Indian IT professionals will remain at forefront of absorbing

India and its professionals would remain at the forefront of absorbing and mainstreaming the technologies of the future such as artificial intelligence, Union Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan Monday said.

Changes were happening at a rapid phase and global companies estimate that India's Artificial Intelligence penetration will impact 60 per cent of our GDP by 2021 against the present eight per cent, he said.

He was delivering the key-note address on the inaugural day of the two-day international IT Exhibition and Conference (Indiasoft-2019) here, organised by the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC).

"So, personally, I have no doubts, given the skill and talent and ability of our professionals, given the success that we achieved in present day business models, that the logical next step is of course absorbing and mainstreaming the technology of the future,...

"The approaches of the future, the business models of the future, whether it is based on Artificial Intelligence or Internet of Things, certainly I think, India and its professionals will remain at the forefront of that in the future also," he said.

Wadhawan released the Statistical Yearbook of ESC, which, among other things, contains the estimates of IT exports for various destinations, according to the release.

Telangana Information Technology Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said five largest IT corporations in the US have their largest operations in Hyderabad next to their home operations in America.

ESC Chairman Mandeep Singh Puri highlighted some of the services extended by the council to IT exporters in expanding their businesses.

An ESC release said it is a major export promotion organisation with over 2,300 members across the country.

Among others, the event was also being attended by 400 foreign delegate and 250 exhibitors.

As an industry body, the ESC successfully steered the country's ICT exports from a meager USD 50 million in 1989 to USD 126 billion in 2018, the release said.