The Hindu Business Line : e-Readiness centre for Tirupur knitwear cluster to be launched today

Coimbatore, June 5 Tirupur Exporters’ Association’s e-Readiness Centre, which envisions adoption of ICT (information and communication technologies) among SMEs in the Tirupur knitwear cluster, is to be launched on Friday by the Tamil Nadu Minister for Rural Industries and Animal Husbandry, Mr Pongalur N. Palaniswamy, at IKF Convention Centre.

The centre, promoted by Tirupur Exporters’ Association with support from Microsoft and the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC) would, according to its Chief Executive, Mr Sanjay Kr Gupta, “be a one-stop shop for all ICT-related needs of the knitwear cluster.”

“The ERC (e-Readiness Centre) would help small and medium enterprises improve their competitiveness and be a part of the global value chain. It would act as an employment exchange for specialised talent required in the cluster. People providing specialised services to cluster members can use the ERC as a platform to display their services,” Mr Gupta told Business Line.

Floor area

The centre is coming up in 3,500 sq ft floor area. The fully air-conditioned centre with Wi-Fi connectivity and modern amenities would house two meeting rooms, a computer lab with 17 seats, two training rooms, a conference room and separate office space.

On the need for such a set up, he said, “ICT adoption by SMEs is quite low due to inherent reasons such as lack of financial resources, non-availability of trained manpower and the failure to understand the potential benefits of ICT usage. This centre would address these issues and make the transition easy by providing continued support.”

Training, he pointed out, would be a focus area for the ERC. “It would act as a central point for training on various topics on demand. The facility would be extended to all the cluster members, albeit for a fee.”

Cluster portal

The ERC will also be responsible for maintaining cluster portal and integrating it on to the national portal. Besides providing easy interface with various business development services, the ERC would also help set up an information exchange for suppliers and buyers in the cluster and function as a B2B information exchange. “We will offer consultancy services too,” he said.

Justifying the establishment of the modern ERC, he said, “for adoption of ICT, the SMEs would, at least in the initial stage, seek availability of supportive infrastructure in terms of connectivity, hardware, software, technical manpower and a common e-learning platform.”

The Joint Secretary of NMCC, Mr M. Sahoo, and the State’s Industries Commissioner, Mr Rajeev Ranjan, are expected to participate in the event while Mr Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt Ltd, will be the Guest of Honour.