KOZHIKODE: With Kozhikode Cyberpark having exhausted all workspace since its inception 15 years ago, the city must look for prospective IT centres in plots that once housed traditional industries that have ceased to exist, Kerala Public Works and Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas said today.
“Kozhikode used to have several industries, some of which have become dysfunctional. For instance, tile. Their spaces have gone vacant. Such plots can be converted into IT spaces in the new age,” he said, inaugurating the Kerala Technology Expo (KTX) here.
The three-day event, which showcases Malabar’s potential as a global centre for innovation, is organized at Calicut Trade Centre by CITI 2.0 (Calicut Innovation and Technology Initiative) that comprises nine leading academic and industrial institutions, including Kerala IT Parks.
The redundant buildings are mostly on the riverside, making the locations all the more ideal for the IT industry which is looking for the leisure and ambience that metropolises cannot provide, the Minister noted.
The state government had, during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, employed such a strategy and found success in relocating employees to Wayanad from the country’s IT hub of Bangalore, Shri Riyas recalled. “This also enabled us to boost our domestic tourism, which clocked the best performance in 2023,” he added
Riyas, while exhorting CITI 2.0 to go for a “solid study” on ways to boost IT in north Kerala, assured “all governmental support” that would enable Malabar to rise to its potential in the field. “Our youth are among the best in the world. We need to make good use of local human resources, which will also catalyse employment,” he added
Cyberpark, which has its 2.88 lakh feet SEZ space fully utilized, houses 85 IT companies, has 2,200 employees as against 746 at its inception in 2009.
The ongoing six-lane national highway work that passes through Kozhikode is in its final phase, and can add to the region’s overall development which includes IT as well, the Minister said.
Cyberpark CEO Shri Susanth Kurunthil, in his address, highlighted the need for “nerds and moneyed people” to work together for a sustained progress in the IT industry.
Malabar Chamber of Commerce President M.A. Mehaboob presided over the function, where the other speakers were IIM-Kozhikode Director Prof Debashis Chatterjee, TATA Elxsi MD-CEO Manoj Raghavan, Ramendra Verma (National Lead for Government, Thornton Bharat LLP), KSTIL Managing Director Dr Santhosh Babu and Grant Thornton Partner & Head Prasad Unnikrishnan. CITI 2.0 Chairman Ajayan K. Anat welcomed the gathering, while its General Secretary Anil Balan proposed thanks.
KTX, with more than 6,000 delegates, has 200-plus stalls and 100 speakers of international repute.
