Thursday, August 18 2005 19:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: Bangalore IT.in 2005, the annual mega IT event hosted by the IT capital of the country will this time "sell Bangalore as a part of India and as a brand in itself", a top IT official said.

Future trends in IT technology will be the focus this time and "will infact become a regular feature of the four-day event", IT and BT secretary Shankarlinge Gowda said during an informal media meet.

Some of the unique features of the show this time will be a digital pavilion, e-security developments, semi-conductor activity, advancements in telecom and a conference on Beyond Bangalore with a focus on two-tier cities, STPI Director, B V Naidu who was present said.

"At present 12 countries including Taiwan, China and Barcelona have confirmed their participation. Apart from these, we expect 300 companies coming into the show", he said. On the issue of threat of boycott of the event by some industry bigwigs, Gowda said "all operators are part of us. Each one grows in the matrix and not in isolation. Infrastructure is really not the issue".

A hue and cry was made about lack infrastructure facilities, "which I think has been looked into by the government to a great extent whether it is Bangalore International Airport or Mass Transport System", Gowda said.

Truck traffic connecting Bannerghatta road to the Electronic city has been staggered, the 11 km road on stilts in the city will soon become a reality and the Bangalore-Mysore four-lane will become operational by October, Gowda said. Mangalore and Mysore are emerging as important software hubs with exports from Mangalore reaching Rs 700 crore and that from Mysore expected to touch Rs 500 crore, Naidu said.

As far as Mysore airport is concerned "the state government is slated to sign an agreement with Airports Authority of India on Sep 5, regarding this", Gowda said. The incubation centre in Mangalore is doing very well. "Seven companies have been incubated, out of which three have become operational with a turnover of 1 million USD", he said.

At present 1, 585 companies both IT and ITES are operating out of Karnataka and as on March 31, 2005 new companies have come to Bangalore, Naidu said. Land for establishing a Hardware Park has already been identified close to the International Airport and will soon by acquired by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB), Gowda said. Next to Bangalore, "Bidadi is going to the future destination for new companies", he added.