In 2013 at a national workshop on Electronic System Design and Manufacturing: Advantage Goa --- the state's then chief minister had assured apex body Manufacturer's Association For Information Technology (MAIT), of all support in strengthening the ESDM sector. It was two years before the ESDM park is being readied in Tuem on 140 acres of land and processes being finalised under Goa's new IT investment policy.. December end is the time frame the administration gives for the completion of the Tuem park.
The IT industry's potential to create the kind of white collar modern jobs that Goa's young men and women want, was never in doubt. Institutions churn out between 800-1200 graduates trained in IT, communication technology and electronics --- either diploma or degree holders. There are an estimated 10,000 Goan IT professionals who are working either in Goa, outside Goa or abroad, the latter two possibly waiting to return to their home state, if the opportunities present themselves. Though past governments have formulated IT policies, the abandoned Dona Paula IT Park is testimony to the failure of government to attract that sort of large scale investment to Goa.
The present government has zeroed in on Chimbel to site a new park for IT/ITES industries, hoping to put in the infrastructure and attract industry at Rs 3000 per sq m, throwing in a lot of incentives. It is still early days to tell how this will pan out, given our “bad history” where the land was bought back from investors. There are some rumblings of opposition to the Chimbel site. But that apart, time will tell if these best laid plans create any enthusiasm among the bigger IT players in the country. Those helming these efforts hope to attract at least one big player. So far the big firms have given the state a go-by and the reasons are not too difficult to fathom. Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune have established themselves over more than two decades as hubs. The connectivity, skilled manpower and transport infrastructure are already in place there. Can Goa compare on these parameters? The transport infrastructure is abysmal, graduate students need better industry skilling so they either hit the ground running or Goa scales down its expectations to tailor it to the requirements of its local population, to whom it is committed to serve. And for whom, ostensibly, it is aiming to create jobs for.
The general consensus among the local industry that has grown pretty much without any major government intervention (like tourism) barring connectivity --- is that a place like Goa is more suited to small and mid range industries, rather than the behemoths who employ huge numbers. The state would not be able to cope with creating either the housing, transportation and other requirements for this. And it would emerge into exclusive islands that shut out all but a few of the best local talent, importing its manpower from outside. Is that a desirable position?
IT freshers from Goa generally pick up a little experience at the 15-20 registered IT firms in Goa, then head for the IT hubs of India. Many have returned after successful stints abroad and in the rest of India. Some banded together under the Goa Information Technology Professionals have struggled to get their views across to government and those in the Investment Promotion Board driving the IT investment policy. It is not a very encouraging sign that when the draft policy was released at a May meeting called by an agency, most of the local players and professionals, except for the big guns, felt left out.
The policy mandarins are looking at big ticket investment, to make the big ticket electoral promises of 30,000 jobs by 2017 a reality. The focus seems to be more on the `investment' aspect of the draft IT Investment Policy and that perforce excludes many of the existing IT players and definitely all of the major entreprenuerial talent in the state. And there are many of them. Goa has an encouraging ecosystem of IT entrepreneurial talent --- some 200 small start ups that are doing great work, ideating at levels that catch the attention of angel investors abroad, but leave our state policy makers cold. True they are small, but check their facebook page, to see their levels of enthusiasm, domain knowledge, sharing and networking abilities, and their desire to mentor others. They are the closest to making Goa a small Silicon valley. But they are not “brick and mortar” hard cash `investors', and perhaps need some hand holding now. Instead, most of them find it hard to navigate even the registration systems at the IT departments that only recognise the old hierarchies.
Of course, prophets are never worshiped in their own lands, but there's another reason why Goa can ignore these innovators at its own peril.
IT analysts looking at global trends in the industry are already projecting that the big backend coding industries and maintenance services that built India's IT success on cost arbitrage of IT professionals in India, who charged 3-4 times less than their US counterparts --- are slowing down in terms of employment. Rising competition, a slow-down due to new era technologies of cloud computing and smartphones are changing the game for computer software firms globally --- definitely for India that had 50 percent of that market share. Growth is expected to come from innovation and creativity, from patents and R & D, from knowledge based capital, rather than physical 'brick and mortar' capital. Goa would be better served if sectarian elitism is kept aside, to look and encourage the talent in our midst.
- Pamela D'mello is an independent journalist
