NASSCOM has started conversations with states on digital transformation after partnering with Niti Ayog for defining the national IT strategy, the IT industry body president Debjani Ghosh said. “At the Central level, we have partnered with Niti Ayog for defining the National IT strategy. The next step for us is to work with states. We have started the conversations,” she said on the sidelines of annual HR Summit organised by NASSCOM. She was responding to a question on whether the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) has taken up issues on digital transformation with various states. She said it was focusing on three topics — what it can do to grow the innovation culture in the country, developing the right skills, working with the governments across the world to open new opportunities for Indian IT industry.
Companies cannot leverage what it had done in the past and has to reinvent itself to stay ahead, she said. She also said the number of H1B visas issued between 2014-16 period to Indian IT professionals dipped by 43 per cent as lot of companies were becoming true multinationals.
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“Compared to the 2014-16 period, the number of visas issued has gone down by 43 per cent. It is because Indian companies are becoming true multinationals and we are localising where we are present. We are hiring local people”, she said. Terming the discussion on H1B visa as ‘political rhetoric’, Ghosh said, “They (the discussion) are not translating into legislative action. So, we (NASSCOM) are watching it very closely. We are not taking anything for granted”.
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“You know (US) President (Donald) Trump has come out with a document on skilling the US workforce. Indian IT companies in the US are one of the biggest investors in growing skills. So, we have to invest. There is a lot of discussion on that. We cannot do much about the political rhetoric (around the world)”, she said.
On hiring forecast for current financial year, Ghosh who took over as NASSCOM chief in April, said, “Our projection is 100,000 new jobs this year. It means 100,000 incremental over last year”. Noting that the opportunity in the digital transformation technology was ‘huge’, she said, the companies have to invest to leverage that opportunity.
Internet of Things was one of the most important areas where new jobs were going to be created. Cyber Security would also provide new employment opportunities, she said. o reinvent itself to stay ahead, she said.
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