KOLKATA, 30 May: The West Bengal Government is keen to encourage innovation, boost start-ups and support local entrepreneurs, said Dr Krishna Gupta, Principal Secretary, Department of IT & Electronics, West Bengal, at the 4th ICTE B2B Linkages: Enabling Opportunities organized by CII here today. Close business links between large corporates and MSMEs is the need of the hour and it is a matter of how they can supplement and complement each other, he said.
Dr Gupta said six new IT parks which include three in Kolkata (2 in Sector V and one at Rajarhat, one each in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Durgapur) are in the pipeline. Currently, there are 12 IT parks located across the state. Approximately, Rs 20 crore is spent towards building a park.
Dr Gupta described the conference as a unique initiative, saying this is a platform which has been brilliantly conceptualized and designed. “I am sure it will create a stable ecosystem of ICT businesses,” Dr Gupta said
According to him, collaboration is no longer just a strategy. It is a mantra for those who are open to new ideas and innovation. “That is how they sharpen their competitive edge over others and stay in contention,’ Dr Gupta said.
West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation Ltd is looking at e-governance contracts, according to its Executive Director, Finance, Mr Aninda Chatterje. “We have gained sufficient experience in e-governance and maintenance of such systems. We may explore contracts from other States through Webel,” he said on the sidelines of the programme.
According to CII, the key objective of this initiative “is to explore potential areas of opportunities and collaboration in areas such as Big Data, Master Data Management, Machine Learning, Digital customer experience, Digital Commerce marketing, Data centre Solution, Data security Solution, Cloud Sourcing Solution, IoT Solution.
The programme saw more than 150 one-on-one B2B meetings held between large and small IT companies. The idea was to enable the ICT biggies to gauge whether the MSMEs are good enough to produce the required products and services, CII said.