The Indian Information Technology Act will finally be getting an update. "Amendments to the IT Act will be introduced in the next session of the Parliament," said Mr Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom, speaking at an expo by SolidWorks here.

Cyber security

Stressing the importance of cyber security and intellectual property laws in India, he said, "Nasscom is impatient with the awareness of cyber security in the country. The process of enforcement and decision making needs to be speeded up." He proposed fast track courts and workshops. Currently, we do have employee registration and best practices in place, but more needs to be done, he felt.

Nasscom will also be inaugurating a cyber security lab in Bangalore early September, announced Mr Karnik.

SolidWorks is a $250 million US-based computer-aided design (CAD) firm with offices in Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai. The company's annual conference centred around the theme of Passion for Design.

Also speaking at the sidelines of the conference, Professor Sanjay Govind Dhande, Director, IIT Kanpur, said there was a need to start lab platforms to ensure the future of the CAD industry, which is now in its 25th year. He proposed a concept engineering and 4i lab, which would encourage innovation. He felt the Indian academia was "lacking" in visual thinking, computational geometry, simulation and design process.

On the expansion of seats for OBC quota, he said it would be done in a phased manner. He said the current challenges were maintaining focus on research in the post-graduate level and the capacity expansion at undergraduate level.

On the rumoured IIT to be set up at Bangalore, he said that there was a need for quality institutes across the country, but was unaware of the location for proposed new institutes.

New version

SolidWorks also unveiled the 2007 edition of its 3D CAD software, specially configured for industrial design students and engineers. Featuring Intelligent Feature Technology, the new software automatically creates part features like drafts and fillets in the order the designer intended, said Mr John McEleney, CEO, SolidWorks. He said that the domestic market in India was significant and warranted investments, though refusing to divulge specifics.

Taken from Business Line

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