Strategic Compact: Public-private partnerships, catalyzed by the IT Ministry, have played a key role in India's ICT related development. One of the positive results of this effort has been the IT Act of 2000, which was based on the recommendation of the National IT
Task Force, and aims to set the overall strategy for the IT sector. In addition, the government and the private sector are starting to come together to foster ICT development. For example, a joint effort by the Computer Science Automation Department at the Indian Institute of Science and a Bangalore-based private company have developed Simputer - a cheap micro-computer that enables illiterate users to browse the Internet.

India's development and contribution in world's information technology sector is of highest reputation. Cities like Bangalore have become the favorite (most preferred) destinations of all the big banners like HSBC, Dell, Microsoft, GE, Hewlett Packard, and several Indian multinational firms like Infosys Technologies, Wipro and Microland, who have set-up their offices in the city. It is because the city offers good infrastructure, with large floor space and great telecom facilities. This can be judged on the basis of the high growth statistics of India and the changing outlook of the companies towards India.

It is because of this growth that many popular brands that have not yet build up there stable offices in the country are making it fast to have a destination in India too. For example, Sun Microsystems, a global IT major, announced in Bangalore to double the present workforce of the company's Sun India Engineering Center (IEC) from the present 1000 to 2000 in the next two years time. IEC, which is the largest R&D center for Sun outside the US, would also focus on developing products in India to suit the needs of the Indian market, which would be benchmarked globally.

This speedy growth of IT sector is undoubtedly due to the efforts of Indian government and the other developments that took place in the other parts of the globe.

The country has seen an era when after the IBM shut-down its shop in India in 1950, the mainframes that were imported into the country were all from Russia. Western computers could not be imported because of an American embargo on export of high-technology equipment to India, which was considered an ally of the Soviet Union. Slowly, with time, the country could develop its first powerful parallel computer in 1991 known as CDAC, by connecting together a string of less powerful computers.

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Anuranjan Misra,
MCA, M.Tech. (CSE), LLB,
Currently working as Assistant Professor in Master of Computer Application Department at Academy of Business & Engineering Sciences (ABES), Ghaziabad.
Also pursuing Ph.D. from MNNIT, Allahabad,
Article posted on December 21, 2008.