Kerala mulls setting up ICT Academy on PPP model

Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy has requested Lakshmi Narayanan, the Vice Chairman of Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) to explore the possibility of setting up an ICT Academy in Kerala on a Private Public Participation (PPP) model similar to the ICT Academy in Tamil Nadu (ICTAT). ICTAT is an initiative of Government of India, Government of Tamil Nadu and CII with participation of companies like CTS & TCS to improve the quality of students passing out in TN to make them industry ready and immediately employable in the ICT industry.

Lakshmi had called on the CM at his office in Secretariat during his visit to Thiruvananthapuram to address a meeting of the GTech Leadership Forum on September 02, 2011. The CM has asked GTech to coordinate this initiative and submit a proposal in this regard. On being asked about CTS expansion plans in Kerala, Lakshmi told that they want the Kochi centre to reach a critical mass and then they would consider expanding to other locations in Kerala.

Later interacting with the CEOs and top Executives of IT Companies in Kerala at the GTech Leadership Forum, Lakshmi shared his experiences of founding CTS and leading the company which is now expected to reach the 6 Billion USD revenue milestone by the end of this year. He confided that during their initial years, they didn’t have a vision to build a grand empire but to set modest goals and achieve them. “Customer satisfaction and values on how to do business was part of the culture and DNA of the company. We wanted to deliver not just a service but an experience”, he added.

Lakshmi also mentioned that availability of talent, cost of talent and the ease of doing business are some key factors that often companies decide on where to investment. He advised the budding entrepreneurs present there to specialise and focus on one or two competent areas and then develop in terms of quality and capacity.

K M Chandrashekhar IAS, Vice Chairman, Kerala Planning Board said, “To a great extent, the perception regarding Kerala is different but why Kerala was not a major IT contributor was something that needs some introspection”. He added that the Government was serious about infrastructure and was looking at Private Public Participation for skill development at a very large scale.

GTech is the Group of Technology Companies working out of Government owned IT Parks in Kerala. The GTech Leadership Forum is aimed at bringing the thought leaders on a common platform to formulate an action plan to facilitate the accelerated growth of the IT Industry in Kerala.