InfinITy Vizag: Stakeholders see big future for IT growth in AP

Visakhapatnam: With right ecosystem and efforts in place, Visakhapatnam will soon emerge as the new IT destination, Secretary for Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology Alkesh Kumar Sharma said.

Participating as chief guest at a two-day Andhra Pradesh's flagship IT/ITeS summit 'InfinITy Vizag' that began in Visakhapatnam on Friday, Sharma stressed on the need to achieve a target of 20 percent India's GDP and in the next five years, India should achieve $1 trillion GDP through enhancing e-commerce and digital economy.

"There is a need to move to the next level, creating ecosystem architecture by designing such products and focusing on offering a number of solutions. We have to work towards creating a new set of enterprises and make India a start-up nation," Sharma stressed.

With 80,000-plus startups, the MEIT Secretary said that India stands as the third largest ecosystem in the world. The country's technology drivers, its new tech leaders and human resources would drive the next decade of the country forward. 

India's future is dependent on public digital platforms, technology, he said.

Initiated by the IT Association of AP (ITAAP), in collaboration with the Information Technology, Electronics and Communications Department, AP Innovation Society and Software Technology Parks of India, the event saw tech leaders, officials and stakeholders taking part in the summit from different places.

Delivering his address, Rajya Sabha member GVL Narasimha Rao said, "Today, Andhra Pradesh is not what it was in 2014. IT is non-existent in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Trying to place facts as they are so that we get the real picture of where we stand and what is the roadmap ahead to traverse to achieve our goal towards ensuring Andhra Pradesh emerging as an IT leader. Concerted efforts are needed to make Vizag as the top IT destination in AP."

Earlier, Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar gave a video address.

ITAAP state president Sridhar Kosaraju spoke about the need to work towards strengthening the ecosystem.

Director General of STPI Arvind Kumar, founder-chairman of Cyient Ltd BVR Mohan Reddy, Principal Secretary, ITE and C Department Saurabh Gaur highlighted the plans ahead.

The two-day summit that focuses on strategising the roadmap to position the IT industry in AP at the forefront of innovation and Deep Tech domains will conclude on Saturday.