Comments on: Finding ITs political feet

By: Glenn Reschke

Glenn Reschke — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 02:21:26 +0000

Sanjah,
You said, “I guess IT can show respect to local issues and at least show up as more friendly to local culture and people.” Good point. As I work in Silicon Valley (Cupertino for Symantec), your points resonate with me. “If you build it, they will come.” It takes time for this kind of investment to pay off but payoff it will. Patience is required here.

That’s my .02 cents worth.

By: Sanjath

Sanjath — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 01:16:57 +0000

In this tussel between IT and politicians, Politicians won, because they made lot of sound (demanding preferential treatment to locals, asking whether IT sympathizes with the local issues like flooding in N.Karnataka). With their seemingly tough stand, I am sure they might have scored some points with their vote bank. In response, IT kind of went into a meeting where govt showed them the old slides about improving the infrastrcture and came out agreeing to participate in fair. Finally, no one gained anything; IT flat out said that they will not do any preferential treatment for locals (which is right) and they said they’ll do something for N.Karnataka (nothing happened so far). Ironically Politicians throwing mud at IT questioning what is the use of IT at the same time trying to get them to attend a fair to attract IT investment/prospects? No one called that bluff!!
In a way, it is good, quite frankly Bangalore does not need any more industries, it has it’s hands full. I feel that IT should look in the mirror, it has not been proactive in the local issues. It just has in your face attitude, they cannot think that their money (or $$) will buy everything for them. They got to build some political capital by making sure that they integrate in to local atmosphere well. The money IT is pouring into Bangalore is making the cultural changes which will ofcourse alienate the locals. I also feel that there is lot of nepotism based on region, language etc even in pvt industries (once you get in, bring your own people to enhance your power). I guess IT can show respect to local issues and at least show up as more friendly to local culture and people.

By: S Jagadish

S Jagadish — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 12:38:03 +0000

I think the problem is that the government thinks that flyovers are
the solution. They are not. The solutions are, imo:

* Improve and develop roads *leading* upto main roads, so that
traffic is spread evenly.
* Improve public transport. I landed up at Bangalore this morning by
train and took the public bus transport to get home, essentially to
avoid a 6 am fight with auto rickshaw drivers out to loot me. The
jolly ride took nearly an hour to cover a distance of 15 km. It cost
me nearly Rs. 10. I did not get a seat. I really
think the charge was over the top.

While the switching costs of moving out of Bangalore are high, there
will be significant benefits to metros bursting at the seams as well
as to smaller cities. The example I provide is perhaps an isolated
one, but Silicon Valley, as in the one in Kahleefohrnia, isn’t made
up of just one metropolis. Towns like Sunnyvale,
Mountain View, Palo Alto, Milpitas, San Jose etc. have all got tech
companies functioning out of great looking buildings.

By: Prashant Kothari

Prashant Kothari — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 07:45:17 +0000

“The IT industry shouldn’t even bother with this kind of stuff. They should just stick to displaying their clout using economic means. Relocate to a more investor-friendly city.” - TTG

Unfortunately, there’s significant switching costs, esp for larger firms and those doing high-end work. Moving human capital isn’t easy, when you’re talking about large numbers or some specialized expertise.

Having said that, I don’t see Nitin and TTG’s suggestion as being mutually exclusive. Both options ie, Voice and Exit, can and should be used. See this http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0674276604/002-4490231-2584819?v=glance.

By: TTG

TTG — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 05:18:33 +0000

The IT industry shouldn’t even bother with this kind of stuff. They should just stick to displaying their clout using economic means. Relocate to a more investor-friendly city. The NCR would suit them just fine. New Delhi has been dealing with barbarian hordes for thousands of years, what’s a few more IT people!