‘We will make Goa intelligent’

Bangalore is the ‘Silicon City’. Hyderabad is Cyberabad. Maharashtra and

Tamil Nadu are getting aggressive to promote e-governance. Gujarat has gone for

the ambitious Poistra Project, a concentrated infotech-enabled hub. Will Goa be

left behind in the race? Ramakant Khalap, state minister for information

technology, does not think so. In an interview to Cyber News Service, he

outlines measures, which will "catapult Goa to an intelligent-state

status."

On the status of the IT industry in Goa:

Goa has the right kind of infrastructure to promote IT and the right kind of

ambience. With an available English-speaking populace well-versed in the

hospitality sector, we could well focus on making Goa the country’s first

intelligent state.

Steps taken by the government to promote the software industry:

To catch up with other states, we have constituted an apex level advisory

body. Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, director general of the Council for Scientific and

Industrial Research, heads the Infotech Council. Top names in the industry are

associated with the council and it put in a lot of work into drafting the recent

Infotech policy. The state government will also have an infotech committee to

provide ways and means to actualize the vision of making Goa an intelligent

state.

The vision statement for the state:

Our USP would be to lay special thrust on the IT industry, especially

IT-enabled services and infotainment. Along with tourism, Goa could also provide

the right kind of ambience as an IT-enabled state and this can attract a lot of

overseas investment. We already enjoy one of the best telecom densities in the

country. The optical fiber network is in place and the power situation is

healthy. Industry can rest assured that we will make life a lot easier for them.

Goa’s IT policy:

We have adopted a five-pronged strategy to address all issues. These include

education, e-governance, promotion of the infotainment industry, notifying IT

parks and habitats and offering venture capital to industry. We will begin

improving infotech education at the basic level and offer high-end courses at

our university. Around 80 government departments will be connected in a span of

two years. We have already sought help from Andhra Pradesh for this purpose. For

every 100 jobs, the government will put in Rs 50 lakh by way of equity in the

company.

We already have the right kind of ambience to offer to industry. The educated

populace here would be ideal for an IT-enabled service industry, call centers,

medical transcription and insurance. These could become really big here.

The budget allocated to promote the industry:

Around 10% of the budget has been allocated for the promotion of industry

here. Let us not talk about revenues since the current figures are quite low,

just around Rs 25 crore. But we hope to reach a healthy figure. Roadshows should

begin in a major way shortly and you will see a different picture then.