The National Association of Software & Services (NASSCOM) and SmartCity today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Ministry of Economy, Investment and Small Business at Palazzo Zondadori in Valletta.
The Chairman of NASSCOM, Mr. R Chandrasekaran and the CEO of SmartCity Dubai, Abdullatif AlMulla, signed the MoU in the presence of the Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business, Dr Christian Cardona, Chief Operations Officer of SmartCity Dubai, Dr Baju George and CEO of SmartCity Malta, Anthony P. Tabone.
The MoU aims to contribute to the growth and development of the knowledge industry, with special emphasis on software, IT services, internet, e-commerce, IT Enabled services, Smart Services, Cloud Computing and Telecommunications. It will also help create self-sustaining models that will enable the rapid growth of the knowledge sector, propelled by innovative disruptive technologies.
The partnership will focus on building knowledge cluster models globally, as a network of self-sustained knowledge townships and support the growth of these knowledge industries.
The MoU will aim to develop eight more townships in the next ten years with smart digital infrastructure, apart from existing projects in Malta (in Europe) and Kochi (India). As part of the collaboration, both parties will organize the exchange of information and trade missions/business delegations of IT industry and best practices to facilitate joint venture alliances promote bilateral relation and business opportunities in host cities and support them for success.
Talking about the MoU, Mr. R Chandrasekaran, Chairman, NASSCOM, said, “The knowledge industry is experiencing a steady and stable transformation world over, with IT playing a central role in every aspect. The Indian IT industry is also rapidly maturing, driven by dynamic macro-economic factors, rapidly emerging technologies and business priorities. We are pleased to have partnered with SmartCity to further ensure faster adaptability of advanced technologies and develop knowledge hubs globally. This will provide access to companies operating in India to better infrastructure, facilities and services and enable growth of the global network of free zone business townships.
Mr. Abdullatif AlMulla, CEO, SmartCity, said, “As part of the MoU, we aim to leverage technology for innovativesolutions which will allow exchange of services and other facilities between both regions. Emerging technologies like cloud, analytics, pervasive presence of mobile telephony and broadband penetration have created new opportunities for companies to collaborate and build a knowledge hub globally. The MoU is a positive step undertaken to provide customized offers and services and further translate expertise to develop international business clusters that fuel economic and industry growth.”
Both parties will also be facilitators of investment including venture capital in IT industry for the benefit of SmartCity companies and NASSCOM members. SmartCity Malta and SmartCity Kochi form the first SmartCity outposts in EU and India. Both, free zone developments are supported by cutting-edge infrastructure, unique lifestyle amenities and a responsive support system.
Mr. Abdullatif Almulla also welcomed the EU Parliament’s recent decision to favor EU-wide, Intra-Company Transferee (ICT) visas, which could help the employees of NASSCOM's member companies to move freely between EU states. He congratulated NASSCOM for its over six-year long endeavour to convince the EU Parliament to do so.
The key problem in the existing system was that there were different regimes including different admission criteria, application processes, scope of visa, etc. for work permits in 25 EU member states. This lack of standardization made the application process for Intra-Corporate-Transfer permits time consuming, cumbersome and inefficient. The main problem, however, was the inability of employees to move freely between EU member states to carry out multi-site projects without a separate work permit in each instance. With the current legislation, the stage has set for the free movement of employees.