Mangaluru: In order to fuel IT growth in the Silicon Beach of India, stakeholders are strategising to entice Global Capability Centres (GCC) to establish their presence in the coastal region. This topic was extensively deliberated during the Mangaluru Technovanza-2024, which took place on Thursday.
GCC is an offshore or nearshore centre that provides services to a parent company, including software development, IT services, and engineering.
The panel discussion on the topic, ‘What Mangaluru Needs to Do to Become a Strong Bengaluru+1 Contender?' focused on establishing Mangaluru as a viable and strategic option for all Bengaluru-based large companies and GCCs to become Bengaluru's plus one centre.
The panellists included Kamal Karanth, co-founder, Xpheno as moderator, Anuj Agrawal, founder and CEO, Zyoin Group, Priya Prabhu, director-HR, Moss Adams India, Jacob Buchardt, vice-president corporate PMO, EG A/S, and Ajay Verma, managing director, advisory, BDO RISE.
They opined that the region comprising Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, and Kodagu district has leading educational institutions with a rich talent pool. Entrepreneurship is not a novel concept in this region and has seen many companies, including banks, born here. Currently, the region has a strong presence in the fields of software, fintech, and data centres, which cater to countries across the world. A few months ago, Karkala, a small town in Udupi, set up a data centre that provides services to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Priya Prabhu said that Mangaluru has employable talent with a good attitude. Companies flock to Bengaluru despite all the bad things such as traffic jams, flooding, and others. However, when it comes to tier-two cities like Mangaluru, there is less drop-off and retention is higher compared to Bengaluru. Jacob shared that they are trying to recruit the best talent by collaborating with local colleges and conducting hackathons and other events.
Anuj Agarwal said, "Mangaluru has a high literacy rate and we need a separate strategy to convince GCCs to be attracted to the region. We need to sell Mangaluru as a brand, just like Bengaluru. We have to sell our success stories. The key is to showcase success stories to attract businesses and talent to the region."
Opportunity for startups
The Mangaluru Technovanza-2024 provided an opportunity for startups from the region to showcase their products and services to the attendees on the occasion. There were about a dozen startups in health, agriculture, internet of things, artificial intelligence, and others.