STPIs switch to CoE, as IT industry opts for WFH

The Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), which has been instrumental in giving a boost for setting up infrastructure for the Indian IT & ITeS services, is now changing gear and focusing on other emerging verticals by setting up centres of excellence (CoE).

About 12 CoEs have been recently approved and will be launched soon. These include AIC STPINEXT, a CoE in Health Tech, Big Data & AI at Bengaluru, an IoT in Agriculture CoE at Akola, a CoE in Efficiency Augmentation at Bengaluru, FinTech at Gandhinagar, SmartAgri IoT at Patna, a CoE in Emerging Tech at Bhubaneswar and CoE in Industry 4.0 Technology at Vizag. There are five CoEs in each of remaining five north-east capital cities, namely Gangtok (IT Applications in Healthlcare & AgriTech), Itanagar (GIS Applications including Drone Tech), Kohima (IT Applications in Graphic Design), Aizawl (Gaming), Agartala (Data Analytics).

“Reimagination, recreation, restoring, and repositioning are in the DNA of STPI. We are constantly evolving apropos the dynamic needs of the Indian IT industry. We have also infused inclusiveness and competition in the work culture of the organisation. And all these have contributed to setting up 13 CoEs in various emerging technologies and subsequently planning for the launch of the next 12 CoEs in a time-bound manner. These CoEs will play a pivotal role in revving up R&D, innovation, IP creation, and product development, making India a product nation in times to come,” said Omkar Rai, Director General of STPI.

The STPI is a science and technology organisation established in 1991 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology with the objective of encouraging, promoting and boosting the export of software from India. This move to shift its focus on developing the research and development capabilities in the country is significant as so far STPI’s have been working towards creating infrastructure for the IT and BPM services industry.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has played a catalytic role in the transformation of the BPO industry. The pandemic has prompted the firms to revisit their business models and recalibrate their preference in line with the new normal. The brick-and-mortar model has given way to the work-from-home model and has underscored the significance of business continuity plans for unforeseen exigencies such as global shutdown, prolonged disruption, etc.,” said Rai to Business Standard.

In the recent times for the inclusive growth and dispersal of IT industry in smaller towns of the country, STPI through its BPO promotion schemes has been providing incentives to BPO units for establishing their operations in tier-2 and 3 cities.

“In the recent years, Indian BPO Promotion Scheme has generated direct employment for more than 40,000 people residing in Tier 2 and 3 cities, out of which about 38 per cent are women. More than Rs 370 crore investment has been reported by the BPO/ITES units operating under the BPO Promotion Scheme. The schemes are already operational in more than 100 small cities/towns across the country. Remarkably, 30+ of these locations reportedly had first-of-a-kind formal BPO/ITES operations due to this initiative,” said Rai.

The impact of these schemes is evident with the pan India presence of BPO/ITES industry established under these schemes. At present, 247 BPO/ITES units are operational in 102 cities with reported direct employment of 41,628 persons.

It has been 30 years since the STPI has been nurturing the start-up eco-system. STPI started its journey from three centers and has now 60 centres pan India with 52 centres in Tier II and Tier III cites. Today, the $ 194 billion IT industry, comprising around 18,000-plus firms that directly employ 4.47 million strong workforce, that contributes 8 per cent of GDP is a testimony to the STPI’s resolute performance in transforming Indian IT industry into a global outsourcing destination for software exports, shared Rai. Another feather to this cap is that the exports clocked by STPI-registered units stand at Rs 5.08 lakh crore during 2020-21.

Rai further added ‘Today our head is held high by fulfilling our primary mandate of boosting IT/ITES exports from the country. From Rs 17 crore IT/ITES exports in 1992-92 to Rs 5.08 lakh crore during 2020-21 despite pandemic’. STPI is supporting IT companies through its incubation facilities comprising of 7.04 lakh sq.ft. pan India and facilitating IT companies and Government departments to host their servers in its Tier III compatible data centres at Mohali, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai & Vijayawada with total area of 40,352 sq. ft.” Business Standard News