Australia to tap State's IT talent

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, DEC. 9. An Australian delegation is in Bangalore to explore potential joint- venture opportunities between Australian companies and educational institutions in Karnataka. A strategy is being worked out for a synergy between India's growing pool of information technology professionals and Australia's own initiative to meet their shortage of such professionals.

At a seminar organised by the Greater Mysore Chamber of Industry (GMCI) here on Saturday, Mr. Richard Alston, Australian Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts, said his country faced a chronic shortage of workers skilled in information communications technology (ICT).

The Australian delegation is on a four-day visit to India to explore ways to ensure that both countries benefit from India's rich pool of IT professionals. The delegation has already held talks with 45 companies in Delhi and 17 in Mumbai.

`IT & T Exchange': The Australian Government had sought to address the issue by supporting the ``IT & T Exchange''. In February, that Government, along with the IT & T Skills Task Force, provided a dollar-for-dollar funding to help establish the ``Skills Exchange''.

Mr. Alston said the Australian Government and industries were working together in strategies such as the education and training plan for the new economy developed by the Australia Federal Department for Employment, Training and Youth Affairs.

ICT vendor training providers, he said, were making a significant contribution to reducing the current ICT skills deficit. ``Most ICT companies now have an education and training business arm, and we are encouraging the corporate role,'' he added.

Rapid computerisation: The Minister of State for Higher Education, Dr. G. Parameswar, said the State Government was committed to rapidly computerising every aspect of administration. Five per cent of every department's Plan budget had been set aside for IT development for five years, he added.

Many U.S. Government departments, he said, sent remote-sensing data for digitising and analysis to Bangalore. It was time to take advantage of the ``natural IT genius'' existing in the State to rapidly equip personnel to respond to future needs.

He said the Government encouraged the industry to lend support in improving the education system, particularly in IT education, to create a globally-competitive workforce.

On the State's redefined IT policy, ``Mahithi'', Dr. Parameswar said the Millennium Policy proposed to increase the employment potential in the IT sector to 10 lakhs by 2010 from the current strength of 75,000.

He said employment was likely to be generated in the IT fields of hardware development, software services and network services, besides IT-enabled fields such as customer interaction, financial and accounting services, call centres, medical transcription, engineering and design data management, remote education and network consulting.

HRD schemes: Dr. Parameswar said it was proposed to meet the demand for professionals by evolving ``Human Resource Development Schemes''. These schemes would be implemented to impart training at different levels, he added.

The Mahiti policy, he said, envisaged establishment of 225 training centres across the State to impart training in IT skills to the unemployed and uneducated youths. Private sector participation in this initiative was welcome, he added.

For students, the IT skill development programme would initially cover all the engineering colleges, about 100 polytechnics, 150 ITIs and 300 colleges. It would be introduced in 1,000 schools through training centres, the Minister said.

The Minister of State for Higher Education, Dr. G. Parameswar (left), greeting Mr. Richard Alston, Australian Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts, in Bangalore on Saturday. The Australian High Commissioner to India, Mr. Rob Laurie (right), and the GMCI President, Mr. N. Ahmedali, are seen.

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