Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has set an ambitious target for the State to become a $1 trillion economy by 2030. To achieve this, the role of Information Technology sector will be critical. The IT department has already embarked on major initiatives like focus on data-centric governance, developing a ‘deep tech’ ecosystem and strengthening the use of IT in the government, said IT Minister Mano T Thangaraj and IT Secretary Neeraj Mittal in a joint interview with BusinessLine on the sidelines of the CII Connect2021. Excerpts:

What sort of goal have you set for the IT department for the next few years?

Minister: We need to bring in a lot of investment, provide jobs and help in achieving the target set by the Chief Minister of being a $1 trillion economy by 2030. The department will provide all the support to the private sector to ensure that there is ease of doing business and a conducive business environment. Various policies announced recently by the government are in that direction.

Secretary: $1 trillion is an aspiration. This means, a CAGR of 12-13 per cent. In electronics, software and hardware, Tamil Nadu is number 2 in the entire country when it comes to production. Tamil Nadu is one-fourth of software exports of Bengaluru. There is scope to multiply the exports as the State has the manpower, and a large number of companies. The ITnanban portal launched recently by the Chief Minister is to bring all the people in the IT industry to interact with the IT department on various issues. We don’t even know how many of them are there. We are really starting from scratch.

What will be the contribution of the IT department to the Chief Minister’s ambitious target of a $1 trillion economy?

Minister: We will play a vital role by helping in data-driven governance, transparency in governance and bringing investment. Along with that, digitisation of various departments is very important for proper governance based on data. That way decision-making will be better and faster. To bring in investment, there should be a conducive and transparent environment. This will be achieved through data-driven governance, change in the attitude of the government, creating solid IT infrastructure, connectivity and providing skilled IT manpower to the industry. For each, there is a roadmap in place. A lot of speakers and delegates at the conference have said that there is a visible change in governance. This is a positive thing. The Chief Minister is also keen on delivery of services at the door steps. We are going to strengthen the services of eSeva centres and the Citizens’ portal. Any person can get the benefit of the government schemes using a mobile, a laptop or at the eSeva centre according to their convenience.

Secretary: Tamil Nadu’s main advantage is the huge manpower. However, the challenge is how do you employ them immediately when they come out of the colleges. One of the common themes that came out of the conference was the need for the government to focus on skills if Tamil Nadu wants to become a significant player in deep tech. We need to work seriously over the next one year on the issue of closing the skill gap. We want to come up with a strong approach to solve this problem.

What’s your take on start-ups?

Minister: Developing a vibrant start-up ecosystem will be one of the focus areas of the IT department. They will be one of the strong pillars of growth for the State. They will bring in jobs and can also help the government in solving some of the challenges that each department may face. To that extent, we can fund it.

Secretary: The start-ups are going to contribute significantly to the $1 trillion economy. The youth no longer wants to work in mines or agricultural fields but aspire for white collar and good-paying jobs. That will be driven by start-ups. Government may not be able to fund them but will provide a good ecosystem for these start-ups to grow. Connecting to diaspora and access to venture capital funds can be facilitated by us. One of the speakers at the conference mentioned that money is not a problem; however, what is required is a good idea, a good team and good implementation. If these three are there, nobody needs the government's money.

How about the use of technology in the government?

Secretary: Today, each department works in silos. Recently, the Tamil Nadu eGovernance Agency was made the fiduciary for the entire government. In a central place, there is data of all departments. This is the start; we broke the data boundaries. The Finance Minister recently said of the finance department becoming a bank so that there is a common pipe that will be driven through a social registry or database in the State where all the beneficiaries will reside in one place. We now have data of 22 departments in one place. The data is raw, and only discovering what all are missing, and how things are different among various departments. There are immense complexities and as we go along, will we solve this challenge. We are trying to simplify the process and standardise it by coming up with a standardised document on IT systems on issues like cyber security, interoperability, data and metadata standards. This will break the silos among the departments. For all these, we need to work a lot on data, and sharing of data.

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