Agartala gets an IT association

Agartala has finally got its first IT association. The decision to form an IT
body came post the IT Panchayat, the event held in association with The DQ Week
and DQ Channels. The Panchayat was held in Tripura in November this year.
Members christened the association IT Association of Tripura (ITAT).

Since long the local IT channel fraternity had wanted to form an association
but somehow the idea never took off. “We were planning to form an association in
Agartala since long. But due to some reason or the other it never happened. No
one actually took the effort required to form an association since everyone is
busy with their own businesses,” stated Biswanath Das, President, ITAT.
Applauding the role played by The DQ Week in formation of ITAT he said, “I must
thank the group for holding the IT Panchayat in Agartala and inspiring us to
come together and form an association.” Das opined that the need for such a
universal platform was highly important for the development of the local market
as well as the people associated with the business. “Rightly, The DQ Week
pointed out the need for a neutral body for the betterment of trade and the
local market. The encouragement motivated us and we determinedly went on to form
ITAT within a month of the event,” he said.

Understanding the key role an association can play for the development of IT
in a remote place like Agartala, the local IT partners found it an apt move. “We
realized how important an association is for any trade, and Agartala being a
remote place is neglected by everyone. An association will help us create a
common platform to voice our presence and make people aware of the market
prospect of the area,” said Das. “It will also enable us to work towards future
development of the market, the industry and the trade as well,” he added.

ITAT has been formed not only to push the IT fraternity of Agartala but also
in a bid to create a uniform platform for the entire state. The central
committee of ITAT will be headquartered in Agartala, which is the state capital
while the association is planning to maintain a district office in each district
of Tripura. It took several meeting between the founder members to finally float
ITAT and conduct an election for the post of the current office bearers.
Presently, ITAT has a strength of 35 members among which two are from outside
Agartala. “We are expecting this to grow up to 100 in the coming months. We have
got the support of the entire IT channel fraternity of Tripura, and we think
that ITAT will be successful in providing the local IT traders the much required
neutral platform,” informed Das.

To make all kinds of important information of ITAT available to the public
the association has also developed an exclusive website, www.itat.co.in. “The
reason behind forming the association was the lack of proper coordination among
the local IT entrepreneurs, which was causing a hindrance in the development of
the business,” stated Das. Henceforth, the association will act as the voice of
the local IT industry and its people. “We are also planning to contact all the
existing IT associations and bodies in order to generate awareness about ITAT,
and also to exchange knowledge. We will also explore possibilities to affiliate
ourselves with some leading bodies,” he informed further. ITAT is also planning
to organize seminars and events on various subjects for the benefit of its
members. It also has plans to conduct several internal activities for the
members. “We are planning to organize our own IT exhibition. Till date there has
been no exclusive IT expo in the state. There has been very limited
participation by some dealers in local fairs. This February we are planning to
hold our own IT exhibition. We are also working to apply for the registration of
ITAT,” he concluded.