Successful Tech Hubs:
Bangalore
Bangalore[1] is the 3rd
most populated city in India with a population of 8.5 million inhabitants. It
has been come to be known as the “Silicon Valley of India” since it the nation’s
leading information technology (IT) exporter. It is the most ethnically diverse
cities in the country, with over 62% of the city’s population comprising
migrants from other parts of India. Consider that India was colonized by the
British in the 20th century, but maintains a caste system based on
religious beliefs that creates difference in social classes and segregation.
Bangalore has undergone dramatic social and cultural change with liberalization
and expansion of the information technology and business process outsourcing in
India. IT companies employ over 35% of India’s pool of 1 million IT
professionals. Consider this is a very small % of India’s population (over 1.2
billion people). 70% of this population lives in rural areas, with 60% of the
population over 15 unable to read or write. With over 750 million mobile phones
and 41% mobile only with internet access, connecting India is a challenge.
Situation however has though
improved for the locals. Whereas before you needed to come from a positioned
family and have a college degree to get a job at a call center, today a
secondary school degree and knowledge of English is all it takes. Salaries are
very low, but enough to live independently in a very low cost country. India,
long seen as an outsourcing destination for companies in Europe and the US, is
today growing at a pace like China 5 years ago. Due to it’s low cost and highly
skilled work force structure, the US and Europe retain the Sales and Marketing
and uses India to perform the back-end work. It is mainly an Operations base,
which differentiates it from other Hubs like Spain which are more expensive,
but also add more value to the final product and services. Engineers must be
available 24 x 7 and people work under a lot of stress.
But now, the country’s IT industry
aims to become a global Innovation Hub. It is a Start-Up city, with the existence
of a lot of small organized communities which concentrate the city’s talent. It
offers easy access to investors and people that can supplement your Start-Up. Most
big companies in the world (such as Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, etc.) are
established there and actively collaborates in the establishment of a global
entrepreneurship program, which helps start-ups to acquire skills for global
escalation. Some examples of home-grown IT businesses are Wipro, Infosys and
Tata. It is also the base of Biocon, India’s largest biotechnology company.
The International Tech Park[2]
Bangalore is the icon of India’s IT success story. It offers a world class
business infrastructure home to many Fortune 500 corporations. It’s efficient
services and infrastructure include security, fire protection systems, seamless
telecommunication networks, optical fibre connectivity and a dedicated power
plant. It’s community it composed of 32000 people who make the Park their business
address.
The Start-Up scene in Bangalore
is one of the fastest growing scene in the world. The young adults are early
adopters: young, mobile and hungry for new products. Smartphones have not yet
thrived, but are projected to be in the hands of 500 million people in the NeXT
5 years, which give us a fantastic growth potential. Kormangala is a small
neighborhood of Bangalore with several startup offices, co-working spaces and
founders working out of coffee shops. Startups find it easy to get user
feedback, hire talent from other tech companies and find mentors in other
successful founders nearby. Some examples of success are the online shopping
business Flipkart. Venture Capitalist Funds are now huge checks to finance
Start-Ups in the region, confident in it’s growth potential. Some challenges
include bureaucracy unfriendly to startups, and a conservative culture that is
averse for risk-taking and often fixated on mistakes and failure.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario