China, Brazil and Mexico are among our main competitors. Considering the rate at which the Chinese industry is growing, they could catch up with India in about three years in software," N R Narayana Murthy, chairman and chief mentor, Infosys Technologies, said.
Murthy was speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the launch of 'Campus Connect', an industry-academia partnership from Infosys with an initial investment of Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million).
According to Murthy, "Unless we develop a pool of highly skilled talent with global aspirations, India could lose its edge in this highly competitive game." Murthy said that the only way for India to remain numero uno in software is to stay ahead of the competition.
This, according to Murthy, could be achieved by strengthening interaction between the industry and academia. The gap between supply and demand for quality manpower is increasing and to keep our lead, we must focus on quality output, he noted.
Meanwhile, detailing the 'Campus Connect' initiative, Ravindra M P, vice-president - education and research, Infosys, said that the aim was to create a strong foundation for the emerging knowledge economy in India. The nationwide programme focuses on aligning the needs of engineering colleges with industry requirements.
"The programme will help cut training costs of Infosys by 50 per cent. It will also help knock off three months off the training period for each recruit," Mohandas Pai, chief financial officer, Infosys Technologies, said.
The first set of initiatives within the 'Campus Connect' umbrella is already underway.
The Faculty Enablement Programme shares Infosys' educational experiences and best practices with faculty from various engineering colleges. This programme has kick-started in Mysore and Pune in July 2004.
Currently, the programme has the commitment of 30 institutions across the country. As part of the initiative, Infosys has also hosted a portal to enable students and faculty to access technology-related information and courseware relevant to the IT industry.