Employment

The educational system has traditionally placed great emphasis on mathematics and science, resulting in a large pool of science and engineering graduates. Mastery over quantitative concepts coupled with English proficiency has resulted in a skill set that is ideally suited for the IT industry. Indian universities are pumping out 135,00 engineering graduates every year. However even with these large figures McKinsey & Co and NASSCOM predicts a shortfall of IT workers in India. This is  due to the fact that the country faces a severe brain drain with most of its IT skilled workers opting to move overseas for better pay & living conditions.

India is in Stage 4 of the in the CID framework. The influx of offshore companies setting up facilities in India, is definitely an indication that IT central to its strategy.

B2C E-Commerce

The B2C space is currently booming. In fact close to 50 to 100 portals get launched every month in India. Of these a significant number are B2C sites which include rediff.com, indiatimes.com, jobstreet.com, among others. Overall, the B2C segment is growing, though the revenue model is emerging only in a few organizations.

Among the earliest entrants into the B2C space was rediff.com, which has even managed to list itself on NASDAQ. The leading newspapers in India were also quick to jump on to the Internet bandwagon. In fact, most national dailies and magazine boast an aggressive Web presence. Whether it is Times of India, the Hindustan Times, the Outlook or India Today -these leaders have Web enabled themselves.

The NRI community is also a significant booster of B2C activity in India.

Indian search engines such as Khoj.corn and auction sites such Baazee.com are also making waves in the market. Sites such as contest2win.com have found favor with the Indian cyber community and the cash registers are already ringing at the innovative portal. Very recently, Yahoo! has also set up its office in India and is providing India specific content on its site.

At the same time, Indian companies are positioning themselves as e-service companies. They are providing these services to Corporates in India and overseas. In 1999-2000, e-commerce software solutions worth US$500 million were exported. India has the potential to export e-business solutions worth $5 billion by 2005 and around $10 billion by 2008.

India is in Stage 3, transitioning to Stage 4. There are a number of companies incorporating the World Wide Web into their business functions, however online retail hasn’t surfaced as a true component of commercial services in the country.

B2B E-Commerce

The B2B business is fast flourishing in India. GIobal B2B solution providers such as Commerce One, Ariba and i2 Technologies have already set up their operations in India. Various Indian companies such as Maruti Udyog, Hindustan Lever, Bajaj, among others are getting intensely active in the B2B arena. With the passage of the IT Act, the cyber laws will provide a much required lift to B2B e-businesses. At the same time, banking in India is becoming technology savvy with banks like ICICI, SBI and HDFC seriously implementing their e-commerce strategies. These organizations are already taking initiatives in this regard and have started net banking and payment gateways.

India appears to be in Stage 4. It appears that all indicators point to substantial growth within the industry, and there is noticeable growth in total B2B transactions with the country.

E-Governance

The Indian economy has grown at an average rate of 6.0% a year in the last five years. In India, the success of software industry can be attributed in no small measure to the excellent teamwork between Government and Industry. The Government of India, impressed by the excellent performance of the Indian software industry has provided all support, including fiscal benefits, the availability of high-speed data communications and infrastructure, besides ensuring an almost red tape-free system. The government, in fact, has given the red-carpet treatment to this industry. Recognizing that the telecom sector is one of the prime movers of the global economy, the Indian government's regulatory and policy initiatives have been directed towards establishing a world-class telecommunications infrastructure in the country. The bolstered network has given way to the creation of many new initiatives within India that rely heavily on the country’s IT infrastructure:

1. Domestic/Int’l Call Centers

2. Tele-Education

3. Vehicle Tracking System

4. Long Range Alarm System

5. Bill Payment System