Kerala also has IT in Abundance

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.

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