India’s premier tech event ‘Bangalore IT.biz 2012’ began on a disappointing note on Wednesday with many premier companies staying away. Barring Infosys, the three-day event failed to attract the industry’s marquee companies or multinationals.
Many companies reeling under global economic slowdown, have skipped the event. According to reliable sources, this year only 70 small and medium companies have put up stalls, as against 130 last year. The only consolation is the participation of 11 states across the country.
The failure to rope in a prominent personalities in the IT sector for the inaugural function was also a dampener. The current 14th edition of the event was inaugurated by former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
Not much pre-publicity for the event and the not so popular venue - Karnataka Trade Promotion Organisation (KTPO), located at Whitefield, about 20 kilometres away from the city, have also kept away the tech community.
The poor response have even compelled ISN Prasad, principal secretary, IT, BT and S&T to delay the inaugural function by more than 30 minutes. “I apologise to the gathering for the delay. Chief minister R Jagadish Shettar has arrived on time, but some of the delegates were held up in traffic jam. They had requested me to wait till they reach the venue,’’ Prasad said.
Echoing similar opinion, Vivek Kulkarni, former secretary of Information Technology & Biotechnology and chairman and CEO of Brickwork India, said that he was held up for more than 20 minutes just to pass through one traffic signal at Kundalahalli. “Commuting has become a major problem for most of the people in Bangalore. My suggestion is to allow software engineers to work from home. I hope they will agree to my suggestion,’’ Kulkarni said.
Among the dignitaries, barring Infosys executive co-chairman S. Gopalakrishna and a couple of senior officials from the central and state governments, noted industry leaders were conspicuous by their absence at the inaugural session.
“The city’s crumbling infrastructure, pot-holed roads and piling of garbage, even on thoroughfares, have dampened the mood of the IT industry,” asserted one of the delegates.
One of the exhibitors was seen complaining about the delay to get a print out at the media lounge. “I do not know why has the state government decided to organise this event at a distant place that is inconvenient,’’ he said.
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