Employ the Differently Abled

Dr. Ajay Kumar, Secretary (IT), Government of Kerala, called for increasing the employability of the differentially-abled as well as employment, in both high-tech sectors such IT and in other sectors in the economy. He was speaking at the Session on “Diversity in Workforce: Employing the Differently Abled”, organized by the Group of Technopark Companies (GTECH) at Technopark today. Dr. Ajay Kumar also explained the background of the InSight project designd and implemened by the Kerala State IT Mission and SPACE, which has successfully developed and is in the process of disseminating throughout the state an Open Source software stack that enabled visually impaired to use computers. He congratulated GTECH for highlighting this important topic among the Technopark community and Kerala's society.

There are about 70 million disabled people in the country. According to a study by NCPEDP top 100 companies, only 0.4% of their workforce comprised of People with Disabilities. If equipped with the right skills, the differentially abled can be of significant value to economy of the country.
GTECH, as a group representing Technopark companies, took the initiative of organizing this session with the objective of bringing together Corporates, NGOs, the Government and the media on a common platform to discuss issues associated with the employability of differently abled, especially within the IT sector.
Dr. Usha Titus, Secretary, Social Welfare Department, who delivered a special address on the occasion, said that there is vast pool of untapped differentially-abled human resources in the country and in Kerala, and that enabling even a part of these resources would be beneficial to the entire society.

The session also stressed on the need for the IT Industry to work closely with NGO’s and the Government in addressing the issue of employability of the differently Abled. The session showcased success stories of companies like Reuters, IBM, Infosys, Mphasis BFL etc in successfully employing the differently Abled and creating a diversity in their respective workforces.

Other speakers at the session included Ms.Rama Chari, Director, Diversity and Equal Opportunity; Mr. Binu Sankar, CEO, Group of Technopark Companies , Mr. Sebi Chacko, Head-HR (South Asia), Thomson Reuters; Mr. G Vijayaraghavan, ex-CEO, Technopark; Mr. Arun Ramachandran, Project Co-ordinator, Insight Project; Mr. S. Ashok Kumar, Project Manager, Leonard Cheshire International; Mr. Rakesh Gupta, COO, Allianz Cornhill India; and Mr. Amarnath Raja, CEO, InApp Information Technologies.

Major Events of Group of Technopark Companies

Dear,
Some of the major events proposed for the year 2008 is enclosed.

1 Session on Diversity in Workforce: Employing people with Disability
August 7th 2008

2 Kerala Venture Capital Summit 2008: Financing the Knowledge Economy in Kerala
September 2nd and 3rd , 2008

3 HR Conclave: Changing Role of Human Resource Professionals
October 17th 2008

4 Green@GTECH: Corporate Code on Climate Change
Novemeber 21st , 2008

5 GTECH Leadership Conclave and GTECH Annual Forum Meeting
December 18th and 19th 2008

Kerala Venture Capital Summit 2008: Financing the Knowledge Economy in Kerala

Concept Note
1. Introduction

History of Venture Capital in India dates back to early 70’s when Govt of India appointed a committee led by Late Shri R.S.Bhatt to find out the ways to meet a void in conventional financing for funding start-up companies based on absolutely new innovative technologies. Such companies either did not get any financial support or the funding was inadequate which resulted into their early mortality. The committee recommended starting of Venture Capital industry in India.

In mid 80’s three all India financial institutions viz IDBI, ICICI, IFCI started investing into the equity of small technological companies.
In Nov 1988, Govt of India decided to institutionalise Venture Capital Industry and announced guidelines in the parliament. Controller of Capital issues implemented these guidelines known as CCI for VC. These guidelines were very restrictive and following a very narrow definition of VC. They required Venture Capital to be invested in companies based on innovative technologies started by first generation entrepreneur. This made VC investment highly risky and unattractive.

At the same time World Bank organized a VC awareness seminar and selected 6 institutions to start VC investment in India. This included TDICICI (ICICI), GVFL, Canbank Venture Capital Fund, APIDC, RCTC and ILF (now known as Pathfinder). The other significant organisations in private sector were ANZ Grindlays 3i Investment Services Limited, IFB, Jardine Electra.
After the reforms were commenced in 1991, CCI guidelines were abolished and VC Industry became unregulated. In 1995, Govt of India permitted Foreign Finance companies to make investments in India and many foreign VC private equity firms entered India.

In 1996, after the lapse of around 8 years, government again announced guidelines to regulate the VC industry. These guidelines did not create a homogeneous level playing field for all the VC investors. This impeded growth of domestic VC industry. Lack of incentives also made Indian Corporate and wealthy individuals shy of VC funds. With the result VC scene in India started getting dominated by foreign equity fund.

2. Venture Capital Industry and the IT Sector

In 1997, IT boom in India made VC industry more significant. Due to symbiotic relationship between VC and IT industry, VC got more prominence as a major source of funding for the rapidly growing IT industry. Indian VC’s which were so far investing in all the sectors changed their focus to IT and telecom industry.The effect of venture capital on the IT Sector was that it accelerated the rate of innovation and increased the length of technology cycles causing overall economic growth.

A noteworthy point of the VC industry is that of late, its growth has been a function of the growth in the IT industry. This has been the trend in the US and also in the emerging global scenario. India is no exception. VC’s has funded many of the emerging IT Companies. During 2007 VC investments scaled $900 million (Rs3,546 crore), according to industry reports. VCs invested more than $777 million in 57 deals in the first nine months of 2007 which is about five times the $158 million invested in the same period in 2006. ( source Reuters) .

3. The Summit

Group of Technopark Companies (GTECH), which is a strategic association of IT companies in Technopark, is organising a Venture Capital summit christened Kerala Venture Capital Summit 2008: Financing the Knowledge Economy in Kerala. The objective of the summit is to bring the leading Venture Capitalists in India, the IT companies in Kerala and other Emerging Entrepreneurs on a common platform to discuss and showcase the Technological and innovative prowess of the IT companies and possibility of potential funding for the companies in their global expansion plans. Another important and noteworthy objective of this summit is to showcase the emergence of the Kerala IT Industry in the global stage and giving a fillip to the companies to establish national and international networks with the leading financial and venture capital Industry. The summit also aims to showcase the strength of the members of GTECH and try to position GTECH as the reference point for the IT Industry in the state and also facilitate a wider interaction between the Industry and the Government of Kerala.

Name of the Event
Kerala Venture Capital Summit 2008: Financing the Knowledge Economy in Kerala

Duration
Date: August 7th and 8th, 2008
The event will spread over 2 days with the summit closing on the second day with the lunch.

Venue
The proposed venue will be the Travancore Hall within the Technopark Campus. Small meeting places have to be created outside the hall to facilitate one to one interaction between the companies and the VC’s. Also stalls of sponsors have to be accommodated. The details of the logistics to be worked out in conjunction with the Technopark authorities.


Target Audience
100-120 delegates will be ideal for the summit

The summit will target the following audience
a. Leading venture capital firms in India
b. GTECH Members
c. GTECH Non-Members from Technopark
d. IT companies from other parks like Inforpark and Companies in SEZ, Cochin
e. Companies from other sectors
f. Government of India
g. Government of Kerala
h. Government and non-Governmental Institutions working in the area of Entrepreneurship Development
i. Select Academic Institutions
j. Academic Researchers
k. Trade associations
l. Media

Speakers
The speakers of the summit will include representatives from Venture capital firms in India, IT/ ITES firms and other experts from the VC Industry.

Safe Drive@GTECH

According to a World Health Organization (WHO) / World Bank joint report, road traffic injuries were the 11th leading cause of death. Without appropriate action and multi stakeholder participation the report estimates that by 2020 this will outpace AIDS, Malaria and War as the world public health challenge. The private sector in India has been involved in multisector and safety initiatives because of the risks posed by the issue to core business activities and also an understanding that the factors driving the road safety facility require a total systems approach engaging all stakeholders.

Understanding the long-term implications of this, Group of Technopark Companies (GTECH) in association with National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC), Energy Management Centre and Executive Knowledge Lines launched the Safe Drive @ GTECH campaign in Technopark
With over 6,000 vehicles operating on a daily basis, Technopark has the third largest fleet after the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation and the VSSC. The companies functioning on the campus also employ over 500 professional drivers for buses, mini buses, utility vehicles and cars transporting employees to the campus and back.
This unique GTECH initiative was aimed at enhancing fuel efficiency, cutting down on road rage, improving road etiquette, avoiding accidents, providing response strategies and ensuring statutory compliance.
The first batch of 30 drivers has undergone the training programme during the last week of December 2007.
Group of Technopark Companies have lined up a series of programmes as a follow up to the first launch as GTECH considers it important to ensure that Technopark drivers, like other professionals on the campus, exhibit the highest standards of professional competence. SafeDrive@GTech is aimed at achieving this objective as well as to enhance the quality of traffic in Thiruvananthapuram

Subhiksha- The Retail Giant

Subhiksha is the country's largest retail outlet running nearly 500 supermarkets in the north and south. subhiksha which was started in the year 1997 is now an household name selling quality products at an affordable rate targeting the Aam admi. Subhiksha was started by an young Entreprenuer named R Subramanian who is an alumunus of the two prestigious institutions in the country- IIT and IIM. In the words of Mr. Subramanian the inner urge of developing a unique business model suitable for the country made him stay in India. He says India is a land of opportunity and should not follow the foot steps of western business practiceses. He was also partly involved in the Financial markets before he started Subhiksha.

Subiksha not only sells food and other FMCG products but also mobile phones under the mobile store concept. Though Subhiksha was started in Chennai , it has largely moved into North India with sizable presence in Noida, Gurgoan, Delhi, Punjab and Hariyana . subhiksha's vision for the next decade. Mr. Subramanian wants to see Subhiksha emerge as the biggest retail supermarket in India bringing the farm produce directly from the fields to the consumer table. Mr. Subramanian wants to re-engineer the entire supply chain Management system.

Best wishes Mr. Subramanian.

EGYPT- The New Destination for Indian IT Companies

The new country that is catching the attention of the world is Eqypt which is fastly emerging as the new IT/ITES Destination. The Government of Egypt has taken a key initiative in promoting the nation as an importnat player in the IT/ITES sphere. It is also noteworthy to observe that many Indian companies are also considering the option of setting up a strategic unit in Egypt to access the African Market. The other advantage of operating in Egypt is the cost advantage and the availaibility of skilled manpower. The Government also has developed an IT park called SMART VILLAGE which houses international companies like HP, Ericcson, Sun Microsystems etc. already Indian IT Majors like I-flex, Aptech and Wipro have started their Egyptian operations. Satyam computers is all set to open a development center in Smart Village.

Egypt has been ranked the thirteenth most attractive destination to set up an offshore service, according to a study by A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm. The study, which looked at 50 countries, was based on the evaluation of three main factors: financial structure, availability of skilled workers and overall business environment. As a result of reforms to Egypt’s business climate — such as lowering the cost of employment, the increased availability of attractive business properties like Smart Village and flexible income tax regulations — in addition to burgeoning language and computer skills on the part of the Egyptian population, Egypt is becoming a prime destination for India’s IT giants, who are coming to boost the industry as well as take advantage of Egypt’s underutilized workforce.

The Government of Egypt has also established an agency called Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) .The aim of this agency is to increase the exports of ICT products and services and increase the inward investments into Egypt.

It should be a strategic insight for Indian companies to look for options in Egypt when the companies are feeling the heat for overdependance on the US Market . The pressure on margins can also be decreased by penetrating into new markets in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Kerala and Bavaria reinforces Economic and Trade Relations

Kerala and Bavaria today reinforced their economic and trade relations in Trivandrum and reverberated the need to develop stronger and deeper relations especially in the IT front. This was the key highlight of a Session on Europe via Munich, Business and Market opportunities in Germany organised by the Group of Technopark Companies (GTECH) in Trivandrum.

Kerala IT entrepreneurs can tap the lucrative European Union (EU) market by setting up base in Bavaria, the largest and most industrialised state in Germany, German Deputy Consul General Horst Pfeifer said .

Making a presentation at the session on Europe Via Munich, Business and Market Opportunities for Indian Companies in Bavaria / Germany' Mr Pfeifer said some 60 Indian companies had already set up their offices or manufacturing units in Bavaria with an investment of more than USD 900 million. These included Dr Reddy's Pharmaceuticals, TCS, Satyam, HCL, iGate and Wipro, he added.
''Bavaria, the largest German state, is virtually at the centre of Europe and provides a gateway for Indian businessmen to explore the EU market,'' he added.
''Home to respected brands like BMW, Audi, Siemens, Puma, Adidas and Allianz, Bavaria is the heart of the hi-tech industry in Germany in the areas such as IT, electronics, aerospace, automobiles, mechanical Engineering and telecommunications,'' he said.
With India also taking a lead in hi-tech areas such as IT and telecommunication, the entrepreneurs from the two countries had a natural synergy, Mr Pfeifer added.

Delivering the special address during the occasion, Dr. Ajay Kumar, Secretary IT, Government of Kerala said that the Kerala with its core strength in the Information Technology sector is better positioned to partner Bavaria and called for enhanced cooperation and dialogue between both the states to further strengthen the bilateral economic cooperation. Stating that the fundamentals of the Indian economy were strong, Dr. Kumar said Indian firms were becoming globally competitive and the country was emerging as an export hub for a range of products from agricultural goods to automobilie components and IT enabled services.

Mr John Kottayil, Executive Director, State of Bavaria India Office, Bangalore said export from Bavaria was 150 billion Euros last year. Inviting investors in the 19 manufacturing clusters in the state, he said all assistances were provided to potential investors. Mr Quintus Bartscherer, Partner, KoBa-Treuhand GmbH, said Germany was in the process of enacting a new law to bring down the share capital from 25,000 to 10,000 Euros.

Ms Britta Peterson-Barhnusen, Head of Passport and Visa Section, German Consulate in Chennai, said the consulate had issued 38,000 visas last year, 80 per cent of which were the Shengen business visas. There was a 17 per cent growth in the number of visas issued by the consulate last year, she said, adding that the target for this year was 42,000 visas. The German consulate in Chennai receives 350 applications every day and schedules nearly 120 visa interviews daily. The Shengen business visa enabled entry to more than 20 European countries, she said.

Mr. Satish Babu, Hon. Secretary GTECH and President InApp Information Technologies welcomed the members to the session

The session was organised by Group of Technopark companies in Association with the Bavarian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Transport and Technology.

Chandrajit Banerjee of CII

I had the good fortune to work with Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee who has been currenly appointed as the new Director General of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Mr Banerjee has served CII in various locations as the Head of State and regional offices of CII such as Kolkata, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Chandigarh, Mumbai and Bangalore. Banerjee has been associated with CII for 20 years since 1987. CB as he is called in the Industry circles is also affiliated to several industry associations, including the Indian Earthmoving Construction Association and the Tractor Manufacturers' Association among others. He was also the CEO of Bangalore International Exhibition Center. A strategist and a think tank , CB was one of the pioneers in kickstarting the Corporate Governance movement in India.He was also the executive Director of National Foundation for Corporate Governance. CB is a post graduate in Economics with a specialisation in Econometrics.

Back to my roots

I am settling down in Technopark and an amazing park with so much of scenic beauty. I have finally got the chance to be called as a CEO. The companies here in the park are enterprising. From product development to offshore services they cover the entire gamut of the IT spectrum. So back to my roots and catching up with old buddies. A morning travel by train through the backwaters to my office and an evening stroll across the technopark has now become a part of my life. Away from the mad traffic of Chennai and Bangalore and finally at ease and also at peace.

CII to Technopark

I have decided to mouve out of CII. Having worked for 3 years in CII , I have made up my mind to move back to my state . I will be now be placed at Technopark in Trivandrum. The road ahead in Technopark is challenging. I think its time for me to take up challenges. I will be working for the growth of the IT Industry in Kerala, formulating strategies, working on policy issues and addressing the concerns of the stakeholders.

Working in CII have been fabulous. I had the opportunity to interact with the best bussiness minds, thought leaders, strategists and Policy makers.

I will be missing CII a lot especially those thought sessions and brainstorming events.