MCCIA’s $7 billion upgrade for IT sector in Pune - Hindustan Times
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MCCIA’s $7 billion upgrade for IT sector in Pune

Hindustan Times, Pune | ByAbhay Vaidya
Apr 05, 2019 02:58 PM IST

This move will assist the IT industry in the city to break new grounds and embrace cutting-edge technologies

The IT (information technology) sub-committee of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (MCCIA) has prepared a 10-year strategic plan to take Pune’s IT sector from the current $8 billion to $15 billion annual turnover.

The IT sub-committee of the MCCIA has prepared a 10-year strategic plan to take Pune’s IT sector from the current $8 billion to $15 billion annual turnover.(HT PHOTO)
The IT sub-committee of the MCCIA has prepared a 10-year strategic plan to take Pune’s IT sector from the current $8 billion to $15 billion annual turnover.(HT PHOTO)

This move will assist the IT industry in the city to break new grounds and embrace cutting-edge technologies.

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The proposed strategic plan is for the period from 2018-28 and it has been has been prepared with the goal of increasing Pune’t IT revenue in the next seven years.

Commodore Anand Khandekar (retd), former head of the sub-committee is also keen to build Pune’s capabilities in the areas of cyber security, for which a lot of groundwork has already been done with government agencies and expert groups from within and outside the country, notably Israel.

Along with IT expert Sanjay Kanvinde, Khandekar has drawn a draft Pune IT 2.0 blueprint, which envisages Pune’s “pole-vault” to the next level in IT and close collaborations with five countries, namely Vietnam, Estonia, Poland, Hungary and Israel.

These nations have strengths in areas like mathematics and startups, and Khandekar is keen on strong academic and industry collaborations and faculty augmentation at the top engineering colleges in Pune to raise the capabilities of Pune’s engineering graduates.

About the international collaborations, Khandekar and Kanvinde explained that these five nations were chosen specifically because, “Vietnam, Poland and Hungary are outstanding in maths and many Vietnamese are in the electronic chip industry in the US. In the case of Estonia, it was the first country to go digital.”

These IT experts said, “Estonia is a progressive, cultured nation with good command over English language and expertise in cyber issues. Likewise with nations like Poland, Hungary and Israel which not only has strengths in cybersecurity, but also has a strong startup culture.”

Khandekar played a pioneering role in Pune’s growth as an IT city, after a rewarding career of 25 years in the Indian Navy. A top ranking graduate in electrical engineering from the College of Engineering, Pune, (COEP), he worked with top IT multinationals and also helped draft Maharashtra’s IT policy.

While Kanvinde has 23 years’ experience in the field of the energy industry. He has worked on a number of international assignments in the areas of research and development (R&D), knowledge management, corporate IT management and business development.

Key Initiatives

-Establish a centre of excellence in data science, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), at Pune. Aim to become a top five data science/AI/ML city of the world.

-The goal is also to explore “digital business” and “Industry 4.0” opportunities through the SMAC stack, which comprises social, mobile, analytics, and cloud technologies (SMAC), and IoT (Internet of Things).

-The draft blueprint also forays into drones/robotics applications and automation technology developments.

-The goal is to use a combination of technology, entrepreneurship, and social consciousness – “the outstanding strands of Pune’s DNA” to conquer new heights.

Establishing a forum

The MCCIA sub-committee and Pune International Centre, which is closely associated with the initiative is keen to create a consensus among all political parties and establish an “All Parties Pune Development Forum.” The forum will see representation from an elected member of parliaments (MPs) and members of legislative assembly (MLAs) from the city. Other key stakeholders such as academicians, scientists, industry and eminent people from art and culture will also be a part of the forum.

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