SOFTWARE CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON THE PEOPLE

SOFTWARE CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE TECH

The Idaho Technology Council’s fourth develop.Idaho conference featured some technical discussion on computer software, harnessing big data and using cloud solutions, but many of the speakers also focused on supporting the people that make software, and increasing the number of such people in Idaho.

Leaders in the tech industry say they’re working to increase the size and workforce of the technology industry. ITC President Rich Stuppy, the vice president of operations at Kount, said at the conference April 23 that the council’s goal is to make technology the top producers of new jobs and economic output by 2030. Stuppy said the ITC can’t do that alone, though it could get some help from the state government.

"Nurturing this industry is one of the single most important things we must do. Period," said Idaho Department of Commerce Director Jeff Sayer. Sayer commended the ITC's recent legislative efforts earlier this year in changing the state's cloud computing exemption and limiting patent trolls.

"You have a lot of fans, a lot of people that are supporting this, and a lot of people supporting the growth," Sayer said.

Idaho universities are also looking to increase the number of potential tech workers. Tim Andersen, chair of the Boise State University Computer Science Department, said the university is poised to have more computer science graduates. Boise State has added new computer science professors in the past few years. That will raise the number of graduates, which has hovered at around 20 to 25 graduates per year.

"Within the next 1-2 years, we’ll see 50-plus students graduate from Boise State," Andersen said.

The ITC is also looking to increase the number of high school students taking computer science classes and Advanced Placement tests, and is seeking to help develop curriculum and find teachers in junior highs and high school that can "champion" computer science, according to Jim Gasaway, vice president of information technology at Keynetics.

Once people enter the software industry, company leaders said they take steps to make their companies appealing to the tech workforce. Keynote speaker Ryan DeLuca, CEO of Bodybuilding.com, said having a mission-based company and strong company culture is important, and that one bad executive can ruin a company's culture. Jared Sund, senior product line manager for Autodesk, also said that a company's work environment and mission are key factors in getting people to work for your company.

The conference also saw the launch of a new smartphone application, Salmon Social, which lets users discover nearby people places based on users' demographics and interests.

The event ended with Brad Wiskirchen, CEO of Kount, discussing fraud issues for online and brick-and-mortar retailers. Kount is a fraud and risk management company based in Boise.

Wiskirchen said data breaches like those at Target and Michaels will likely continue for more than a year, until new "chip and PIN" systems replace credit and debit cards. He said fraud is becoming a big business, with the people who commit the fraud able to share information quickly.

"The challenge right now is there are so many ways we transfer data and so many ways we transfer money. The fraudsters have so many options," he said.

Wiskirchen said changes to payment systems, and a likely increase in mobile payment systems, will just change how fraud happens. He said individuals and businesses should take basic precautions, like changing passwords and checking their payment procedures, to make them less susceptible to fraud.

"The fraudsters are like teenagers. They're lazy. They'll do what they have to do," he said. "There's too many good targets out there for fraudsters to waste their time on someone who has their act together."

Is Vijayawada capital ?

Common capital of A.P 

It needs no persuasion to con­vince people that capitals have always attracted attention. For modern-day tourists, politicians or the conquerors of yore, the capital is the very essence of a particular nation or a state. The secret lies in it being a political and administra­tive hub from where decisions flow and policies are made. It is pre­cisely for this reason, the capital, in the economic sense of the word, also flows into the region. Now the question that seems to bother a number of people relates to the ex­istence of two capitals in one region for two separate states, namely, Telangana and residuary AP. Not a new concept though, it is a rather knotty issue.

In the modern world, we have countries with two or more capi­tals. Bolivia has two at Sucre and La Paz, Netherlands at Amsterdam and The Hague, South Africa at Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloem­fontein. While the administration exists at one place, legislature or the judiciary exists in another. It all boils down to working it out prop­erly.

In our own country, Punjab and Haryana have the same city for their capitals. Chandigarh is a Union Territory with both the cap­itals. All is well over there. Jammu and Kashmir has a winter capital at Jammu and a summer capital at Srinagar. A long time ago, British India had two capitals - Calcutta and Shimla - the latter being the summer capital. However, the capital issue in Andhra Pradesh has several dimensions to it for various reasons. Not many discussions and debates were conducted over the contentious issue. An ad hoc ar­rangement hammered out for rea­sons of expediency is bound to cre­ate problems. It’s like starting on a building without a plan or laying a road without a route. The problems have begun to pop up; the contours are visible and are quite clear.
The two capitals of Telangana and residuary AP in Hyderabad will have separate administrative build­ings and infrastructure. The prem­ises of the legislature for the fledg­ling states will have to be shared as of now. The High Court looks into the cases in both the states for now. For transition, on the face of it looks okay but for 10 years, it will raise problems that need solutions. Employees would be redistribut­ed

When the residuary AP capital continues to be located in Hydera­bad, it does not do so in a vacuum. Daily functioning, necessity and need would imply additional in­vestment in infrastructure for ad­ministration in Hyderabad. This would have to be foregone after the lapse of 10 years. Will a govern­ment then invest so much only to forego it 10 years later? What if Telangana government pressurises the residuary AP government to hand over more buildings or terri­tory or whatever? What legal and other assurances stand to protect the interests of the new AP in Hyderabad?

There are more than 140-odd public corporations, commissions and organisations like the APPSC, APSEB, APIIC, Telugu Academy, Discoms etc. which have to be par­titioned. Several of them have nearly no infrastructure in the See­mandhra region except for some small offices. Where does the mon­ey to replicate all of them in the new AP come from? These are prob­lems which are of an immediate nature; then there are short-term problems. These need the most urgent attention. There is a very strong human dimension to all of these issues. What about the pen­sion of employees of corporations or organisations that are bifurcat­ed? Where does the money come from? Are pension funds taken care of?

There is a need for a fast-track grievance redressal commission established by the Union Govern­ment through an ordinance, if nec­essary, to deal with issues like post­ings, promotions, salaries and pen­sions. Immediate working grants for quasi governmental and au­tonomous government organisa­tions have to be released and spe­cial funds created for the purpose. These are all no small issues that need urgent attention.

As for the residuary AP State, there can be a decentralised form of the capital system. The legisla­ture and the judiciary can be estab­lished at two different locations. In fact, the legislature can start func­tioning separately at a specific town or city in Seemandhra right away at the earliest. After Andhra forma­tion in 1953, a few sessions of the legislature were held at Visakhap­atnam at Andhra University. Some sessions were held at Vijayawada also. There have been long-stand­ing demands for a high court bench at Guntur and Visakhapatnam since 1956.

The need for addressing the con­cerns of students and higher educa­tion needs no reiteration. Newer centres for higher learning have to be created urgently and existing facilities at Andhra University, Acharya Nagarjuna University and Sri Venkateswara University need to be expanded with additional grants. The backward districts of both states have to be replenished with new primary, secondary and high school facilities.

Most security-related law and order training centres and institu­tions including command and Cen­tral systems have been centralised in Hyderabad. A few exist outside too.

However, the division of these centres and along with them the state security forces has to be based not on population, but on security perceptions and prognosis for the future. A coordination centre has to be established at Hyderabad, if necessary, by special central legis­lation specifically in relation to intelligence sharing and security.

A common water disputes settle­ment commission has to be created through central legislation for the two states of Telangana and re­siduary A.P. with offices in Hydera­bad and the coastal delta region. This can help minimize differences and provide solutions to water sharing and related problems.

Facts Of Vijayawada Growth

Comparision Of Vijayawada and Major Cities



Airports to Get facelift

Existing Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati airports are likely to be brought up to interna¬tional standards based on expeditious decision by the Centre.

Railways Mulling Overnew Zone

Indian Railways will also deliberate the establishment of a new railway zone in Andhra Pradesh.

Possibility of Metro Rail in 1 Yr

The Central government will check the feasibility of Metro Rail facility in Vishakhapatnam and Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali Metropolitan Urban Development Authority within a period of one year from the appointed day.

Coastal Andhra Head Off

Coastal Andhra region recorded a per capita income of Rs 36,496, Telangana (including Hyderabad) Rs 36,082 (33,771 excluding Hyderabad), and Rayalaseema Rs 33,056 in 2007-08. Rayalaseema draws its income from agriculture to the tune of 25%, followed by 24% in coastal Andhra and least in Telangana at 22%.

Highway Edge for Coastal AP

The intensity of national highways in the recent years was relatively high in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema than that of Telangana. This is mainly due to the geographic advantage exploited by the Golden Quadrilat¬eral National Highway, which passes through both these regions. However, the intensity of PWD roads is relatively higher in coastal Andhra compared to both Rayalaseema and Telangana.

100 Percent Electrification

The present generation installed capacity as on June 30, 2010 in coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana is 5242.46 MW, 1840.14 MW and 4368 MW respectively. AP also achieved 100% village electrification.

Andhragotmore Primary Schools

In the number of primary schools per lakh popula¬tion, Rayalaseema (85.9) is leading in all periods followed by coastal Andhra (77.4).

Natural Irrigation in AP

Given that most of the central parts of coastal Andhra region is located in between the river Godavari in the north and river Krishna in the south, there are natural factors that have offered extensive possibilities of expanding irrigation through canal system. On the other hand, both the Telangana and Rayalaseema regions are not able to access river waters due to lack of gradient.

Two districts now in APSPDCL

The districts of Anantapur and Kurnool which fall within the jurisdiction of the AP Central Power Distribution Company Ltd. will now be reassigned to the AP Southern Power Distribution Company Ltd.

All Edu Quotas Ditto for 10 Yrs

Current admission quotas in all government or private, aided or unaided, institutions of higher, technical and medical education will continue for a period of ten years.

Better AP-T Connectivity

The Central Government will take measures to establish rapid rail and road connectivity from the new capital of Andhra Pradesh to Hyderabad and other important cities of Telangana.

Insitutions in12, 13th Plan period

The Central government will take steps to estab¬lish institutions of national importance including include one IIT, one NIT, one IIM, one IISER, one CU, one Petroleum Uni¬versity, one Agricultural University and one IIIT, in the 12th and 13th Plan periods of AP.

One More Major Port for AP

A new major port at Duggirajupatnam in Andhra Pradesh will be constructed by the Centre. It will be completed in phases, with Phase I being completed by 2018-end.

Tribal Univs for Andhra and T

The Central government will establish one AIIMS-type Super-Specialty Hospital-cum-Teaching Institution in AP and a Tribal University each in the two states. It will also construct the National Institute of Disaster Management in AP.

Steel Plant Likely at Kadapa

Within six months from the appointed day, SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited) will examine the feasibility of establishing an integrated Steel Plant in Kadapa. Also, IOC or HPCL will explore the possibility of setting up a greenfield crude oil refinery and petrochemical complex in AP.

Two States One Governor

The Governor will remain in position for both the states till decided by the President. The Governor will be responsible for law and order, internal security and security of vital installations in the common capital area.

Council for Water Boards

The Central government will constitute an Apex Council for the supervision of the Godavari River Management Board and the Krishna Board. The comprises the Union Minister of Water Resources as the chairperson with the CMs of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states as members.

One High Court Until Otherwise

The High Court of Judicature at will be the Common for the State of Telangana and the of Andhra Pradesh till a separate for the of is constituted.

Central Govt Plays Chief

The Centre will take appropriate fiscal measures, including offer of tax incentives to promote industrialisation and economic growth in both States. It will also support programmes for the development of backward areas.

Polavaram in Central grip

The Central government would control the regulation and development of the Polavaram Irrigation Project. The Centre will execute the project and obtain all clearances including environmental, forests, and rehabilitation and resettlement.

Secial Support for AP Capital

The Centre will help in the creation of a new capital for AP, by denotifying degraded forest land if necessary. Special financial support will be provided for the creation of the new capital including its own Raj Bhavan, High Court, Secretariat, Legislative Assembly and Council.

AP, Rayalaseema Lead in Literacy

The overall literacy rate in APin 2001 is 60%. Coastal Andhra notched up to63 per cent while Rayalaseema recorded 60 per cent literacy.

Industrial Hub Vijayawada

vijayawada miss the chance of industrial hub


The proposed Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor is expected to give fillip to the economic prospects of See­mandhra. Conceived with an investment of over `1 lakh crore, the prestigious project is expected to create more than 50,000 jobs, both directly and indirectly, in the first phase alone. It is touted as one of the projects that could potentially transform the industrial landscape of Seemandhra in less than a de­cade of its commissioning.

Being set up on the lines of the model Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor project, this is also one of the key sops offered by the Central government as part of the special package to Seemandhra in the Reorganisa­tion Act and will be developed in two or three phases spanning more than 15 years.

“The idea is to create a strong economic base with globally competitive environment and state-of-the-art infrastructure to activate local commerce, enhance foreign invest­ments and attain sustainable development,” says B Ashok Reddy, president, Global Hu­man Resources and Corporate Affairs, Info­tech Enterprises Ltd.

Concedes S V S Rama Raju, president, Operations, Nagarjuna Agrichem, “The pro­posed industrial corridors promise to open the floodgates for new investment opportu­nities and will redefine the economic land­scape of Seemandhra.”



It may be noted that Visakhapatnam was recently included in the upcoming Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor, which will essentially give thrust to industrial develop­ment in three border districts namely Anan­tapur, Chittoor and Nellore. As per the proj­ect development plan, the Krishnapatnam port region development will be taken in the first phase, while areas around Hindupur-Chittoor-Nellore will be developed in the second phase.

“While the Chennai-Bangalore corridor will include only three districts of See­mandhra, the Visakhapatnam-Chennai cor­ridor is expected to cover maximum number of districts and villages along the stretch of the corridor. Essentially, this will ensure that development is not restricted to one or a few locations but whole state,” said Reddy.

Typically an industrial corridor, developed by the government in private partnership, will act as an intermediary to develop infra­structure projects, which in turn attract in­dustries and of course investments.

“The essence of such an industrial corridor is to increase employment potential, exponen­tially raise exports and augment industrial output, which in turn underscores the growing economic scenario of the region, all in a given period of say 10 years or so,” explained Vanitha Datla, executive director & CFO, Elico Ltd and vice- chairperson, CII-AP chapter.

The corridor passes through a combina­tion of well developed locations such as Vi­sakhapatnam, Vijayawada, moderately de­veloped areas like Kakinada, Rajahmundry and Machilipatnam and under developed industrial areas like Gudur, Nuziveedu and Ongole. These have varying natural resourc­es, human skills but are with or without qual­ity physical and social infrastructure that could propel industrial growth.

“The missing link is the infrastructure ie., logistics, industrial and social, which is in­capable of handling the envisaged industrial output and exports,” said Raju.

Investment regions and industrial areas will be proposed along the stretch covering key places such as Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Nuziveedu, Vijayawada, Bhimavaram, Machilipatnam, Guntur, Ongole, Bapatla, Nellore, Gudur and Naidupeta. Besides, self-sustaining industrial townships with world-class infrastructure, road and rail connectiv­ity for freight movement to and from ports and logistics hubs, domestic/international air connectivity, reliable power and quality social infrastructure have to be created to provide a globally competitive environment that is not only conducive for setting up busi­nesses but also superior compared to the existing hubs.

“The industries coming up would have the advantage of improved infrastructure as there would also be logistics hubs to facilitate warehousing and movement of goods. A similar advantage in terms of trained man­power would become available as knowledge hubs are also being planned in such regions on PPP basis,” said Datla.

Premium infrastructure and high-speed connectivity will offer immense opportuni­ties for businesses and sectors that are like­ly to get a boost including steel, cement, food processing, IT, automobile, readymade gar­ments, petroleum, chemicals and petro­chemicals complex.

Significantly, the corridor assists potential investors in organizing, negotiating loans and to some projects even advances. Exten­sion of credit facilitation is the star attraction of the project. With access to capital getting tighter, thanks to the global macro econom­ic situation, prospective investors with mid and large-scale projects will be enthused with such an option.

In specific cases, it will also raise financing instruments like project development fund, viability gap fund and revolving fund that could be used for undertaking project devel­opment activities on a PPP model.

The corridor also facilitates, among other things, resources required for companies to commence operations. Over time, districts and villages along the stretch will attract for­eign investment and attain sustainable de­velopment and emerge as a hub of social and economic development.

Evidently, implementation of the project requires huge investment and public and private sector participation is imperative. Development of infrastructure, power plants, ports, airports, special economic zones, in­dustrial parks, agro-processing hubs, knowl­edge cities and integrated townships can be developed on a viable PPP model with par­ticipation from both the Central and state governments.

All this is expected to boost trade and com­merce between south India and East Asia by enabling quicker movement of goods.

“Once implemented, the industrial corri­dors will result in world-class tolled road, high-speed rail link and centres along the corridor would develop as industrial clus­ters,” said Reddy of Infotech adding that the manufacturing hubs in and around Ananta­pur, Nellore and Chittoor that the corridor will create will be critical to the future growth of Seemandhra.

“It is among the key components of the Na­tional Manufacturing Policy (NMP) that aims to raise the share of manufacturing in See­mandhra to the country’s GDP,” he added.

Stating that the industrial corridors will pave way for the emergence of industrial cit­ies otherwise known as ‘smart cities,’ Datla said, they will help develop infrastructure linkages such as pioneer power plants, as­sured water supply, high capacity transpor­tation and logistics facilities for industries. “Notable among the benefits is the fact that these industrial corridors will provide em­ployment to a majority of the local popula­tion. Besides reviving the real estate sector, the industrial corridors will also provide a boost to the city’s economy,” she added.

SOFTWARE Hub Vijayawada

Vijayawada Becomes Softwarehub

Contrary to the claims of the State government that it is making strenuous efforts to promote the IT and IT enabled services industry in the Tier II and Tier III cities, the atmosphere for the IT industry in the city, which is expected to become the capital for the residuary Andhra Pradesh State, is not so encouraging.

However, due to the efforts of the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Vijayawada, a statutory body that works under the Union ministry of Communications and Information Technology, a few IT and IT enabled services companies are evincing interest to operate from the city, which is considered as the emerging Tier II destination after Visakhapatnam.

According to the officials of the STPI,  Vijayawada, four companies including Pyramid Soft Solutions, Altitude Solutions Ltd, and Sailfish Solutions are going to launch their operations from the facility developed by the STPI at its office in the city. Another company is coming up on a private premises in the city soon.

“These companies would probably start their operations from February and we are going to inaugurate the newlybuilt facility at our office likely by the end of this month,” said officer-in-charge of the STPI, Vijayawada, S Ramesh.

The STPI has recently developed 4,000 sft space for the benefit of the companies in addition to the existing 2,000 sft space from where four start-up companies are operating.

Meanwhile, no medium or major companies are ready to operate from Vijayawada city despite the availability of state-of-the-art facility `Medha Tower’  with about 2 lakh sft, inaugurated in January 2010 at Gannavaram.

The L&T HiTech City Ltd, a joint venture of the L&T Info City Ltd and the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), developed the IT park.

The park has so far attracted only four small and medium IT companies, which occupied just 13,306 sft.

The companies, Extranet Software Solutions, Galla IT Services, Indmax IT Services and Xact Data Discovery, employ only about 200 staff, while the developers promised creation of about 3,000 jobs.

It is said that management of the IT Park has failed to attract companies due to its terms and conditions in the allotment of the space for the companies and also several infrastructural deficiencies. They had raised the issue of addressing the cost factor, marketing strategies and transportation facilities to the IT Park at various fora.

“The L&T officials should address the issues of cost and other factors so as to attract more firms and living quarters should be provided inside the park as it is 30 km from the city,” said Managing Director of Galla IT Services, G.V.Rao.

Though some experts opine that the city would become the most preffered IT destination after the bifurcation, G.V. Rao said, “I do not agree with this observation since the companies are not willing to come here from Hyderabad. The employees are also not keen to work in Vijayawada.”

According to CII sources, Vijayawada region has excellent human resource as there are nearly one lakh graduates, including 13,500 engineers from 35 engineering colleges and 2,600 MCA graduates from 46 colleges passing out annually.

Confederation of Indian Industry’s Vijayawada Zone chairman M Lakshmi Prasad says that expansion and development of the Gannavaram airport is a must for the  IT and ITeS companies’ development in Vijayawada.

He said HCL Technologies had held talks with L&T but not made any agreement due to bifurcation issue.

However, the STPI is going to construct an IT Tower with 50,000 sft space with an estimated cost of Rs 30 crore. “The foundation for the construction of a new IT Tower will be made during the inauguration of the recently developed 4,000 sft space,” said S Ramesh.

There are about 36 IT/ITeS companies in the city, with 22 coming under the STPI fold, four in L&T Hitech City (SEZ) and the remaining under non-STPI and non-SEZ fold.