Israel keen on IT tie-ups

V. Rishi Kumar

HYDERABAD, Jan. 10

IT is now a case of convergence of three `I's -- India, Israel and Ireland -- which have taken the lead in IT initiatives in the new convergence era.

The Chairman of the Israel-based MLL Software and Computers Industries Ltd, and President of Israeli Association of Software Houses, Mr Amiram Shore, said that the research and development initiatives of the Israeli companies, coupled with the human reso urce strengths of the Indian IT professionals, would provide the ideal platform for growth of IT industry in both the countries.

Israeli companies are keen to cooperate and leverage each other's capabilities for global market place. These three countries have taken a lead over others, he said.

With Israeli techies emerging as a major force, Israel is now talked of as the Silicon Valley for the Internet technologies. In the new economic scenario, the new initiatives in the Internet space have changed the dynamics of the way businesses operate b ypassing the problems of middleman.

``Israel is considered the second Silicon Valley in the world. Its techies are producing technologies which are driving the world. The cell phone was developed in Israel. Its software exports, driven by over 4,000 technology start-ups, account for about 57 per cent of total exports from the country, driving its traditional exports like agro-based products and floriculture related products into oblivion.''

By 2005, Israel expects its exports from software-related sector to go up to about 70 per cent. Two major projects of Microsoft and Intel are located in Israel. ``In fact, Intel is in the process of establishing yet another manufacturing facility in Isra el,'' he said.

Its companies account for the second largest number of IT companies, numbering about 100-120, which are listed on the Nasdaq, considered to be next only after the Canadian companies to be listed there. This is apart from over 25 companies listed on the s tock exchanges in the Europe, Mr Shore said.

While stating that the success of Israel was mainly due to its small but focussed human resources, he said India and China have the same advantage of having abundant human resources, which they would do better to harness for optimum results. While India is already a main player in the IT sector, China is just beginning to get its act together.

``With shortage of manpower in Israel, we have gradually drifted away from services and manufacture to research and development segment. This, we expect, will be our mainstay. It is this segment which has the potential of collaborating with Indian compan ies for synergistic development,'' he said.

Having over 70,000 professionals working in the sector in Israel, both in the software development and hi-tech industry segments, there is a great opportunity for collaborations and technological interface, particularly R & D, Mr Shore said.