Doe To Hand Over 3se To Software Industry

The Department of Electronics (DoE) has decided to hand over Software Services Support and Education Centre (3SE) Ltd, a joint venture between the Indian government and the European Commission (EC), to the Indian software industry as part of a restructuring exercise.

The DoE has approached the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the apex body of the Indian software industry, to work out an arrangement on this.

The idea is to make the venture more pro-active by directly involving the industry in its management. The first phase of the 3SE has been completed now. So, were working out the new set up, Shyamal Ghosh, secretary, DoE, told Business Standard.

 

A public limited company, 3SE has been created with initial funding from the European Commission and the Indian government, to facilitate partnerships between India and the EC in the field of computer software in a bid to address each others markets.

According to the DOE, it has been decided to hand over the venture to the industry since the success of 3SE lies in the success of the European and the Indian software industries.

The DoE is currently looking at three possibilities: 3SE to be jointly managed by Indo-European software companies, or industry bodies of both sides or by either one partner. The department is closely working with Nasscom to arrive at a decision on this. Although, the decision is expected shortly, the implementation of the new set up might take some time.

One major hurdle along the way is that unlike Nasscom, which represents the entire Indian software industry, EU countries have only individual outfits and this poses the problem of negotiating with any particular body in Europe.

Weve spoken to various associations in Europe. They themselves are in the process of forming an overall association, K G Y Narayan, managing director, 3SE, said.

The DoE and EC have invested Rs eight crore by way of grants in 3SE which has been instrumental in the setting up of a R&D centre in India by European conglomerate, the Daimler Benz group.

3SE has sought to provide information on the EC and Indian software markets and tap opportunities for tie-ups with Indian software companies in EU countries. It has also sought to help both sides source services from India and sell products and services in Indian markets through gateway services.

The range of services offered by 3SE include information services, training, software engineering playfield services, marketing and listing, and demonstration.

3SE has also coordinated the phase-2 trials of the software process improvement and capability determination (SPICE) project in India.

, which is an emerging framework for software process assessment in the West.

The EC is estimated to have one of the largest markets for software and services in the world, with its current size billed at over $80 billion. Since the ECs share of Indian software exports hovers at around only 20 per cent, the DoE feels that a huge opportunity exists for a strategic alliance between the EC and Indian software companies to address each others markets.