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

Technopark to host a Conference on IT in Agriculture

Group of Technopark Companies is organising a Conference titled ‘ Re-Engineering the Kerala Agriculture Sector: Information and Communication Technologies in Agriculture’ on 22nd of January 2010 at Technopark, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The conference is being organised by GTech in partnership with NABARD, Kerala State IT Mission, Technopark and Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management in Kerala.

The conference would examine several ongoing projects that aim to provide IT based Services to specific sectors like Agriculture Marketing, Agriculture production and Extension Services. The Conference would bring to the fore the core issues of the Agriculture Sector and 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 International and National Development Organisations, NGO’s, Representatives from the Kerala agricultural community and Media.

The invited speakers for the Conference include Dr. Ajay Kumar IAS , Principal Secretary IT , Government of Kerala, Prof. Rajeev Srinivasan, IIM Bangalore, Mr. R Madhavan, Agriculture Management Consultancy, Dr. V Balaji, ICRISAT, Dr. Gopi Ghosh, Food and Agriculture Organisation and Mr. Guenter Dresruesse, German Technical Cooperation

The Conference would have three sessions dedicated to the use of ICT’s in Agriculture Marketing, Production and Extensions Services.

India IT Summit in Kerala

Kerala is all set to host the first major International event titled India IT Summit in Trivandrum on 11th and 12th of December, 2010 at Kovalam. The event is being organised by CII in partnership with the Kerala State Government.

Key speakers being invited from the Industry and Government include Mr Kiran Karnik, Former President, NASSCOM, Mr Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice Chairman, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Mr S Mahalingam, CFO & ED, Tata Consultancy Services, Mr John R Joyce, Director, Hewlett-Packard Development Company, USA, Mr K Radhakrihnan, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation, Mr A Raja, Minister for Communications & Information Technology, Government of India, Mr Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communications & IT, Government of India, Mr V S Achuthanandan, Chief Minister, Government of Kerala, Dr Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs, Government of India, Mr R Chandrashekhar, Secretary, DIT, Ministry of Communication & IT, Government of India, Mr. V K Mathews, Chairman IBS, Mr. G Vijayaraghavan , Founder CEO, Technopark and Dr. Ajay Kumar IAS , Government of Kerala.

The event would showcase the emerge of Kerala as the new attractive destination for IT /ITES Players.

Kerala surging ahead in e-Governance Initiatives

Group of Technopark Companies (GTech) commended the IT Administration of Kerala for obtaining the highest number of awards in the CSI-Nihilent National e-Governance awards. The prizes were distributed to the respective winners in a function held at Pune on 9 October 2009.

Kerala has bagged four prestigious awards for unleashing the power of Information Technology to improve the Citizens quality of the life and also for creating an enabling environment of Economic Growth and Equity in the state. Kannur District has bagged the award of appreciation for outstanding efforts in demonstrating excellence in implementing e- Governance Project.

In the project category section, Higher Secondary Centralized Processing, e-Krishi Project and Sulekha Plan Monitoring System for De-centralized Planning have won awards for better implantation and providing value and quality of Service to the Stakeholders.

GTech in a press release said that the e-Governance initiatives being implemented in the state would provide an opportunity to take the benefits of the Information and Communication Technology to the Grassroots level in the state and also would create a strong technology infrastructure in the state to deliver a comprehensive set of services to citizens in the area of Education, Healthcare and Agriculture.

GTech complemented the efforts the State Government and the IT Department for spearheading the e-Governance initiative in the state and added that GTech and the IT Industry in the state would be keen to share the experience and know-how to further strengthen the e-Governance initiatives in the state.

Snake bites Apple

Snake and Ladder is an exciting traditional Indian game much played among the young and old alike. Now we have brought you this popular board game on your iPhone and iTouch.

The Snake and Ladder game was developed by Travancore Analytics, a Technopark, based company involved in the development of Software in the areas of Imaging Technology and Image Processing.

The Snake and ladder game developed by Travancore analytics has been the most favorite free-download in Apple store. This game has had 250,000 downloads in the last week, which is the highest for an iPhone application developed by any Indian Software company. More than 70% of the downloads are from Canada, UK and US.

Apple Corporation, the sought-after computer and software maker, allows users to access different software through its virtual market place called ‘App Store’. This free version of the game allows the user to be one of the players, while the iPhone itself takes the role of the second player. At present this Snake and Ladder application occupies the No-1 position in 12 App Stores worldwide.

Mr. T Harikumar, who is working as the CEO and Mr. Baas Mannarsala who is presently the CTO founded Travancore Analytics. . Products aimed at assisting radio diagnosis like detection of Breast Cancer, Analysis of Tumor, Wound Healing, etc. are on the development stage at the Travancore Analytics center in Technopark.

Group of Technopark Companies (GTech) in a press release said that Kerala based IT companies are evolving as strategic players providing cutting edge Solutions to Global Companies for sustaining their competitiveness.

Interview in the Hindu on Carpooling

KOCHI: The response to the carpooling initiative that was launched for the State’s IT professionals about two months ago in Thiruvananthapuram has been described as “pretty good” by its promoters.
“We have around 850 registered users for the site. In fact the Technopark authorities said that there was a drastic reduction in the number of cars being parked within the Technopark campus. Out of the registered users, 80 per cent belong to Technopark and the remaining 20 per cent to Infopark (Kochi),” said Binu Sankar, Chief Executive Officer, Group of Technopark Companies (GTech).
With fuel costs rising and motoring along crowded city roads becoming a nightmare, the idea of carpooling did not come a day too late. The initiative was started in May 2009 by GTech in partnership with Palnar Transmedia, a software development firm in Technopark under a Green Computing Initiative. The web site www.parkcarpool.in is targeted at the IT Professionals of Technopark and Infopark.
Carpooling is a process by which a group of people share vehicles and take turns to drive so as to minimise fuel costs. With the launch of the website, described as the first of its kind in Kerala, IT professionals could register themselves and try to share vehicles with others to travel to mutually convenient destinations.
But carpooling also takes on a different dimension because of larger issue it seeks to address: cutting down on fuel usage and thereby helping in the world wide initiative to counter global warming.
May of those who use carpooling are often quite aware of this ‘green’ dimension to their activity.
The web site displays a list of daily trips and also other scheduled trips on its home page.
“About 85 per cent of the trips are confined to Thiruvananthapuram. Seventeen to twenty carpools have already been formed in Technopark. Close to 90 people are using this facility. It is to be noted that 80 per cent of the companies provide bus transport to their employees in Technopark,” said Mr. Sankar.
The scope of the carpooling initiative covers not only places within the State but also those outside like Madurai and Coimbatore, going by the list of places available in the options form on the web site. But the most commonly used long distance routes are Thiruvananthapuram - Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram - Kottayam. The maximum number of trips is in the offing generally on Fridays around 7 to 8.
Though a large number of Kochi-based IT companies figure on the website, the use of the service seemed to be largely confined to Thiruvananthapuram and Technopark.
“We are in the process of setting up a unit in Infopark and we plan to induct 20 members into this forum. I am meeting the CEOs of Infopark in the second week of August to solicit their support for the carpooling initiative and also to promote it within the Infopark campus,” said Mr. Sankar.
Carpooling initiatives in other parts of the country have been gathering momentum, with a number of carpooling websites being launched in recent years. Awareness about carpooling was an issue in Kerala compared to other metros and GTech was planning to undertake more programmes in this regard.
Security is an issue for some when it comes to carpooling: a good number of women professionals do not seem to regard it as a safe mode of travel, given the way they have responded to it in the big metros. And those who opt for it generally prefer women co-passengers.
“We have taken some precautionary measures like registration using the official company e-mail id and employee number while using the website for carpooling. For women carpoolers we have requested them to look at carpooling within the same company and also to meet up with the other carpoolers on the campus to avoid untoward incidents,” said Mr. Sankar.

Kerala positioned to leap into the Biotech Era

Kerala is all set to emerge as the next destination for the Biotechnology Industry. This was reverberated at a session on Kerala as the new Biotechnology Hub: Opportunities and challenges organised by GTech in partnership with Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Biotechnology, Kreara solutions and Technopark. Setting the tone, Dr. M Radhakrishna Pillai, Director, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Biotechnology spoke on the importance of using Information Technology in doing research and Development work in the Biotechnology Industry. There is a distinct connect between Information Technology and Biotechnology and new areas have recently emerged in the sector where Information Technology is used for developing computational and statistical solutions for the Industry. Dr. Pillai added that the biggest risk being faced by the biotechnology Industry is lack of information regarding the analysis of genome.


Delivering the Inaugural address Sri Oomen Chandy leader of the opposition, Kerala Legislative assembly spoke on the innumerable benefits offered by Biotechnology and added that the state is better positioned to reap the benefits of Biotechnology and said that the sector offered a lot of scope for Biotech Entrepreneurs. Mr. Chandy observed that in recent years, the researcher-entrepreneur has become a role model in research institutions and business circles and added that most of these researcher-entrepreneurs who set up their own companies were scientists who had achieved recognition. Mr. Chandy further added that today, most are younger researchers who have specialist knowledge and are attracted by the capitalist adventure and therefore, to support the acquisition of such specialist knowledge in developing countries, courses with emphasis in molecular biology, Genomics, proteomics, bio imaging, and bio-informatics must be included in the curriculum. Mr. Chandy also noted that during a recent Kerala Ministerial delegation to US met up with US-based Biotech Company Solazyme that produces oil out of algae through the biotechnology process, and the oil in turn could be used for various purposes including fuel. Efficient sewage treatment and degradation of petroleum and management of oil spills by genetically modified microorganisms can be applied to improve the environment added Mr. Chandy.

During the panel discussion that followed, panellist spoke on the strategies that Kerala could adopt to create an enabling environment for the growth of Biotech Industry. Dr. Krishna Menon, Chief Scientific Officer, Cellceutix Biopharmaceuticals spoke on the importance of academia Industry Interface to nurture the growth of the Biotech Industry. Dr. Sanjay Hegde, Head clinical operation Piramal Life Sciences spoke on the importance of clinical Research and how can Kerala can be a hub for Clinical Research taking into account the availabilibilty of Human Resource in Kerala and also due to the presence of a large number of medical institutions.

Mr. Satish Babu, Secretary of GTech, said that GTech would be playing a proactive role in supporting the development of the Biotech Industry in the state especially in the areas of Bioinformatcis. Mr. Rakesh Kumar Gupta, COO Allianz Cornhill Information service while moderating the discussion said that GTech would bring out a document in consultation with the concerned Government Agencies as a follow up to the discussion which would facilitate the creation of a structural framework for the emergence of the Biotech Industry in the State. Mr. Mervin Alexander, CEO of Technopark spoke about the need for Entreprenuers to take up Biotech Industry related projects in the state.

Technopark based Kreara Solutions and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Biotechnology has entered into an MOU for doing research on developing Predictive Software for Leukaemia and also for undertaking research projects of International Research Organisations on Clinical Bio informatics.

Kerala is all set to emerge as the next destination for the Biotechnology Industry. This was reverberated at a session on Kerala as the new Biotechnology Hub: Opportunities and challenges organised by GTech in partnership with Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Biotechnology, Kreara solutions and Technopark. Setting the tone, Dr. M Radhakrishna Pillai, Director, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Biotechnology spoke on the importance of using Information Technology in doing research and Development work in the Biotechnology Industry. There is a distinct connect between Information Technology and Biotechnology and new areas have recently emerged in the sector where Information Technology is used for developing computational and statistical solutions for the Industry. Dr. Pillai added that the biggest risk being faced by the biotechnology Industry is lack of information regarding the analysis of genome.


Delivering the Inaugural address Sri Oomen Chandy leader of the opposition, Kerala Legislative assembly spoke on the innumerable benefits offered by Biotechnology and added that the state is better positioned to reap the benefits of Biotechnology and said that the sector offered a lot of scope for Biotech Entrepreneurs. Mr. Chandy observed that in recent years, the researcher-entrepreneur has become a role model in research institutions and business circles and added that most of these researcher-entrepreneurs who set up their own companies were scientists who had achieved recognition. Mr. Chandy further added that today, most are younger researchers who have specialist knowledge and are attracted by the capitalist adventure and therefore, to support the acquisition of such specialist knowledge in developing countries, courses with emphasis in molecular biology, Genomics, proteomics, bio imaging, and bio-informatics must be included in the curriculum. Mr. Chandy also noted that during a recent Kerala Ministerial delegation to US met up with US-based Biotech Company Solazyme that produces oil out of algae through the biotechnology process, and the oil in turn could be used for various purposes including fuel. Efficient sewage treatment and degradation of petroleum and management of oil spills by genetically modified microorganisms can be applied to improve the environment added Mr. Chandy.

During the panel discussion that followed, panellist spoke on the strategies that Kerala could adopt to create an enabling environment for the growth of Biotech Industry. Dr. Krishna Menon, Chief Scientific Officer, Cellceutix Biopharmaceuticals spoke on the importance of academia Industry Interface to nurture the growth of the Biotech Industry. Dr. Sanjay Hegde, Head clinical operation Piramal Life Sciences spoke on the importance of clinical Research and how can Kerala can be a hub for Clinical Research taking into account the availabilibilty of Human Resource in Kerala and also due to the presence of a large number of medical institutions.

Mr. Satish Babu, Secretary of GTech, said that GTech would be playing a proactive role in supporting the development of the Biotech Industry in the state especially in the areas of Bioinformatcis. Mr. Rakesh Kumar Gupta, COO Allianz Cornhill Information service while moderating the discussion said that GTech would bring out a document in consultation with the concerned Government Agencies as a follow up to the discussion which would facilitate the creation of a structural framework for the emergence of the Biotech Industry in the State. Mr. Mervin Alexander, CEO of Technopark spoke about the need for Entreprenuers to take up Biotech Industry related projects in the state.

Technopark based Kreara Solutions and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Biotechnology has entered into an MOU for doing research on developing Predictive Software for Leukaemia and also for undertaking research projects of International Research Organisations on Clinical Bio informatics.