KOCHI: Amid the rapidly evolving landscape of the IT sector, the state government is taking proactive measures to formulate a new IT policy that embraces the latest technological tools, including artificial intelligence (AI), and positions the state as an attractive destination for IT and ITeS investments.
The state government, towards this purpose, has reconstituted its high-power IT Committee, which included the heads of the 10 big IT companies in Kerala. The new panel consists of V K Mathews, founder of IBS Software, S D Shibulal, a founding member of Infosys Technologies; Alexander Varghese, joint COO of UST; Richard Antony, director of Ernst & Young; Sam Santhosh, a former IT entrepreneur and now the biotech advisor to K-DISC; and Babu Sivadasan, chairman and CEO of Jiffy.ai.
When contacted, Rathan U Kelkar, state IT secretary, said: “The draft IT policy is in the making, and the final draft guidelines may be released in a few weeks.”
“The high-power IT committee will source suggestions from those in the industry. These will be considered before the IT policy is drafted and placed before the government or released in the public domain,” said a senior official. According to him, the proposed new IT policy would work towards making Kerala a unique distinction for IT/ITES companies and also promote e-governance initiatives, said the official.
The last IT policy by the state was formed in 2017. According to Saji Gopinath, Vice Chancellor of Kerala University of Digital Sciences Innovation and Technology, a lot of technological advancements have happened and a new knowledge economy is coming.
“So, the new IT policy will reflect all this. Then there are the things highlighted in the approach paper prepared by the State Planning Board. Those things too will reflect in the new policy,” he said.
Despite being home to the country’s first IT park, Technopark, established in 1990, Kerala faced challenges in attracting major companies to the state. In the fiscal year 2021-22, Kerala’s software exports amounted to only Rs 20,000 crore, considerably lower than Karnataka’s Rs 3.96 lakh crore, Tamil Nadu’s Rs 1.58 lakh crore, and Telangana’s Rs 1.8 lakh crore.
The proposed new IT policy aims to address this disparity by enhancing the state’s appeal to high-end tech companies.
An industry insider said, “Many things have changed in the IT sector. Advancements have been made in AI. So even though it had been included in the previous IT policy, changes will have to be made and included as per the present and future innovations happening in AI. Then there is the digital sector, which is also seeing a lot of innovation.
A whole lot of new things also have to be included.” Another source said some things are very unique to Kerala. “The inclusiveness, equity, making the internet a common entity, and many more things that had not been included in the previous policy might also find a place alongside the new ones,” said the source.