“The IT industry has grown a 1000 times during the last 20 years, so it is not difficult for it to scale itself up to an even higher level, says R Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM.
“My entry into the field of IT was a result of chance events, rather than planning,says R Chandrashekhar. ? could not have planned a career in IT, as when I was a student at IIT, there was no program in IT or computer science.Yet his chance foray into the field of IT, led Chandrashekhar to undertake some of the most transformational initiatives, during the years when he was serving as an IAS officer, to bring e-Governance to various government departments.
“When I joined the IAS, I had the opportunity to see how the government functions, from the highest to the lowest level,says Chandrashekhar, ?nd as IT gained wider acceptability in large organisations, I and many of my colleagues in the government were in a position to introduce computerisation and automation in several key areas.
Chandrashekhar’s bonding with IT started between 1986 and 1988 when he took a break of 2 years from service to take up a Masters in Computer Science at Pennsylvania State University. Why did he choose Computer Science as a subject for his Masters, which was a relatively new specialisation during those days? He accepts that there was not enough news-flow about IT and Computers, but his interest was aroused in the subject despite the limited information that he had on the subject. Further, the desire to improve the system of governance was not the sole reason he decided to take up a Masters in Computer Science. He asserts that he was genuinely interested in computers.
“After my Masters, I came back with the realisation that IT can have a tremendous impact in improving the system of governance. If IT is used more appropriately, it can lead to the government becoming more friendly towards citizens.
The level of interest in IT kept rising in the years that followed and this made it easier for him to find areas where computerisation, automation or application development had to be done. The late 90s found him getting actively engaged in getting investments in these areas and creating capacities and skill development. His interactions with the IT industry, which was relatively small during those early days, grew and he could see how many people inside the government and outside were becoming struck by the kind of difference that computerisation and IT could make.
Growing eGovernance in the country
During the 1980s, even though some people in the government had started realising that IT could be a game changer for governance, not much could be achieved as majority of the people remained unconvinced due to lack of knowledge or some other reason. ?his was a time when even an elementary system like a Word Processor, was looked upon as an advanced technology that could make some difference,Chandrashekhar reminisces.
The major thrust towards computerisation started only in the mid 90s. This was when the entire system woke up to the power of IT,he says. ?he idea took root that there was no alternative to eGovernance.The first National Conference on eGovernance took place in Hyderabad in 1997, when Chandrashekhar was the IT Secretary of Andhra Pradesh. For two consecutive years the Conference was organised in Hyderabad and after that the tradition developed of holding it in different cities every year.
In the year 2002, he was posted in the central government as Joint Secretary in the Department of IT.
Now he was at the right place at the right time. During the next few years some of the landmark eGovernance projects of the country were launched, and as Joint Secretary in DIT, Chandrashekhar had the chance of making seminal contributions to the development of the policies that paved way for the creation of myriad e-Governance systems. Many successful projects MCA21, Passport Sewa, eBiz, Income Tax, etc., were launched and successfully executed. All these systems were transformational as they led to a more efficient and transparent way of managing the work of governance. These are the footprints in the sands of time,proudly says Chandrashekhar. Whenever I meet any person who has been involved in the successful implementation of an e-Governance project, I can’t fail to note the pride that he or she feels in the task that was accomplished. The prime movers of e-Governance continue to derive satisfaction from the outcome that they have made possible.
The Early Days of NASSCOM
Over a period of two decades Chandrashekhar had been following the course of events at NASSCOM, primarily because the kind of job that he was doing in the Government was connected to IT. I was impressed by the work that Dewang Mehta, who I think was called the Executive Director during those early days, did at NASSCOM during the 1990s,he says. During those days India? IT industry was a fledging entity and the key objective of NASSCOM was to ensure that India? capabilities in IT were recognised around the world. Most Western countries were not yet ready to acknowledge that IT work could be done in India.
It was a major struggle for the pioneers at NASSCOM to convince industry leaders and government leaders in other countries about India? prowess in IT. ?uring those days I happened to be in the Commerce Ministry and I was dealing with export promotion of IT software,informs Chandrashekhar. ?o I knew about the efforts that Dewang was making.
A tireless advocate of Indian IT, he used to frequently travel to different countries and talk about India’s ability in the area of IT software.
“In the early 1990s, the World Bank came up with a study that the Indian IT industry would reach $1 billion in 1996. When this report came out, the IT industry was worth only about $100 million. So the figure of $1 billion seemed absurdly large. But in fact, the industry did touch $1 billion. It did so in 1997. The World Bank? estimate was off only by few months.
Chandrashekhar makes the point that the challenges that India? IT industry faced during the 1990s were quite different from what it faced a decade later or what it faces today. During the 1990s most of the work that was being done in India was based on cost arbitrage. People in other countries were not yet ready to entrust critical software development to the Indian IT industry.
The Growth Due to Y2K Factor
“Suddenly the issue of Y2K loomed ahead for users of computer systems in all countries. From the point of view of the Indian IT industry, this proved to be a pretty useful turn of events,says Chandrashekhar. To Indian IT companies, it brought lot of work as global companies wanted their entire software examined for the Y2K bug. As a logical or sometimes integral part of this work, many wanted to have their entire software rewritten. This project was time-bound, since it had to be completed before the year 2000. The global companies simply did not have the IT talent to cater to projects on such a scale. The need for using outside capabilities became absolutely critical.
“Soon the Y2K problem passed away, but thanks to the work that Indian IT companies had done to tackle the problem, there was now a wide awareness about India’s IT talent. The Y2K issue provided countries like USA the opportunity to gain an good insight into the kind of advanced work that Indian IT professionals were capable of doing. Now more work was offered to Indian IT companies and we started delivering a whole range of software and related services to the world on a much wider scale. The IT industry in India had now moved beyond cost arbitrage, and got into advanced and comprehensive software development.
Despite the expanded base, the IT industry remained in a high growth phase; the industry was growing at 30% to 40% CAGR and some individual companies were growing at much higher rates. The work being done in India became more advanced, more comprehensive and more sophisticated. Eventually the stage came when the industry was delivering end to end services for management of IT infrastructure, management services, etc. The ability of the Indian IT industry rose to such a level that it was now in a position to provide services covering the entire range of IT.
The Global Meltdown
In 2008, when the global meltdown took place, questions about the future of the industry were raised again and the industry faced trying times. This was a period when many people opined that the bottom was falling off in international markets and global recession would force major companies to cut down their IT budgets,says Chandrashekhar. With a smile he adds that the recession did not hit the IT industry as hard as people were expecting. Yes, the rate of growth did come down, but the industry never started to contract. Even at the height of the global recession the IT industry in India was growing, albeit by single digits.Yet for an industry that was accustomed to growing at 30% to 40% and more, single digit growth felt practically like decompressing.
However, within a year or two of the advent of the global recession, it became clear that recession itself was forcing businesses across the world to become more efficient in order to survive. Much of this efficiency was only possible through greater and better use of IT and so in a sense the Indian IT industry was able to find a niche for itself, whether there was recession or growth in the overall global economy.Today the IT industry in India is growing at around 12% to 14%, but even in this lower rate of growth, Chandrashekhar finds a silver lining. If you compare this rate of growth with the growth of the global economy in general, you realise that we are doing quite well, he opines.
“Today India’s IT industry is no longer a vehicle for merely providing IT services, the industry is also delivering business value that significantly impacts the bottomline of clients companies. We are helping global companies to reinvent and transform themselves by leveraging newer technologies, particularly the so-called disruptive technologies Social Media, Mobility, Analytics, Cloud.He emphasises that Indian IT is now increasingly about delivering business value and transformational value.
Another factor, according to Chandrashekhar, that is working in favour of the Indian IT industry is the advancements that have taken place in the nation’s entrepreneurial and technological space. Today our country has the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world,he informs. He points to the fact that Indian IT is no longer a monolithic industry, it is diverse and has branched off into different avenues and segments of IT. ?e are involved in advanced R&D work both in hardware and software; a lot of hardware design related work is also being done here. Microsoft has its development centre in India.
Challenges before NASSCOM
Chandrashekhar is of the view that the challenges that NASSCOM faces today are far more complex. The IT industry has grown so diverse that NASSCOM needs to develop different strategies for helping myriad segments of the industry. While the recognition of the Indian industry globally is no longer the main issue, the fact that the industry is today delivering business values and business outcomes, needs to be sold in exactly the same way in which the country’s IT capability was sold during the early days in the 1990s.
“For adequately catering to the diverse character that the IT industry has now acquired, NASSCOM is restructuring itself,says Chandrashekhar. Seven councils have been formed to cater to different segments of the IT industry. As many IT companies are now working out of smaller cities and towns, NASSCOM has established regional bodies and offices to tackle local issues being faced by the industry. The branching of the IT industry is also discernible on the basis of domains like healthcare, education, smart cities, agriculture, financial inclusion, etc. Each of these domains have large chunks that come under the purview of government and areas that do not fall under the public sector. NASSCOM is making serious efforts to ensure that there is greater collaboration between government and IT companies so that there is an enabling environment for the extensive and creative use of IT in all these critical areas.
NASSCOM in Next 5 Years
“IT is an area where there is the possibility of vast transformation in a span of just 5 years,says Chandrashekhar. During the next few years there is going to be a huge impact of the so-called disruptive technologies.The industry revenue stands at $118 billion as per the last year’s (2013-14) assessment, and NASSCOM estimates that it could reach $300 billion by 2020. The question that we need to ask is whether, even as it grows, the industry is going to be more of the same or will it be something different
Chandrasekhar is of the view that as much as half of the growth that the Indian IT industry will see by 2020 will come from newer areas. In these areas technology will certainly play an important role, but an equally significant role will be played by the development of transformational ways of doing things. We are going to have a huge growth in e-commerce, which has a major IT component. There will be major increase in usage of IT for healthcare, education, etc. In fact, there could be rise of companies, which will provide integrated IT-enabled healthcare services.”
The rise of these verticals in the IT industry will, in Chandrashekhar’s opinion, have a huge multiplier effect on the economy. There will be gains in efficiency and transparency in many other areas, which do not seem to be directly associated with IT. So does Indian IT industry face any problem. Chandrashekhar accepts that there are many challenges that the IT industry in the country faces, but the good thing is that solutions to these challenges fall within our capabilities. If we can work together in a collaborative manner as an industry, then undoubtedly the coming years will be the era of India,he says. The IT industry has grown a 1000 times during the last 20 years, so it is not difficult for it to scale itself up to an even higher level.”