A seminar organised by the department of Information Technology on Friday as part of the Keraleeyam festival on Kerala’s IT sector laid stress on the need for stepping up research in the sector and on taking measures to meet the challenges and tapping the opportunities thrown up by the evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) related technologies.
Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services of Tamil Nadu, said that continuity in managing government digital records with the changes in government and respecting privacy of the citizens will be the key elements in effective e-governance in the future. Lauding Kerala’s KFON project to provide internet to everyone, he said that there exists a very high level of synergy between the approach of the Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments to the IT sector.
V. Namasivayam, Kerala State Planning Board member, said that the State never treats IT as a silver bullet and an answer to everything, but takes a people-centric approach.
Rathan U. Kelkar, Secretary, State IT department, recollected Kerala’s IT journey over the years. He said that the State is now focussing beyond IT parks, and building centres of excellence for technology and developing work near home facilities, coworking facilities as well as promoting private realtors for infrastructure development in the sector. He said that the State is investing heavily in the digital domain.
S.D. Shibulal, co-founder, Infosys, said that there is a need to propagate a culture of innovation in the State to transform society. He said that currently, the education system is very narrowly focussed. This should be changed with early interventions to inculcate lateral thinking and curiosity among the young. The emergence of AI will create new jobs, which will need people who are much more skilled.
IT entrepreneur Sam Santosh, speaking over video conference, said that Kerala has a role to play in the genomics revolution. The government has already made a move to tap this through the Kerala Genome Data Centre, he said. Genomic data relevant to various sectors can be produced, leading to improved socio-economic outcomes, he said.
IBS Software founder and executive chairman V.K. Mathews stressed on the need for using IT to ensure quick service delivery for every citizen.
Zafin India managing director Suja Chandy said that educational institutions focussing on the sector should have tie ups with the industry and take steps to foster research.
