THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala has set an ambitious goal of expanding its IT park space to 10 million sq ft, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said today while inaugurating the global digital hub of Japanese automotive major Nissan at Technopark here.
The facility declared open by the Chief Minister in the presence of Union Minister Alphons Kannamthanam, Dr Shashi Tharoor, MP, and Japanese Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu on Monday, will serve as the global technology-enabling facility of the multinational giant to support its key projects including electric and autonomous cars.
Welcoming the global automotive major to Kerala on the international Human Rights Day, Pinarayi Vijayan noted that the state had added the ‘right to internet’ to the list of citizen’s rights, which was a ‘significant step.’
Stating that Kerala is set to become the first fully-digitised state in the country, the Chief Minister said the arrival of a company like Nissan marked the recognition of the sound IT ecosystem available in the state and the future goals set out in its IT policy.“We have abundance of skilled human resource and our efforts are to make the state the best venue in which man and technology can co-exist”, Vijayan added.
Speaking at the event, Alphons Kannamthanam, said the coming of a major facility of a global giant to Kerala proved that things can happen if the Central, State and local self government work together.
Kannamthanam, who holds the independent charge of Tourism at the Centre, said the future of Kerala lies in the growth of vital sectors like IT and tourism, but it was important to introspect if the state is moving fast to achieve the technological challenges.
“We need to move faster, we need to move many notches higher. We need to make our higher education institutions to be capable of handling global challenges”, he added.
Patting Nissan on choosing Kerala to locate such an important facility, the Japanese Ambassador noted Kerala is not just blessed with nature’s beauty and cultural richness but also offers human resources and a sound IT policy.
Noting that Japan-India relationship has never been as strong as it is today, Hiramatsu said the great potential of synergies between the two countries is spreading to many fields of business activities.
Dr Shashi Tharoor said Nissan’s decision to set up the digital hub is its vote-of-confidence in what the city can offer. Stating that the future of Kerala lies in IT and tourism, Dr Tharoor said he is sure that the launch of Nissan’s centre is a “trail blazer” and many things are in store.
At the outset, Tony Thomas, CVP and Chief Information Officer, Nissan, said the facility is an important engine to drive the autonomous car sector. “This will be a centre of innovation and ingenuity, contributing to the entire value chain”, he said.
Chief secretary Tom Jose, Planning board Vice Chairman VK Ramachandran, IT Secretary M Sivasankar, CEO, Technopark, Hrishikesh Nair, the heads of Nissan partners Fujitsu India and Tech Mahindra were present along with other dignitaries.
The facility will focus on Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity and data science, which are critical components in building the new age digital capabilities to enhance customer experiences, product development, and security for autonomous, connected and electric vehicles rolled out by Nissan.
Hosting more than half of the company’s digital staff strength, the offshore centre is tasked with a wide range of works. The facility occupies 25,000 sq ft office space in the Yamuna building in Phase 3 campus of Technopark. Nissan currently has employability of 300 professionals, which will be ramped up to 500 by the end of this financial year. In two years’ time, Nissan has targeted to scale up the employee strength to 1500.
The company has got an understanding with Infosys for about 1,20,000 sq ft at the latter’s campus at Technopark Phase 2. Nissan has also expressed its interest for office space in Technopark ’s first IT building at Technocity in state capital, which will get commissioned by May 2019. Within three years from now, Nissan will have its captive campus at Knowledge City, Pallipuram, which will be operational with 3000 direct and throwing up multi-time indirect jobs.
