Success at IT.Com

The

well-managed IT.Com gained respect in the IT community this year

with a record number of visitors and a spate of government initiatives

being undertaken.

Bangalore IT.Com

'99, Asia's largest IT event of the millennium, did what was expected

of it. It made perfect business sense for many, while the usual

diatribe of promises and rhetoric was made and committees were formed.

Organized by the Electronics City Industries' Association and managed

by Cyberexpo, with Karnataka as the host state and the US as the

global partner country, the show, held from November 1 to 5 at the

Electronics City in Bangalore, drew a record number of 3.5 lakh

visitors. If last year's show was marked by utter chaos, confusion

and mismanagement, this year it was a lot better. A well-managed

show spread over an area of 20,000 square meters, with specific

business hours set aside, it did manage to draw 50,000 business

visitors, while the general hours saw 3 lakh visitors.

Government

initiatives



With a view to showcase Bangalore as the IT capital of India, the
new administration in the state headed by SM Krishna also left nothing

to chance. On the lines of the department of information technology

announced at the Center, the Karnataka Government also announced

the creation of an independent department for IT. Acting as a single

window for all clearances, incentives and permissions required by

the IT industry, it will bring several units like the Karnataka

Government Computer Center (KGCC), Indian Institute of Information

Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B), Karnataka Remote Sensing Center

(KRSC) and Keonics under one department. Not to be left behind,

the Karnataka Government also announced a host of measures to ensure

a steady flow of IT investments into the state as well as to have

a comprehensive plan for the new millennium. An IT Task Force headed

by Infosys Chairman NR Narayana Murthy was also formed with Azim

Premji, Som Mital, Pradeep Kar and Srini Rajam on the panel.

If all that

was not enough, the National Conference of Electronic Governance

sponsored by the Government of India, and held as part of the IT.Com,

decided to set up a National Institute of Smart Governance. The

three-day deliberations by about 85 officials from various states

and Union Territories came out with a resolution to shift the focus

from being government-centric to being citizen-centric. It also

saw some plain speaking from officials present, with PV Jayakrishnan,

the Union Secretary for IT, Government of India, making it clear

that mere rhetoric on egovernance was not enough and it was time

for action.

Words

of praise



There were words of praise for Karnataka's IT prowess when the US
Ambassador to India, Richard Celeste, lauded Karnataka's achievements

by terming it as the cornerstone of India's Silicon Triangle. "This

is a state that is ready, willing and wired. Karnataka is known

for space, now it is a leader in cyberspace too," he said.

He had a word of caution though, when he talked about the challenges

that India faced and said it was time one started looking towards

an e-challenge, beyond today's limitations. He also stressed on

the need for connectivity and passed a word of note for the Government

on ecommerce and the tax policy. "Let ecommerce be tax-free

for three to five years. Let it grow and develop and then decide

how you want to tax the sector," he said.

Visibility

magic



For a host of small companies, catching the public's eye was high
on the priority list. It was a perfect time for these companies

to showcase their products as well as advertise it. For some it

was perfecting the sense of presentations and marketing, while for

others it was the visibility magic and making its presence felt

in the industry. The greatest crowd-puller was the US pavilion and

the general hours saw serpentine queues in front of the pavilion.





The focus pavilions definitely had their own share of success. It
made things easier for the business visitors to approach the pavilion

of their interest rather than take a merry-go-round. The Linux fans

had a field time, with ecommerce and the Computorium also attracting

a horde of visitors. If the mantra of ecommerce was the key for

the ecommerce pavilion's attraction, the general hours saw schoolchildren

and kids swarming the Computorium. It was the peripheral vendors

and the training institutes that generated a lot of business. With

the general hours attracting a horde of students, it was a perfect

time for the training institutes to showcase their different syllabi.

The peripheral

vendors and assemblers got a lot of trade enquiries. The software

companies, too, to some extent were able to generate leads. The

IT Spectrum pavilion showcased various IT publications, publishers

vying with each other with discount schemes for subscription. A

technology portal was the hub of activity, with a quiz being conducted

every 15 minutes!

Some

missed it



There were some jarring notes in the event, too. The general hours
posed a big problem for the exhibitors. The intention of the crowd

was collecting brochures, product literatures and visiting cards.

Some of the publications had to cope with magazines being flicked

from its stalls. Even such multimedia kits as CDs were not left

alone, with some persons caught red-handed. Confusion marked the

inaugural day as media had no clue about the schedule. And at last

when a schedule did come out, it was with glaring errors. The much-hyped

e-governance conference was shut to the media and the second day

of the conference saw the media being told about a press briefing

only to be informed when it reached the place that no such thing

was arranged. The general complaint from the exhibitors was that

of power and telephone lines. The Karnataka Chief Minister in his

inaugural speech definitely left no doubts, when he said that he

hoped that the extensive arrangements on the power sector had been

taken care of.

But IT.Com succeeded

to a large extent in showing Karnataka's potential to the IT community.

Figures prove this. A record number of visitors, 300 IT companies

showcasing their offerings, participation of the US as the global

partner country and business delegations from countries like Taiwan,

Singapore, Bangladesh, Japan, Egypt and Australia. Make it an annual

event, with IT and non-IT firms participating actively and let the

concept of focused pavilions catch on. If the show can address some

of the glitches, it will definitely chart a new course for the new

millennium.

Rajesh

Menon



in Bangalore