THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first IT park in the country, Technopark, was set up here 25 years back by the then LDF government, but Kerala still lags behind other states in IT exports and attracting big players. The IT stakeholders attribute this to factors like lack of ease of doing business, insufficient social infrastructure and inadequate transport networks.
They hope that the new Left government will take forward some of the good initiatives of the previous UDF government, especially in the start-up sector, and remove the hurdles in bringing top names to the state. The IT boom is now shifting from service to the product sector. Though the state had witnessed numerous innovations over the last few years, the success rate of the start-up is negligible.
Hence, a new approach for the right ecosystem for innovations and entrepreneurship to take on the global challenges is required. Considering the significance of the IT sector in the economic and social development of the state, the IT industry leaders hope that the new chief minister himself would hold the IT portfolio. DC highlights their expectations.
Industry seeks major policy initiatives
The industry is looking forward to major changes, even in the liquor policy, to ensure a conducive social and support infrastructure for making Kerala an attractive investment destination, says Mr. V.K. Mathews, a successful IT entrepreneur in the state. Ease of doing business, ensuring social infrastructure for techies as well as their families, better transport infrastructure and better living conditions with proper waste management facilities are essential ingredients for branding Kerala as an investor-friendly destination, says Mr. Mathews, chairman of NASSCOM regional council.
Over the last many years, the state has been making all- out efforts to shed its investor hostile tag. But industry sources say that Kerala still has that tag.
“We are expecting some policy initiatives as well as proactive approaches from the new government in attracting investors to the state. Fresh investments are key for job creation, a major yardstick for the state’s development index,” says Mr. Mathews, executive chairman, IBS Software, a global leader in airline IT solution products.
Lack of social infrastructure has been pointed out as a major setback for the IT development. The prohibition policy of the outgoing government had further added to it. “While the last NASSCOM regional council was held in Kerala, prohibition was one key topic being discussed in the state. The IT leaders from various parts had expressed concerns that total prohibition amounted to infringement on the lifestyle of individuals that had given an impression of primitive state. Hence we strongly disagree with enforcing prohibition, but proposes encouraging liquor abstinence,” Mr. Mathews says.
Hailing the initiatives of the Oommen Chandy government in giving an impetus to entrepreneurship among the youths, Mr. Mathews suggests the new government to create an ecosystem for proper funding and mentorship for the start-up to script success.
(V K Mathews is Executive Chairman, IBS Software and Chairman, NASSCOM Regional Council.)
Start-up sector expects pro-active measures
Start-up and entrepreneurship was one major area of focus of the outgoing UDF government and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy himself had been taking the lead. The start-up sector is expecting such pro-active measures from the new government too. In the run-up to the elections, the LDF had conducted extensive discussions on various subjects, including IT. Measures to support start-up and efforts to bring back talented Malayalis who had left the state were among the key suggestions made by high-level panels in the discussions, recollects Start-up Village founder chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar, who was part of the panel discussions.
One suggestion was to adopt a two-pronged strategy for strengthening the existing IT service sector along with IT product start-up industry to the Silicon Valley standards. Yet another pro-entrepreneurship suggestion was to encourage talented youths who had left the state earlier to return and set up ventures, instead of attracting companies from outside to set up offices here, says Mr. Vijayakumar, a prominent young entrepreneur in the state.
A ten-year vision with two five-year plans with a target of creating five to 10 lakh jobs, Rs 2000 crore to Rs 2500 crore investment in infrastructure development and funding IT sector were among the suggestions that could help overall development of the IT sector, including start-ups, says Mr Sanjay.
Invite global companies to state, say techies
The techies of the state want the new government to invite globally renowned IT companies, ensure job protection in the IT sector, make pension schemes mandatory for IT firms and provide better transport to IT destinations. “We had listed our woes and sent them to all political parties prior to the polls. Hope the new government would consider it,” says Mr Rajeev Krishnan, secretary of Prathidhwani, a socio-cultural outfit of techies.
Major IT companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM, Accenture, Capgemini and CTS should be persuaded to open their centres in the state. A high-level committee comprising known IT business experts may be constituted for the purpose.
Job security and longevity of job is a matter of concern among many IT employees. Steps like creating a corpus funds with a portion of taxes received from the IT sector to support techies in case of unexpected job loss should be considered. “We also suggest that schemes like National Pension Scheme must be made mandatory for IT employees,” says Mr. Krishnan. The techies also expect better connectivity to IT destinations from the city and to the railway station and airport and safe accommodation facilities, mainly for scores of women working in the sector.
