Chennai: “Rightly FICCI has taken a good step in the right direction;  to analyze and improve the scope in IT sector by making it bionic-enabled”, said K.Lakshminarayanan , Hon’ble Minister of IT, Government of Puducherry in the first conference of FICCI’s BE First 2023 (Bionic-enabled Future Innovation Reskilling Startup Transformation 2023), held at ITC Grand Chola Chennai on 30, August Wednesday.“The world is changing so fast with new changes in the IT field. With nearly 2 million tourists in Puducherry while the population of the state is only 1.4 million, it is evident that tourism is a vital source for the economy. Tourism is the backbone for this Union Territory but being a sister state of Tamilnadu, now Puducherry has envisaged a bunch of opportunities to become a new pocket for the IT field”, said the Minister of IT Puducherry.Explaining about the current state of  unemployment in the state, the Minister of IT said it is a major problem. â€œRoughly there are 80,000 Engineers and around 8000 are passing out each year from around 30 colleges in Puducherry. Many talented students leave the state to search for a job. This would gradually become a social issue. To overcome this we need more entrepreneurs”, added the Hon'ble Minister of IT, Puducherry.Motivating the young talent in the state, the Minister of IT minister also said, “Startups can play an important role to bridge the gap of underemployment. While skilled manpower is more in number, the cost of living is less which has created a suitable scenario for startups. Aspiring entrepreneurs are encouraged by our Puducherry Government to proceed immediately and there shall be no hassles in government transactions. Puducherry which is a mosaic of all cultures, will have no barriers like caste, color or creed to any aspiring individual to head start a startup”.Dr. D. Manikandan, I.A,S., Secretary, Dept. of Information Technology, Puducherry also aggrieved about the draining of talent from the state and said “Puducherry growth is mainly dependent on secondary and tertiary sectors of the state. Newer policies would soon be devised to retain investors and the talents to achieve $50 billion growth in GDP by the year 2047 from the existing $4.7 billion.”“Human beings should work with A.I (Artificial Intelligence) and cyber physical systems in harmony. It is the right time for each of us to understand technology usage so that in the coming ages, human intelligence will not be enslaved by A.I. ” added Mr Saravanan Sundaramoorthy, Co-Convener of FICCI Tamil Nadu Startups and Skill Development Panel and Ed Tech Entrepreneur, Innovator and Angel Investor.“Industrial economy of India depends mainly on intellect. Development of intellect depends on skills. Thus skill development is not only mandatory for employability, but also a major factor in attracting foreign investment and domestic GDP growth“, said Mr. Bhupesh Nagarajan, Co-Chairman, FICCI Tamil Nadu State Council & CMD, Indira Group of Companies while addressing the panel.Mr. M Balasubramaniam Convenor, FICCI Tamil Nadu  Startup & Skill Development Panel & CEO, Stratinfinity Inc in his theme address said “Bionic as per Boston Consulting Group is simply the connection between human and technology.  The adaptability of people can be witnessed as there is a 63% increase in the internet economy. It is because of innovation in technology that made most of the transactions possible without paper, cash or physical presence. Many more such innovations could be made possible, leading to more startups in our nation. Already our nation stands in third position for the best ecosystem for startups with almost 85,000 and the number is still increasing. Youngsters should focus on skill development which is mandatory for economic growth of budding startups”“The current moment is a perfect cocktail of success with good scope of business, manpower, innovative talent pool, supportive government. We are just on the springboard.” said Mr. Balaji Nuthalapadi, Managing Director and Head of Operations & Technology, CITI South Asia. “India has been strong in IT services. In the past five years alone, the nation has seen a continuous rise in the sector making India as a global centre of action in IT services. The economy of India directly impacts from a location like Chennai (where we have so many global capability centres),  the business operations in countries like the USA, Europe and even Middle East. To sustain a successful ecosystem, reskilling is the need of the hour. The skills that education institutes cater may get outdated soon. Faculty members should also upgrade their skills to offer students updated skills.” said Mr. Balaji Nuthalapadi.