefits of IT.

G Shrikanth in Trivandrum