Kochi likely to become a top IT services hub
Infopark has 100-odd firms with 10,000 staff
Infopark exports in the last three years was around Rs. 1,000 crore
Lack of skilled professionals the main impediment to growth
KOCHI: Infopark Chief Executive Officer Siddhartha Bhattacharya has said that Kochi would emerge as one of the top Information Technology hotspots in the country in the next five to ten years.
Talking at a road show on animation, gaming, and visual effects organised by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) here on Friday, Mr. Bhattacharya said that infrastructure-wise Kochi had grown leaps and bounds over the years and now accounted for about five million sq.ft of built-up space in the IT sector with 100-odd companies employing about 10,000 employees.
Citing a recent report of NASSCOM, he said that both Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram featured in the list of challenger cities to capture the imagination of the IT sector in the next ten years.
Mr. Bhattacharya said that the total turnover of Infopark in terms of exports in the last three years was close to Rs. 1,000 crore.
Exports, the CEO said, were growing at a rate of 87 per cent.
Mr. Bhattacharya said that animation and gaming industry provided plenty of business and it was all about finding the right kind of talent. Earlier, in his inaugural address C.M. Dinesh Mani, MLA, said that with a smart IT Park like Infopark the State need not worry about the SmartCity Kochi project. Stating that companies were queuing up for space at the Infopark, he said that Infopark was far bigger than any SmartCity.
Mr. Mani said that Infopark should emerge as the champion of the State's IT sector and work in coordination with the State agencies.
The road show being organised in association with Kerala IT Mission and Image Infotainment Limited had a stopover at Kozhikode and Thrissur before coming to Kochi.
It would be held at Kottayam and Kollam in the next two days before concluding at Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.
The show mainly targeted Plus Two students to create awareness about the career opportunities presented by the ever growing animation and gaming industry.
The Indian animation industry was set to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22 per cent and gaming industry at a CAGR of 49 per cent by 2012.
According to industry sources, shortage of skilled professionals was the biggest impediment to the growth of animation and gaming industry in the country.
Making a presentation on the growth prospects of the industry in India, K. Purushothaman, Regional Director of NASSCOM, said that the huge gap between what the industry wanted and what the aspiring candidates have to offer needs to be filled.
Better interaction between the industry and the existing training institutes was cited as one way of bridging the demand and supply gap of skilled professionals.
Namitha from the Mumbai office of the Academy Award winning studio Rhythm and Hues made a presentation on the various aspects of animation.
Students had an interaction session with her. Philip Thomas, Regional Head, Image Infotainment Limited, also made a presentation.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/24/stories/2010042462860300.htm