Tamil Nadu government to set up IT academy

Chennai, Sept 8: The Tamil Nadu goverment will set up an IT Academy to improve the standards of computer education in the State, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi announced today.

Inaugurating Connect-2006, a three-day conference organised by the CII here, he said the academy would focus on upgrading the curriculum of graduate and post-graduate courses in keeping with present needs.

Stating the IT revolution had no relevance if it did not improve the lives of the poorest, he said ICT could provide opportunities for touching the untouched and approaching the unapproached.

'My government is deeply committed to winning the war against hunger, deprivation, want, inequality and unemployment. We are ceaselessly striving towards this cause', he said and appealed to Connect-2006 to pledge itself to this cause.

Attributing the growth of the IT industry in the State to the availability of skilled human resources, Mr Karunanidhi said to strengthen this, the Union HRD Ministry would set up an Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing - a National Centre of Excellence.

The establishment of this prestigious institution in the State would create a new chapter in the development of the IT industry.

Mr Karunanidhi said to propel the IT industry to higher growth, a new IT policy would be unveiled, covering all sectors of the IT industry - software, IT Enabled Services, BPO, Product Development and Knowledge Process Outsourcing. A separate policy for IT Hardware manufacturing and Bio-technology would also be formulated, he added.

While consolidating infrastructure at Chennai, the government would also spread the IT revolution to other towns by setting up the second Tidel Park at Chennai and IT parks at Coimbatore, Salem, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai and Tirunelveli.

He said Tamil Nadu was ranked third in the country in software export and was fast emerging a hub for IT hardware manufacture. 'All the top software and hardware companies of India and a large number of international companies have chosen to locate in Tamil nadu due to sound infrastructure, large pool of talent and good governance.

Earlier, Mr Karunanidhi launched Coimbatore as a Tier-2 city by allotting land to WIPRO and TCS.

UNI