Tamil Nadu was one of the top three States in the information industry (IT) sector in the country and the goal of the State government was to make it the number one in all IT investments. The policies of the State government had made Tamil Nadu the most preferred place to make investments and to do business, Mr P Thangamani, Minister for Industries, Government of Tamil Nadu, said here on Monday.
In his address as the chief guest of the inaugural session of ‘CONNECT 2014’, the Conference and Exhibition on Information and Communication Technology (ICT), organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in association with Government of Tamil Nadu, with the theme - Digital Infrastructure: Enabling the World of Tomorrow” , here on Monday, he said the new industrial policy has given “a business-friendly environment with world-class infrastructure and a boost to the employment and skill levels in the State’’.
Mr Thangamani said CONNECT was one of the flagship events of the Government of Tamil Nadu and CII. He said the IT and ITES industry has been a major contributor to the services sectors in Tamil Nadu. He said there were 1780 software units in Tamil Nadu in 2012-13 and they employed 3.75 lakh people.
CII `CONNECT’, which was into its 13th edition, aimed at highlighting the potential of Tamil Nadu, to be the most suitable destination in India for investment in the ICT Sector.
Under the Vison 2023, the Tamil Nadu government so far signed 33 MoUs worth Rs 31,706 crore with an employment potential of over 1.62 lakh, the Minister said.
Mr Mukkur N Subramanian, Minister for Information Technology, Government of Tamil Nadu, was the guest of honour for the inaugural session.
The CII-KPMG report, titled ‘Digital Infrastructure : Enabling the world of tomorrow’, was released by the Ministers.
Mr T K Ramachandran, IAS, Secretary, Information Technology, Government of Tamil Nadu, said the State had very good connectivity and skilled human resources for the development of a digital infrastructure.
The IT secretary said with the scheme of free laptop supply to the students the State government has succeeded in bridging the digital divide. The State was also planning to facilitate internet access to over 70 lakh families.
Mr R Chandrasekaran, Executive Vice Chairman, Cognizant India, said there was a new wave of machine to machine communication, called the `Internet of Things’ (IOT). “This is a once- in- a decade opportunity that we are witnessing’’, he said. Actions had to be taken at the individual, organizational and government levels to realize the potential of IOT, he added. To tap the big opportunities right kind of interventions had to be made by education and policy framework, he added.
Mr Ravi Viswanathan, Chairman, CII Connect 2014 and President – Growth Markets, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, said the theme focus of `CONNECT 2014’ was to help Tamil Nadu gear itself to be at the leadership position. The discussions were on the role Digital infrastructure would play in creating smart cities of the future; how it would revolutionize the healthcare landscape; the best way forward for the IT industry to tap the great opportunity for the Indian IT-BPM companies and on unleashing the potential of IOT, which was transforming the economy and world.
On Tuesday the discussions would be on the future development of E-commerce and the policies and frameworks necessary for the growth of digital infrastructure, he added.
Mr Navas Meeran, Chairman, CII Southern Region and Chairman, Eastern Condiments Pvt Ltd, said “Technological innovation is crucial to achieving long term, sustainable growth, which has both economic and social benefits. With over 60 percent of India’s IT and Electronics hardware exports were from South, the ICT industry has energized the economic development of Southern India, said Mr Meeran.
Mr Ravi Sam, Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu and Managing Director, Adwaith Lakshmi Industries Ltd, requested the government and industry to focus also on the tier-two cities in Tamil Nadu. He said more attention should be paid to the use of information technology in education.
15th December, 2014
Chennai