Agartala gets IT association

Piyali Guha

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

For long the local IT channel fraternity had wanted to form an association
but the idea never took off. “We were planning to form an association in
Agartala for long. But due to some reason or the other it never happened. No one
actually took the effort to form an association since everyone is busy with
their own business,” stated Biswanath Das, President, ITAT. Applauding the
role played by The DQ Week in formation of ITAT he said, “I must thank The DQ
Week 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 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 went on to form ITAT within a month after 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. 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 in
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.

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 meetings between the founder members
to 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 for putting forth their concerns,” informed
Das.

To make important information of ITAT available to the public the association
has developed an exclusive website, www.itat.co.in. “We are also planning to
contact all the existing IT associations in order to generate awareness about
ITAT, and also to exchange knowledge. We will also explore possibilities to
affiliate ourselves with some leading bodies,” Das informed. 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 them.
“We are planning to organize our own IT exhibition in February next year. We
are also working to apply for the registration of ITAT,” he added.