The NASSCOM leadership forum was held in Mumbai from February 14th to 16th. The forum had around 25 country representations, with 1,600 delegates in attendance in over 45 sessions.
The event had four major themes.
a) Hyper specialization and need for specialized talent.
b) Global Uncertainties.
c) Leadership in uncertain times.
d) Emerging opportunities.
Key Highlights
1. Tapping the US health market.
- Law being passed in the US to comply with WHO – to migrate to ICD-10 from ICD-9.
- Opportunities similar to the “Y2K” era.
2. Cloud Support.
3. Global sourcing.
4. India’s dream UID project.
5. This summit was used by international agencies as platform to attract India investment.
- The targets were not only the top IT companies but also the mid size companies of the range $40 million – $750 million.
6. Surprise Visitor.
- Automobile maker Ford showcased its open source app development platform OpenXC at the forum. Ford plans to provide IT-solutions such as voice controls in entry level and mid-segment cars.
7. Next $100 billion coming from the Small and medium IT firms.
8. Nasscom is working with the Ministry of IT to bring out a framework for government IT contracts; there were 15 large and 75 small companies and Nasscom is trying to create a market space for the small companies.
9. Demands
- Removal of MAT.
- Change – the requirement of developing 25 acres of land even in small towns.
OTHER SPEAKERS
- Abishek Bachhan – Cross generational leadership.
- Shekhar Kapoor – Rise of Blogistan.
- Richard Hadlee – Technology & innovation, on & off the pitch.
- Pranav Mistry – Invisible Computing.
VIEWPOINT
The stand out point to be considered in the forum was that the growth pattern will have to change. What has brought the IT industry so far may not be the blueprint for the path ahead.
Top industry echelons at the forum said the way forward will have to be led by the tier-2 and tier-3 companies. With the global scenario still unclear, newer pastures have to be discovered.
Indeed, we Indians should be proud of the IT/ITeS industry with revenues expected to touch $100 billion this fiscal, making India as a Knowledge power house. The exports accounted for nearly $69 billion and the domestic market accounted for $32 billion in the current fiscal. But the point to be noted is that the SMEs in IT sector contribute only $2 billion which is very meager compared to $100 billion. Out of the total export share around 80% is contributed by the top 200 IT companies while the rest is contributed by around 2200 SMEs. This is what the forum addressed.
The International conference IndiaSoft, the flagship event of the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), which will be held in Hyderabad between March 21 and 23, 2012 can be used as platform by the SMEs to showcase their capabilities and win orders. The best part is that the focus is on the emerging countries as part of the IndiaSoft conference.
The government ( read Home Minister) has at the forum requested the IT companies to look inwards and explore how IT can solve the bottlenecks related to government services provided to the poor. Aadhar, is one such example.
There is the rhetoric that one should help rural India so that it can also reap the benefits of liberalization and globalization. Well it is a known fact that many MNCs like Unilever, P&G, Haier, Telecom MNCs are doing extremely well in India because of the huge population base in rural India. I doubt these MNCs had the idea of rebuilding India. The point is that the rural market must be seen as a profitable market. The rural markets fill up the space left behind by the current urban market. So our own companies (read IT companies) should also look at rural India not in terms of poverty and indebtedness but as profitable segments. IT can be a real game changer if properly channeled in our country.
L.KISHAN CHAND
Class of 2013
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