Dubai : Thiruvananthapuram-based Technopark, the largest IT Park in India with 4.5 million square feet of built-up area, has successfully completed 20 years of operations in Kerala.

The Kerala government conceptualised the Technopark in July 1990 as a facility to foster the development of high-technology industries in the state.

India's first IT park was set up under the auspices of Electronics Technology Park, Kerala, an aut-onomous body under the Kerala government's Department of Information Technology, which is mandated to create infrastructure and provide support required for the development of high-technology companies.

Key role

"Technopark has played a key role in shaping IT businesses in Kerala and is truly capitalising on its advantages and transforming itself into a silicon coast through focused initiatives in IT infrastructure development, HR development and citizen e-enablement. Apart from these, the state is one of the few that was unfazed by the global economic slowdown and registered strong growth," Dr Ajay Kumar, IT Secretary, Government of Kerala, said.

By 2015 Kerala is expected to have 200,000 direct job opportunities in IT and IT-related industries and Technopark will be one top five investment destinations in India.

Regarding the second phase of expansion of the infopark in Cochin, Infopark CEO Siddhartha Bhattacharya said that the development has created further impetus with the Union Commerce Ministry granting Special Economic Zone status to the 12.6-hectare IT/ITeS Special Economic Zones (SEZ) by Infopark.

The facility is expected to create more than 100,000 job opportunities for the state's educated youth.

Apart from big IT majors, Technopark has also written success stories of some homegrown firms that are defining markets across the globe.

One-stop shop

"Our main objective is to become a one-stop shop for all the IT needs of the state and we are striving to establish Technopark as a world-class location that will cater to any needs of an IT company in every aspect," Kumar said.

As part of the expansion, Technopark has acquired 92 acres of land for its third phase expansion and 450 acres of land to set up an integrated township in the fourth phase — Techno-city. In addition, Techno-park is also developing a 44 acre campus in Kundara at Kollam, one of most scenic locations near the Ashtamudi Lake as its model.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has launched a redesigned website to mark Techno-park's 20th anniversary.

The new website is comprehensive with lots of features and is expected to be more user-friendly. The Technopark website was originally introduced in 1994 and was redesigned in 2002.

In the last four years, the IT sector boom in Kerala has been three times higher than the national average.

The state maintained the growth trend even during the global recession.

Website wins gold award

Kerala Tourism's travel portal has been awarded the prestigious gold award by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) for the best travel and tourism website.

The PATA Gold Awards are considered an international honour for industry stakeholders for outstanding contributions to the development and promotion of travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific region. The awards will be presented on September 17 at the PATA Travel Mart in Macau.

Kerala Tourism Secretary V. Venu said that keralatourism.org, which attracts one million visits each month, is integral to Kerala Tourism's worldwide marketing effort to promote Kerala's amazing holiday experiences to the world.

The website is currently available in English, Hindi, French, German, Chinese, Italian and Spanish as well as select content in Malayalam.

The website will soon be made available in Russian, Arabic and Japanese. Initially a general introduction on Kerala and details about major destinations will form part of the new language versions.