Interview carried by Business Line

GTech, Nabard may join hands to connect with farmers

Our Bureau

Thiruvananthapuram,

Jan 29

The Group of Technopark Companies (GTech) is planning to team up with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to launch a rural connect programme with the aim of sharing technology trends and marketing strategies with the farming community of the State.

The proposal was floated at the end of a one-day conference on ‘Re-engineering Kerala agriculture sector: Information and Communication Technologies in agriculture' that the GTech had hosted recently in Technopark.

FINER DETAILS

According to Mr Binu Sankar, Chief Executive Officer, GTech, the proposal, originally mooted by farmer representatives taking part in the conference, would be taken up positively after working out the modalities.

The conference was held in partnership with the regional office of Nabard, the Kerala State IT Mission, the India Institute of Information Technology and Management (IITM-K) and Technopark.

The farmers' clubs set up under Nabard tutelage and the NGOs working in the farm sector presented two options for a platform to reach out to the farmers, Mr Binu Sankar said.

Finer details would be worked out after taking this up with Nabard officials. But, GTech already has a working model in its Campus Connect programme.

Meanwhile, the one-day conference in Technopark had three sessions dedicated to the use of ICT in agriculture marketing, production and extension services and examined several ongoing projects that aim to provide IT-based services to specific sectors.

It also discussed the core issues facing the agriculture sector and how ICT could be employed in addressing these challenges.

GLARINGLY LOW

In his special address, Dr Ajay Kumar, Principal Secretary IT, Kerala, said that one of the areas where IT can be beneficially applied is agriculture but, ironically, nowhere else was its implementation as glaringly low as it was in agriculture.

Dr Kumar highlighted the two initiatives of the State government in this context – Kissan Kerala and the eKrishi project in Malappuram.

A database of all farmers in at least five districts has been created and the exercise would now be extended to cover the rest of the districts.

According to Mr K.C. Shashidhar, Chief General Manager of the Kerala Regional Office of Nabard, the apex agricultural bank would fund a project to consolidate ICT initiatives for the agriculture sector. Prof Rajeev Srinivasan, said India could hope to become world's ‘food superpower' through proper implementation of ICT in agriculture.

Dr Satichananda Sagola, CEO of Global Risk Hub, Bangalore, spoke about the need for establishing a digital rural information infrastructure service.

Mr Satish Babu, Secretary, GTech and resident, InApp Information Technologies, announced that GTech would organise this event annually focusing on innovations and latest technologies in agriculture.

Interview carried by Indian Express

GTech planning CEOs’ tour to Germany

The Kerala IT sector is all set to make a post-recession take-off. As part of a new investment initiative, the Group of Technopark Companies (GTech) is planning to lead a CEOs’ delegation from the Kerala’s IT industry to Germany during June 2010 to showcase Kerala as a promising investment destination for German companies in the technology sector. Close to 25 companies would be participating in this event to explore the European market through Germany, said CEO, GTech, Binu Sankar.

GTech is in the process of preparing a framework for the German visit and is currently working out the modalities for organising business meetings in three German cities - Munich, Berlin and Frankfurt, said Binu. GTech has already started discussions with the State of Bavaria office to arrange business sessions and government meetings in Germany. There are also plans to seek the help of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce and Bitcom (NASSCOM of Germany) to help the member companies scout for business opportunities, he said.

``We have basically two objectives in undertaking this CEOs’ delegation to Germany. One is to showcase Kerala as a potential investment destination to German companies and second is to identify business opportunities for companies in Technopark and other IT parks in the State,’’ said MD, Palnar Transmedia Pvt Ltd, Syed Ibrahim.

Through this collaboration, Kerala IT industry offers a host of benefits to the German economy and industry with high cost competitiveness, technology-skilled human resources and knowledge of German language - which is very important because it infuses a lot of confidence in Germans.

``Technopark is also initiating the formation of a strategic Indo-German research team which will act as a catalyst in exploring opportunities for the Kerala IT industry and provide a platform for cultural and educational exchange programmes,’’ said Technopark CEO Mervin Alexander.

During his recent visit to Technopark, the German Ambassador to India, Thomas Matussek, had given his complete assurance to bring Kerala into the limelight and to the official IT business map of Germany. He also promised that he will talk to the Bavarian state, which is the silicon valley of Europe and Germany’s Tech capital.

According to Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) report, IT exports from Kerala in the year 2008-09 amounted to Rs 1,800 crore, out of which Technopark’s contribution was Rs 1,400 crore, said Binu.

Despite the global economic slowdown, Kerala has registered a growth of 43 percent in software exports compared to 2007-08.

GTech showcases the use of ICT’s in Agriculture

The Group of Technopark Companies (GTech) organised a one day conference on ‘Re-Engineering the Kerala Agriculture Sector: Information and Communication Technologies in Agriculture’ at Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram.

The conference was held in partnership with NABARD, Kerala State IT Mission, Technopark and Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management in Kerala.

The conference had three sessions dedicated to the use of ICT’s in Agriculture Marketing, Production and Extensions Services and examined several ongoing projects that aim to provide IT based Services to specific sectors. The Conference discussed the core issues of the Agriculture Sector and how ICT’s could be employed in addressing these challenges.

In his inaugural address Sri. Mullakkara Retnakaran, Hon. Minister for Agriculture, government of Kerala, said IT should be made farmer friendly and should empower farmers.

In his special address, Dr. Ajay Kumar IAS, Principal Secretary IT, Government of Kerala said one of the areas where IT can be beneficially applied is agriculture but the challenge remains that the lowest IT implementation is in agriculture. He highlighted the two initiatives of the Kerala government – Kissan Kerala and the eKrishi project in Malappuram. Database of all the farmers in 4-5 districts has been done and will be rolled out soon in other districts. Government has sanctioned the Agrinet project for Kerala. Kerala has achieved 100% connectivity but computer penetration remains extremely low in rural areas. Mobile has to take over e-literacy.

Mr. K C Shashidhar, Chief General Manager, Kerala Regional Office, NABARD said NABARD would fund a project to consolidate ICT initiatives for the agriculture sector. He asked IT companies to handhold ICT initiatives and at the same time farmers should have interaction with corporate sector. He wants ICT to reach financial services to farmers, projects on financial inclusion, networking of ICT innovators in Kerala. Mr. Shashidhar said that IT companies should add agriculture as a business domain to develop new solutions to bridge the knowledge gaps in the farm-level. For example, a farm credit platform could be worked out, which would be of inclusive nature.

Rajeev Srinivasan, Professor, Corporate Strategy, IIM Bangalore said India can be world’s food superpower by proper implementation of ICT in agriculture as food security can be a huge problem.

In his welcome address Mervin Alexander, CEO, Technopark said ICT can play a critical role in Agriculture and we should start using more IT in this area. Agriculture will be able to attract talented professionals if ICT is implemented.

Dr. Satichananda Sagola, CEO of Global Risk Hub, spoke about the need for establishing a digital rural information infrastructure services.

Satish Babu, Secretary, GTech & President, InApp Information Technologies announced that GTech would organise this event annually focussing on Innovations and latest technologies in Agriculture.

A request was placed before GTech to launch a Rural Connect Programme in partnership with NBARD to share the technology trends and marketing strategies with the farming Community in Kerala. GTech in a press release suggested that the request would be taken up positively after working out the modalities.

GTech to organise a Conference on IT in Agriculture

Thiruvananthapuram is all set to host the Group of Technopark companies Conference on IT in Agriculture with the theme ‘Re-engineering the Kerala Agriculture Sector: Information and Communication Technologies in Agriculture on 22^nd of January 2010

The conference is being organized by the Group of Technopark Companies (GTech) in partnership with NABARD, Kerala State IT Mission and Technopark to examine the several ongoing projects that aim to provide IT- based Services to specific domains such as Agriculture Marketing, Agriculture production and Extension Services. The Conference would also bring to the fore the core issues of the Agriculture Sector in Kerala and discuss how ICT’s could be employed in addressing these challenges. The conference would bring together experts and thought leaders from the Kerala IT Industry, Senior Government Officials, representatives from the National Development Organisations, NGO’s, representatives from the Kerala agricultural community and the Media.

Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management in Kerala (IIITMK) is the Knowledge Partner for the Conference. The Conference would have three sessions dedicated to the use of ICT’s in Agriculture Marketing, Production and Extensions Services.

Shri. Mullakara Ratnakaran, the Hon. Minister for Agriculture, Government of Kerala would deliver the inaugural address. The other speakers include Dr. Ajay Kumar IAS, Principal Secretary, IT Government of Kerala, Prof. Rajeev Srinivasan, Corporate Strategy, IIM Bangalore, Mr. K C Shashidhar, Chief General Manager, NABARD, Dr. Shri Jayadev Urs, University of Mysore, Dr. Satichananda Sagola, Global Risk Hub, Ms. Annie George, Building and Enabling Disaster Resilience of Coastal Communities, Nagapattinam, Dr. A K Sherief, Kerala Agricultural College and Mr. Ajith Kumar, IIITMK

In a press release issued today, Mr. S Rama Rao, President of GTech said that ICT in Agriculture sector is of special significance and plays a vital role in transformations relating to the delivery of services as well as in the marketing of agricultural products and added that GTech would play the role of catalyst in facilitating more such interactions between the technology and the farming community in Kerala.

Mr. Satish Babu, Secretary GTech said that the organisation would work closely with development organisations in Kerala to facilitate the usage of ICT in development sector and said that the conference would showcase successful case studies on Innovations in the Agriculture Sector