JUST TALKING I.T. WON'T DO. CAREFUL PLANNING CAN GIVE GOA THE IT BASE
By Alan Andrews
Recently, the online version of The Navhind Times daily [1]
carried news that a firm in Goa allegedly duped Goans to the
tune of crores of rupees. Scandals of similar nature abound
in many countries, so when one first read about the scandal
one was not surprised. And one will not be surprised if
history repeats itself.
Goa has been late in exploiting the IT boom taking place in
India, whether it be BPO, (business process outsourcing) or
KPO (Knowledge process outsourcing). We have a big pool of
English-speaking IT educated youngsters but not much has been
done to harness this pool of talent to make Goa into a strong
science and technology hub.
There is a huge revenue share that can be garnered but Goa
needs to first set a strong business and technological
fundamentals in place. If it does not initiate and implement
the two fundamentals in place soon, many fly-by-night BPO or
KPO businesses will come here to exploit our susegad Goans.
There is a big revenue share for IT related business as
companies around the world are outsourcing their work, and
even operations, to India and this market is poised to get
bigger in the coming years. Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore
have a technology roadmap to address the boon. These three
capitals have exceeded expectations in being successful in
creating jobs and attracting multinational and local
companies to start IT businesses and operations.
CAN IT, REALLY?
Can Goa be an IT hub?
The answer is yes. But In order for Goa to anchor itself as a
science and technology hub with a robust foundation it has to
have an IT roadmap and a proper infrastructure in place.
There are some basic fundamentals that have to be in place.
For instance, a determined elected government minister with a
vision, the right people to help execute the vision, and
money.
Many Goans have carved a niche for themselves in
multinational companies, and Goa has one of the highest
capita income which means that Goa has the right people and
the money. But we do not have a Chandra Babu Naidu equivalent
as yet in Goa, perhaps one will evolve.
Setting in motion the process to make Goa an IT hub is easier
said than done.
First and foremost, transparent, mature and hard decisions
would need to be made to make Goa. We need to get our
bureaucrats to initiate dialogue with local and foreign
companies to invest in Goa. A decision that is tough to
implement.
Goa has witnessed too many changes in the local government.
Needless to say that with each change previous decisions by
past government give way to new ones. Political instability
is a factor that keeps external companies from wanting to do
business.
There are other factors too. The crime rate in Goa is not
something we can boast of; there have been few cases where
tourists have reported back negatively in media about their
bad treatment here by local officials or rowdy youth.
Electrical and water supply in Goa is not regular and
reliable, and our phone lines and internet access go on the
blink too often. Red tapism, bureaucracy and corruption are
also issues that need to be seriously addressed. It can be
done, but there has to be the will to do it.
CURRICULUM CHANGES
Goa would also need to redesign the curriculum to build local
capabilities and boost local content creation players into
global scene. Our IT students should have at least three to
six months of project related work at leading computer
companies which must translate to cost savings or revenue
generation. The grading should be higher for those that have
been successful in their projects outside Goa or elsewhere in
India.
When we encourage our talent to participate in external IT
locations with differing cultures and infrastructures, we
bring in more riches to Goa by way of ideas, networking,
partnerships and talent recognition and visibility.
I personally see abundant opportunities in the area of
shared IT services, which include data centre
operations, disaster recovery or business continuity
services, network services, application development,
implementation and maintenance, and call centres.
Microsoft, IBM, Nokia, Sun, Oracle and other major
multinational companies are investing in India and they
have helped Indian companies increase revenue
exponentially.
Goans are very enterprising people; if Goa does not have the
opportunities to offer they will relocate to other states and
other countries. Goa's loss would be another countries gain.
Many Goans have built computer companies with very little
help and direction from state bodies. I have spoken to people
running IT companies in Goa and it is difficult task. But yet
the susegad Goan works hard and succeeds.
If these companies had a little help from the State, their
results would show up grow globally and financially. Goa
needs an IT hub soon to enjoy the benefits of the IT boon.
The cost of delaying the decision will be more costly than
deciding and implementing an IT hub
GOA SHOULDN'T OVERLOOK ITS POTENTIAL
There are numerous computer training schools providing
computer training and education in Goa. Not surprisingly
every year a good number of students successfully complete
their schooling and join the rat race of searching a job.
There are not enough jobs for computer professionals in Goa
and so many leave the country to provide the services of
their talent, education and experience to other states in
India as well as abroad. In other words, Goa is becoming a
training arena for computer business outside of Goa.
But it does not have to be so.
The notion of getting Goa to be an IT hub has been around for
a long time. If Goa continues the susegad pace of progress
towards implementing an IT hub, it will be left behind and
find it very difficult to catch up with other states.
As noted above, Goa is blessed with a large pool of English
speaking youth and they are fairly accent-neutral, unlike
those of some other states, and hence have no need for accent
neutralizing training when dealing with foreign clients.
Even some of our youth speak Portuguese (or could be trained
to do so with little additional effort) and a good number
have learned French which adds to the area's multilingual
capabilities. Today, so many foreign tourist visit Goa as low
budget tourist and it is not inconceivable to seem them being
eager to take on short stints of employment in Goa in BPO or
KPO companies. If only Goa had a realistic approach towards
temporary work by non-residents, including foreign nationals.
Instead of spending the money to find foreign talent who are
conversant in other languages, we are already blessed with
the arrival of many foreign tourist would come here and would
be glad to help, earn and simultaneously immerse with the
local culture.
Visualise a scenario where we have IT-educated
English-speaking Goan working at a Goan IT BPO company along
with contracted employees (read low-budget tourist) from all
over the world. As further contacts are built with the
outside world, the quality of the work we could do in
managing outsourced work from around the globe would be high.
HUGE CHALLENGES
There are huge challenges for Goa to move into an IT hub.
First we need the right people to create a conducive
environment for entrepreneurs and businessman to start IT
companies in Goa. One should get the electricity department
to adopt a world class standard. Start by rewarding the
electricity department when there is no downtime and penalize
the department when there is a service breakdown.
In Singapore, where this writer works, a power problem seldom
takes place; once when it did take place, heads in the
department rolled. When the penalty for a breakdown is high,
everyone makes sure that up-time is maximum.
Out in Goa, our IT companies have to spend a small fortune
buying UPSs and inverters, which also means additional rent
and space to house the same. If a power supply failure last
for hours, as it sometimes does, the staff remain idle
costing the company even more to run a business.
Our phone system needs a lot of work to be done; without
reliable links, it is extremely difficult to communicate
across the globe through the internet. Our line quality and
bandwidths are still deplorable, though broadband access has
been slowly growing. In addition, the local and international
calls in India are often more expensive than many parts of
the globe. If Goa does not seriously work on their line
quality, we will loose a lot of future business to our
neighboring states.
Our road and transport system need major work too. During the
rains, transport comes to a standstill and roads develop
craters in many parts of Goa. It takes a lot of perseverance
for computer businesses in Goa to run; leave alone thrive.
If there is no serious intent in speeding the process of Goa
into an IT hub we may even find existing IT companies seeking
ways of relocating to a more profitable and conducive
business environment outside Goa.
WHAT'S REALLY IN STORE
Quite recently, there have been emerging news items around
the promised development of an IT hub in Goa. If you are a
computer professional or a businessman or just a computer
user, you may want to know what is in store for you. But
other
than news reports, there is little more than you could find.
Is Goa on the right track into the making of an IT hub? Time
will only tell but one would be more certain if there was a
formal blueprint available to the public. It is easy to start
anything related to IT and call it an IT hub; but to have a
successful IT hub which serves short term needs and long term
goals requires people with a vision, money and people who
help implement this vision and at least one person who has
the passion to execute the vision.
Before starting an IT hub we need to have a proper framework
and a master IT plan in place and a designated Information
Technology body that is accountable and responsible to make
the hub a success. The success matrix must be measured in
terms of revenue, brand and thought leadership.
I would suggest that the body be named as ITAG or Information
Technology Authority of Goa, which should be a statutory
board of the Goa Government and answerable to the public. In
order to have the IT hub as a national vision we would need
ITAG to have a well defined communication channel with the
Ministry of Information and communications, Directorate of
(Technical) Education, Ministry of Manpower and Planning,
Economic Development Board, National Informatics Center and
an equivalent of Ministry of Industries.
REAL ESTATE DEALS ALONE, NOT ENOUGH
ITAG's main responsibilities should include six tenets which
are firstly fostering a competitive world-class information
industry in Goa, secondly preparing residents of Goa to live
and work in the new Information Age, thirdly delivering
citizen centric e-government services (NIC is already doing a
good job here), fourthly regulating the information and
telecommunication industry in Goa, fifthly building and
operating the Goa Governments IT infrastructure and finally
to attract reputed IT companies as well as multinational
companies to set shops in Goa.
To have vibrant IT ecosystem, the IT framework should be
transparent to the public through newspapers and TV and
showcase how it our IT hub vision, strategies and goals to
entrench Goa position as one of the world's most attractive
information technology hub.
ITAG should hire people who have proven themselves in
formulating clear and transparent policies to ensure a
competitive environment The framework must define and have
clear measurable opportunities for individuals, organizations
and businesses using information technology.
ITAG should support IT training programs that encourage
adoption of an e-lifestyle among Goan residents, in addition
to supporting Information technology skills development
through policy formulation, economic and industry regulation,
technical regulation and operations. This can be done by
seeding new activities, developing innovation capabilities
and encouraging technology development and eventually
expanding access to overseas markets.
It should work closely with Goa private sector and offer
comprehensive range of industry-specific programs and
schemes to both local and international IT companies. It
should help Goan companies expand both regionally and
internationally. It should have departments that
encourage and help foreign IT companies to locate their
operations in Goa and join hands with local partners.
ITAG should formulate policies which encourage companies to
invest in sectors that have high growth potential. My
reference would be to get such information from world
renowned bodies such Gartner Consulting.
Gartner predicts that global spending would be high in two
areas. The first being 'Value Added Mobile Services' which
centers on technologies that support or allow ubiquitous
connectivity to applications, devices or systems. The second
being Infrastructure for 'Wireless and Wired Networks' which
focuses on hardware and software technologies required to
support the flow and processing of information. Other areas
include multimedia processing and management, web services
and portals and security and trust infrastructure which
focuses on firewalls, encryption software, authentication,
authorization and access and anti-virus software.
A clear study of these best bets should be made and
capability development plan along with the officials from
human resource development and our employment exchange should
cater urgently to developing local talent.
It should make clear what each of these bodies are doing
along with the time-lines and penalties they would incur if
they do not meet their objectives. After all, it is the tax
payers money that funds the body and the staff.
ITAG's success can be measured by the number of innovative
projects it brings annually into Goa as well as how
successful it has made Goa's status as an international IT
hub. The later can be measured by the density of
telecommunication services. It should also be held
accountable at how successful it has been in increasing the
number of profit-making local IT companies with business in
India and abroad as well as in increasing in number of
foreign IT companies in Goa.
If the ITAG is sincere on building an IT hub, it should
be highly professional and responsive by making
transparent all its policies and procedures as well
making it easy to get all the necessary forms without
the need of a bribe or delay. ITAG should have fixed
timelines of processing all applications and the
application numbers and the status of applications
should be for display publicly in the ITAG office. Any
delay in the processing should invite a penalty to the
department and specifically to the ITAG staff, apart
from an apology letter to the victim.
BEING RESPONSIBLE
ITAG should also be responsible in planning the 'technology
roadmap' which will need it to require forward planning and
strategic investments in setting technology directions,
undertaking technology trials and contributing to setting and
adopting international standards as well as set the standards
for the State.
I believe that the task of charting out and envisaging an IT
hub should be much bigger job than merely starting BPOs or
KPOs, and it needs a proper roadmap that has been debated at
lenght by people in the industry if one wants to bring out
the true meaning of the word *hub*.
1 http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=050726
Alan Andrews is the pen name of Alan Dias, a Singapore-based
computer professional, who studied in Goa (St Britto's Mapusa
and Government Polytechnic, Panjim) before shifting to the
Far East. He was one of the very early batches to get
involved with the field of computing in Goa, and has been
doing Goa proud with his work in Singapore.
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