IT must benefit the common man: IT experts

Chandigarh, Jul 21 (UNI) The people of India should themselves reap the benefit of the country's massive IT sector, and sound governance as well as effective rule of law going beyond mere policing, was needed to take care of the needs of the IT investors.

This was stated by HSBC CEO&Country Head India Naina Lal Kidwai who was speaking at the inaugural function of the second day of the e-Revolution 2006 here.

She also underlined the need to revamp the education system to produce the right kind of engineers and researchers, not only for the IT industry, but also for other industrial segments, as well as for the growing need for such professionals in other countries.

Germany alone has a shortage of one million engineers which Indian engineers can fill, she said.

Noting that over half of Fortune 500 companies outsource their work to India, she said ''we must come up to the expectations the world has from India''.

National Informatics Centre Director Dr N Vijayaditya said that the national authority for the Giga Bite (GB) network to be used by the government throughout the country, as well as the private sector on a pay-per-use basis, is in the pipeline. This will integrate applications and evolve standards in partnership with the private players to deliver better services to the citizens.

The number of telecom users are on the rise but Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) continues to decline, Bharti Airtel Limited IT and Innovation Director Dr Jai Menon said.

''We are one of the lowest in the globe in terms of the revenue per minute, which is fantastic for the Indian masses making it affordable. This had helped integrate government services to the citizens through telecom innovations,'' he added.

UNI JN RA VV1914