The government needs to urgently develop a national security strategy leveraging the private sector, to counter terrorism, said India’s premier trade body, Nasscom.
Nasscon released its study ‘Perspective 2020: Transform business, transform India’, in association with McKinsey and Company, today at Bangalore.
The report stressed that facilitating the investigation, prosecution of cybercrime is also an imperative, and that the government must support and partner with the industry to define global outreach efforts.
Growth of security services
Releasing the report, Som Mittal, president of Nasscom, said, “The Indian technology and business services industry has had an unprecedented impact on the Indian economy. Between 1998 and 2008, it quadrupled its contribution to India’s GDP from 1 per cent to 4 per cent. During this period, the industry’s exports offset close to 65 per cent of India’s cumulative net oil imports, strengthening India’s foreign reserves. The industry has also spawned growth in ancillary industries such as security services, catering, construction and transportation.”
Commenting on the trends, Noshir Kaka, director, McKinsey and Company, said, “The ongoing economic crisis in global markets has been debilitating to businesses (banks across the US, Europe and Asia reported over USD 700 billion in credit losses at the end of 2008) and will impact how they are run going forward. Regulatory requirements on businesses, especially in matters of corporate governance, risk management, security, and global accounting standards, are likely to intensify.”
According to Pramod Bhasin, chairman, Nasscom, and president & CEO Genpact India, “Technology’s ever increasing relevance, along with its diminishing costs, will enable traditional corporations to further embrace it and reach new levels of performance. Technology will evolve in leaps and bounds in terms of coverage (e.g., near-field communication), collaboration (e.g., social networking), intelligence (e.g., artificial intelligence), flexibility (e.g., grid computing), security (e.g., biometric identification), and climate friendliness (e.g., green IT).
The study outlined the future of the industry as secure in the medium to long term, even in the face of recent macroeconomic trends. With the global economic slowdown, global IT spending is likely to decline in the near term, though the extent remains uncertain. Spending on technology and business services is expected to be less affected than that on hardware and software licences. However, players need to budget for a decline in billing rates.
Security concerns
Depending on the conduct of players in the industry and a number of external factors (such as wage inflation, regulatory pressures and security concerns), India’s technology and business services exports could range from USD 65 billion to USD 75 billion in fiscal year 2012.
The report stressed it is imperative to enhance confidence in India as a business destination by building a conducive business environment (improved public services, infrastructure, corporate governance, and security) and a strong global image.
The report added that industry players systematically strengthen security and risk management in today’s environment. These would include increased screening of employees and vendors, reinforced disaster recovery and continuity capabilities.
