IIFT-NASSCOM Discuss the Future & Challenges Faced by Indian IT Industry

IIFT-NASSCOM Discuss the Future & Challenges Faced by Indian IT Industry
IIFT provides a platform for IT-ITes business leaders to discuss initiatives on what it will take Indian IT companies to sustain global competitiveness.
Post-event Press-release

New Delhi, August 21, 2006: The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) and NASSCOM along with major Indian IT companies set the stage to discuss the challenges and road ahead for Indian IT-ITes companies to sustain and remain globally competitive in a dynamic and evolving international business environment at the IIFT-NASSCOM IT Conclave at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade today.

Shri. Jainder Singh, IT Secretary, Government of India, was the Guest of Honour. Shri. Kiran Karnik - President, NASSCOM, delivered the keynote address. Shri Prabir Sengupta, Director-IIFT inaugurated the session. A white paper prepared by the students of IIFT on "Aiming Global Businesses: IT-ITeS Industry's New Priorities, New Realities" was released on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri. Jainder Singh, IT Secretary to the Government of India, said, "The total number of IT and ITes - BPO professionals employed in India is estimated to have grown from 2,84,000 in 1999-2000 to 1,287,000 in 2005-06. In addition, Indian IT-ITes is estimated to have helped create an additional 3 million job opportunities through indirect employment."

He also added that in order to stay in lead and increase India's share in the global market, the Indian government and IT/BPO industry need to focus on moving up the value chain by cultivating deep and enduring innovation across three dimensions - a) Business model innovation; b) Knowledge innovation; and c) Ecosystem innovation. The IT sector has to expand to other countries and tap new centers of emerging demand and expand not only in terms of quantity but also in terms of quality of its skilled labour by introducing appropriate changes in the system in collaboration with the industry and academia. This calls for a transformation of Business Process Outsourcing to Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) units.

Shri. Kiran Karnik, President NASSCOM, said, "India is going to play a significant role in the export of services. Therefore, it is imperative to understand world trade which is critical to business. Last year, software exports amounted to $24 billion. The Indian IT industry can play a positive role and the areas from which growth can be derived are engineering services, innovation and understanding the importance of world trade. The projected picture of export of engineering services alone by 2020 is $40-$50 billion and India stands to gain by focusing on these areas."

He also added, "The biggest challenge faced today is the HR crunch on talent and the lack of the requisite professional skill set."

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Contributed by -
IMF-IIFT Student Body,
School Of International Business,
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi.

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