The National Association of Software and Services Companies on Wednesday appointed Executive Vice Chairman of Cognizant India R Chandrasekaran as its Chairman for the year 2014-15.
In a telephonic interaction with The Hindu, the newly-appointed Chairman said the software industry body this year will work towards rebranding the USD 108 million Indian IT-BPM industry to move beyond cost arbitrage to becoming innovation center.
“One of the priorities would be to deliver a lot more value in terms of innovation. One of our top priorities will be rebranding the IT industry from cost-arbritage to innovation hotbed so that people look towards India as innovation hub not just for its cost-effectiveness,” he said.
Mr Chandrasekaran, who has been a member of Nasscom’s Executive Council, succeeds Krishnakumar Natarajan, CEO and MD of Mindtree Ltd., who served as Chairman of Nasscom for the year 2013-14.
The Executive Council also announced the appointment of BVR Mohan Reddy -- Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Infotech Enterprises -- as the Vice Chairman of Nasscom for 2014-15.
Nasscom, Mr Chandrasekaran added, will also work with the government in order to create favourable environment for start ups, which in turn will further boost innovation in the country.
Mr Chandrasekaran would continue to work on enabling radical transformation of key sectors in India through use of ICT to reduce costs, increase access and enhance efficiency.
“There are a number of things we can do leveraging technology. Technology can be used for inclusive growth…growth of tier 2 and tier 3 cities and delivering citizen services such as mobile banking and public distribution system,” he added.
Stating that there is a need to promote digital literacy (basics such as ability to access emails and browse the web), Mr Chandrasekaran said the body will work with the government to provide broadband access to all.
