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A new mascot

The National Association of Software and Service Companies kicked off the business conference part of its annual jamboree today.

When the three-day mega event of NASSCOM'97 opened this morning the loudest applause, surprisingly, went not to a technologist or a businessman, but a politician, a member of the clan which is mostly perceived to be a laggard when it comes to matters technology.

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But here, in the software capital of Bangalore, it is unanimous that NASSCOM has chosen National Front Convenor and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu as its new mascot.

The nodal platform of about 500 Indian software companies is celebrating Naidu because he has emerged as the most vociferous of the evangelists for an IT revolution in the country. And the best part is, he is on the other side of the politics-business divide.

Naidu, who rose to fame last year for playing a crucial role in the formation of the first coalition government in New Delhi, has since been hogging the limelight because of his decision to make information technology the sole instrument in bringing about a radical transformation in the quality of life in his home state.

Realising quickly the awesome power and potential of IT and its impact on the socioeconomic development of the people, Naidu is credited to be the first chief minister in the country to have introduced computerisation in the governance of his state in a big way.

And so well received was Naidu's initiative that the Union government and several other states have decided to emulate the example.

But the politician he is, made Naidu turn the opportunity of addressing NASSCOM'97 into a high-pitch sales promotion platform. He stunned CEOs and CIOs with his blueprint for wiring Andhra Pradesh. He strove to convince that the governments of the day are not only serious about IT but also committed to encourage its rapid growth with all the legal, moral and logistical support required.

Delivering the inaugural address, the master politician and IT buff exhorted the software industry to make India a world leader in the information age which is unfolding, thanks to a shift in the paradigm for assessing the strength of a country.

Armed with a laptop and the latest update from the IT world, Naidu made a grand presentation of the infrastructure being provided to the information technology industry for converting his capital of Hyderabad into a national software capital. He reeled out statistics on India's position in various fields of information technology and suggested the ways in which the industry could help make governance go electronic.

Naidu assured of encouragement from the Union government and all the states in the country and asked the captains of the industry to shift their focus from mere services and solutions to software products so that India could turn into the largest software developer in the world.

"There is neither dearth of talent, resources, or opportunities, either within the country or across the globe for developing the best IT products or solutions for years to come," he exhorted.

Earlier, Infosys Chairman and Managing Director N R Narayana Murthy cautioned the IT industry against the impending threat from China which is making rapid forays into the international software business.

"Though we have made our presence felt on the world IT map there is absolutely no room for being smug. We cannot remain contended by continuing to do what we have been doing during the last decade. As an industry, we may be excelling in providing world-class services and solutions to even Fortune 500 companies but we are yet to develop indigenous software products and packages that can drive technologies and businesses globally besides providing the same for our country's massive infrastructure requirements?"

Murthy also reminded the gathering that the industry needs to shift from cost-plus operations to value-based operations if it has to survive not only the onslaught of competition in the global markets but also adapt to the paradigm shift in technologies driven by innovations and market forces.

"Gone are the days when India had the luxury of being a low-cost and labour intensive country from where any global company could outsource software or hardware requirements for a song and on its own terms. With salaries in the industry shooting up and consequently the attrition rate also going up, the challenges ahead are daunting."

The only way out, Murthy declared, is to shift focus from services and development of intermediate technologies that can meet requirements of the modern world. "We need to leverage resources and skills with the opportunities that are awaiting out there. We need to interface ourselves with global companies in the industry to become cost effective with competitive edge," Murthy asserted.

NASSCOM'97 will deliberate on the challenges facing the industry which is at the crossroads of a technology-driven global market. The focus will be on evolving a strategy to move up the service-value chain; new avenues to raise finances for software companies; IT as a weapon for competition; challenges faced by the human resources departments and development and marketing of software products.

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