India`s software industry `guiding spirit` says training is key to growth TRAINING IS KEY to building a thriving software development industry, as evidenced in India. This is according to a visiting expert in the field - Dr Faqir Chand Kohli, credited with being the `guiding spirit of the Indian software industry` and former deputy chairman of Tata Consultancy Services.

The 82-year-old, who still serves as a Tata technology consultant, was speaking in Johannesburg recently. He noted that South Africa and India had a "natural affinity" and that cooperation between the two governments in the ICT sector would prove beneficial to both.

"We hope to provide our expertise for training and to help build a stronger relationship between the two countries," he said. Kohli added that until now, South Africa has had as tendency to bring trainers into the country. However, he said there was a need for people to "learn the nitty-gritties, through hands-on mentoring".

CHAMPIONING EDUCATION

Kohli feels that training is a crucially important investment in any country. He has a long history of championing computing and education - particularly literacy, and has spearheaded programmes to use ICT to make new models of literacy training available to the less privileged in India. The Tata Group now runs a project, the `computer-based functional literacy` (CBFL) programme, which says it can teach an adult to read in a total of 40 hours.

He has also promoted the use of ICTs to boost manufacturing and all spheres of business, and still emphasises India`s need to make greater use of IT for economic growth.

"By using IT, China has made a quantum employment jump by optimising resources. This growth is possible in India too," he notes. "Technology says: use me, involve me in your process of growth and solving your problems, you will not regret it."

Software is now big business in India, with software exports growing faster than exports in other sectors. Started around 1974, India`s software export industry employed around 345 000 people by 2004 and earned revenue of $12.2 billion, equal to 3.3% of global software services spending, according to a report by the Asia-Pacific Research Center of Stanford University.

Kohli says it is still growing. "From US$35 billion in software earnings this year, we want to move to US$200 billion in 2010 (including US$100 million in digital electronics). The growth is helped along by Indian language software. There will be 14 Indian languages available by the end of the year."

GIVE ME A MATHEMATICIAN

On the subject of growing skills to create a thriving software development industry, Kohli says: "As long as you can give me someone who has a good mathematics and physical science background, I can train him to be a software engineer."

But the field isn`t limited to maths and science boffins, he says. "Through experimenting, we have discovered that people with a commerce or accounting background can also be trained. We have also experimented with people studying humanities. People who have a background in logic make terrific business consultants."

Much of India`s strength in the ICT sector is ascribed to its wealth of affordable professional ICT skills, a fact that local government and sector players have highlighted as they call for more investment in local ICT skills development.

He concludes: "Software is a people business. It is also based on people`s maturity level in the industry."