Microsoft's Ballmer meets President, PM
Thursday, 09 November 2006, 20:30 IST
Printer Print Email Email
New Delhi: Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer chaired a conference with President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam here Wednesday to discuss and understand ways to bridge the digital divide and also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "India has proved its potential in Internet and mobile telephony revolution. Now our main focus should be to connect the 220 million people who are below the poverty line," the President told the conference in his keynote address. "Laying of bandwidth is like laying roads which will enhance economic progress of the country by connecting the have-nots with the evolution of technology, thereby, unleashing their true potential," the President added. "Bridging the digital divide is both a social as well as business opportunity for us. And technology is the only way with which we can include the have-nots in the mainstream," Ballmer emphasized. During his 45-minute meeting with the prime minister, Ballmer discussed his company's future plans and strategies in India. Ballmer also praised India for the strides it has made in today's knowledge economy and said Microsoft would continue to invest in the country's IT sector. The President also suggested for creating a fund for rural development, which will be funded by the corporate firms from their quarterly profits. He said: "During last few years I am seeing that many corporate firms are taking initiatives to bridge the digital divide. But I fail to see any significant progress or impact happening." "So I believe that all the big companies should together join hands and create a fund for rural development which will funded from their quarterly profits and will be supervised by professional who will look after the proper allocation of the funds." Ballmer, who is on a three-day visit to India, also met with Communications and IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran and appraised him on how Microsoft is expanding the penetration of computers in India. Microsoft is already implementing ambitious projects in India with an investment of $1.17 billion to hire around 3,000 new employees, expand its operation and to develop cost-effective applications in localized languages. Later, Ballmer also participated at an event to forge an alliance with mobile telecom provider Hutchison Essar to offer mail, search and messaging services to some 21 million customers in India, officials said. "With India being the fastest-growing mobile market in the world, providing rich set of online services for mobile subscribers is more important than ever," the Microsoft chief executive said at the event. "Our alliance with Hutchison allows Microsoft to bring the power of software-based services to Indian mobile customers," he added. Ballmer travels to Mumbai Thursday to interact with top Indian business leaders, following which he pays a day's visit to Hyderabad to visit the Microsoft Development Centre.
Source: IANS
siliconindia