WB govt to set up hardware hubs: Partha
Kolkata, Aug 8 (IBNS)
West Bengal Minister of Commerce and Industry and IT, Partha Chatterjee, on Wednesday said the state government will set up hardware hubs at Bolpur, Kalyani and Rajarhat.
The continuing credit crunch provides pressure on ICT spending. Organizations are focusing more on ICT value management. The vision of ICT in any organization is now getting shifted from earlier concept of need based ICT projects for automation to cost and value optimization.
The ICT management has shifted towards continuous balancing act of cost and value. The business of ICT can thus be envisaged in current situation as is making informed decisions to support an organization's business or ICT objectives.
Against this backdrop, CII Eastern Region inaugurated the 11th edition of its two day programme ICT East 2012 in Kolkata on Wednesday to deliberate on how to achieve excellence in aligning ICT towards broader business strategy of an organization.
Chief Guest of the occasion, Partha Chatterjee, stated that West Bengal provides a rich pool of talent that creates an extremely favorable ambience towards technology driven business growth.
"This part of the country is gradually gearing up to blossom up to its full potential. This would definitely lead to better ICT growth in the state," he said.
He further stated that the state government is mulling steps to boost the small IT companies by creating a cluster among them.
"The state is also planning to have IT hubs in every district to help create more jobs. The land for the IT hubs, which would require less land, would be located in tier II towns of Durgapur, Asansol, Siliguri, Bankura, Barjora, Kalyani and North and South 24 Parganas," said Chatterjee.
The Minister requested the industry to join hands with the government in setting up IT hubs.
He said: "The Government of West Bengal is planning to set up hardware hubs at Bolpur, Kalyani and Rajarhat."
Addressing the gathering, Susanta Majumdar, Special Secretary, Department of IT, stated that West Bengal provides a rich pool of talent that creates an extremely favorable ambience towards technology driven business growth.
He stated that to make innovations in ICT industry the school education system need to overhauled so that the students become well acquainted with IT and its applications from the very beginning.
Majumdar said that the Government of West Bengal would come up with the new IT Policy and new incentive scheme very soon.
He requested the industry leaders to submit complete investment proposals once the policy is published.
He further stated that the state government is making major strides in the area of e-governance.
Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman, CII National Committee on IT, ITeS and e-Commerce and Chairman, Microsoft India stated that during the last 20 - 25 years, IT industry has become a key driver of economic growth.
"IT industry in India employs over 3 million people directly and over 9 million people indirectly. There are several Indian renowned ICT organisations operating in the world market and many more are coming up," he said.
Pramanik further said that ICT is playing an important role in India's growth story; however, it must strive to ensure inclusive growth of the nation.
He avowed that vocational kill development is very important and ICT industry has to play a key role in this area. Technology also has key role to play in enhancing governance.
He added that CII National Committee on IT and ITeS have taken the agenda of focusing on ICT as a major driver of Indian MSMEs.
"Indian MSMEs play a key role in driving the country's industrial development. SMEs have a critical role on promoting entrepreneurship and employment opportunity in India; however IT adoption among them is still relatively in the lower side," he said.
He said that ICT will spur the next generation of growth in India.