cyberabad.com

Hardly six months after the 45-minute meeting between the god of infotech and the chief minister of an Indian state struggling to get out of the trap of populism, Microsoft came back to Naidu to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

And by the time the MoU between the State Government and Microsoft was signed, in October 1997, many infotech giants were queuing up in Hyderabad. Now Naidu calls the city Cyberabad. Not without reason — his plans are paying off. IBMset up its School for Enterprise Wide Computing, the only one in the country, followed by Metamor Global Solutions Ltd of the US which signed the agreement for a school of excellence in software development methodologies. Satyam Computers Ltd, a domestic software exporter, joined the list a little later and the latest entrant is the software database giant, Oracle Corporation.

"All this would not have been possible but for the political will of the chief minister to develop Andhra Pradesh as the knowledge hub’. We have cut down red-tapism and are instead offering a red-carpet welcome to the companies," says Randeep Sudan, joint secretary to the chief minister, who is the link between Naidu and the information technology (IT) industry.

The major attraction, however, for the software giants in Hyderabad is the infrastructure that is being developed simultaneously. The first phase of the Hyderabad Information Technology and Engineering Consultancy (Hi-Tec) city, is being completed well ahead of schedule byLarsen & Toubro and more than 60 per cent of the floor space in the 10-storey building has already been sold. "The inauguration will be done on an international scale," says Chief Minister Naidu.

Being developed on 158 acres on the outskirts of the city, Hi-Tec city will provide 5.5 lakh sq ft of floor area with uninterrupted power supply, high bandwidth communication facilities and other basic needs for software industry.

Naidu feels that the state being the largest contributor among all Indian states to IT manpower globally, has already emerged to occupy its rightful placed on the international IT map. Almost 23 per cent of the software professionals in India are from this state, which is again the single-most important factor for the speed with which this sector is growing in Andhra Pradesh.

Louis Selincourt, vice-president of Industry and Front Office Applications Divisions of Oracle Corporation, who was in Hyderabad recently, said that Oracle’s move to decentralise is part of the company’s strategyto take advantage of the "exceptional technical resources available in Andhra Pradesh".

The Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) is intended to further harness this manpower. Set up in association with the IT industry, the IIIT is all set to acquire the status of a deemed university with the national task force on information technology, of which Naidu is the co-chairperson, recommending such an elevation in status.

Sudan denies the arguments that Andhra Pradesh is trying to compete with Bangalore, India’s Silicon Valley. "It’s not at all true. We want to develop together in tune with the latest concept that we should think global and act global. In fact, we suggested that there should be collaboration and sharing of projects between the states," he says.

But Andhra Pradesh seems to be racing ahead. According to Dr Lamba, general manager of BaaN, which is focussed on ERP software, the commitment and pro-active role of the State Government, infrastructure support and the availability ofspace and manpower are the key factors behind the success of Andhra Pradesh in this field. Set up in August 1995, with just 50 professionals, BaaN now employs 500 and has acquired 20 acres close to Hi-Tec city where it proposes to buy floor space. "By the end of 1999, we hope to have enough projects to employ 1,200 persons. Such a growth would not have been possible even in Bangalore," says Lamba.

IBM, which set up its school in March this year, is equally happy about the progress. "The concept of IIIT where you have corporate schools is totally new. We are already into the third batch of students, some of whom have come from far away places in the country," says Prof. Govindarajulu of IBM.

The cyberisation of Andhra Pradesh is not just limited to the infotech firms in Hyderabad. The people of the state are already beginning to get a feel of Naidu’s goal of "electronic government". The Department of Telecommunications is providing 2 MB bandwidth on optical fibre connecting the state secretariat with alldistrict headquarters. The secretariat is already networked through a campus-area network using fibre optic cables. As soon as it gets operational, various departments will get linked to the state network. A one-stop non-stop’ services pilot project is being developed. This will provide a range of facilities including utility billing, payment systems as also an information service. That is not all. Naidu is toying with the idea of developing an "Intelligent City" with futuristic architecture, broad-band communications, shops, offices, schools and even a separate legal set-up. It is proposed to be organically tied with the international airport expected to come up at Shamshabad on the outskirts of the city.

Naidu is looking for new avenues. And cyberspace has a lot of them.

School for software

Keeping in view the requirement for skilled manpower in the Hi-Tec city, the State Government has set up an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT).Giants like DE Shaw, Motorola and BaaN havedecided to set up their software development centres at the Hi-Tec city. The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) under the Department of Electronics has decided to shift its premises to the Hi-Tec city.

Besides the IBM school — which has already started courses in mainframe and front-end tool design applications — global leaders like Microsoft, Oracle, Metamor Global Solutions and India’s Satyam computers have signed memoranda of understanding with the State Government for setting up their institutions in the IIIT.

It will set up a software school of excellence to train students in core sectors like Windows NT, MS Back-office and the visual studio applications. The annual intake of students, being set up at an initial cost of Rs 2.8 crore, will be 500. It is expected to start later this year.

The computer giant is setting up a state-of-the-art school to train students in Internet-based and front office applications at an initial cost of Rs 3 crore. Theannual intake would be 500 students for both the short-term and long-term courses.

The $1.1-billion US company is establishing a school at a cost of Rs 3 crore offering courses in the field of software development methodologies, leading edge software products and tools with an additional focus on object-oriented technologies.

Will develop a school of excellence as country’s leading competence centre in providing integrated solutions like requirement specifications, architecture and design, and software project management. The school is expected to come up before September with an investment of over Rs 3 crore.