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Kerala also has IT in Abundance
The southernmost tip of the country is striving to be an attractive IT destination. In an atempt to attract investors with technology readiness and manpower, Kerala is banking on technology parks, and Government initiatives that directly or indirectly appeal to the urban, the rural and everyone in between. Vishnu Anand explores the IT on-ground in God's own virtual backyard to see if it really beckons as a definitive IT destination
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Citizen service kiosks powered by IT, district level wiki-inspired online
communities, open source tools to aid the visually impaired-Kerala is trying
hard to stand out and woo investrors and technology enthusiasts alike. While
some of the initiatives are modelled around common e-governance initiatives,
others are truly unique in terms of results and processes. PCQuest does a
roundup of IT in Kerala.
Technopark - Kerala's first IT destination
This is where you find the roots of IT in Kerala. Nestled away from the
hustle and bustle of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram's Technopark boasts
to be the only tech park in the country with maximum green cover – surrounding
the 177 odd companies spread across the various buildings in the campus.
Technopark claims to have many unique propositions for investors, specifically
targeted at reducing the time for setting up facilities and offices on ground.
The 'single window' facility exclusively for the IT industry is a huge incentive
since all infrastructure and operational aspects of setting up a company
including power, lease contracts, water and sanitation facilities and others are
handled by the Technopark management, making it probably the only technology
park in the country that has the authority to procure, distribute and monitor
power and water resources in addition to specific requirements of additional
back up power for the IT industry. This has given rise to domestic biggies like
Infosys and TCS rubbing shoulders with rather unique BPO and overseas service
offering companies like UST Global, choosing Technopark as their operational
base.
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Encouraged by the success of Technopark for more than 10 years, the
Government of Kerala set up the Infopark in Kochi in 2004, which is currently
growing one and a half times faster than the Technopark. Taking this a step
further, Kerala has started work to tap the third big city in the State –
Kozhikode, by setting up a Cyberpark. In addition, the state plans to use the
recent global slowdown as an opportunity to develop the smaller auxiliary towns
around these three cities, besides consolidating the state capital as the
premier IT destination. Two big projects are currently underway – Phase II of
Technopark of 86 acres that has been earmarked for Infosys and UST Global – the
Infosys facility is said to be the most 'aesthetic' structure of Infosys, shaped
as a ship under specific guidance from the Infosys senior management. Phase III
is modeled around creating customizable office space. Spread over 92 acres of
SEZ land, with 1 million square feet of available land for which the Government
has confirmed takers.
Next:
Citizen-centric IT projects in Kerala
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