Oommen Chandy
Inaugurates KITA At Kerala Center

The Global Alliance of Kerala IT Professionals (KITA), initiated and guided by a group of business leaders, senior corporate executives and accomplished IT professionals from the Kerala community who are based in the US, was inaugurated by Oommen Chandy, former chief minister of Kerala and leader of the opposition, during a solemn ceremony organized at the Kerala Center on Long Island, New York on Saturday, September 29, 2007. Over 150 IT professionals along with distinguished community leaders and M. M. Hassan witnessed the inauguration of Kerala Information Technology Alliance.  "I am excited about this initiative and share the vision and passion of KITA to make Kerala a premier global Technology hub. Take it global. Energize the people of Kerala to lead this transformation. I extend my wholehearted support to make this successful," said Ommen Chandy in his inaugural speech.

"I hope that the KITA will provide a common platform for worldwide IT professionals of Kerala origin to share best practices, ideas and thereby influence and accelerate the growth of Kerala n key industries" said V. S. Achuthanandan, the chief minister of Kerala in a message sent out to the organizers of the event. Welcoming the guests, George Abraham, Chief Technology Officer of the United Nations Pension Fund based in New York called upon the IT professionals of Kerala origin in US to contribute substantially with their talents and skillset to promote Kerala as one of the premier IT hubs in India.

KITA is the vision of Malayalee immigrants and their generations who have been in the forefront of the IT revolution in USA. A bipartisan voluntary organization, KITA will provide the network and connections for the Kerala community and IT professionals worldwide to tap into this "collective intelligence" and innovate, said Suresh Kumar CEO of NexAge Technologies USA Inc, who spoke of the many challenges ahead for Kerala before laying good foundation for IT growth and development.

"All of us here at KITA share the same passion and noble goal -the development of Kerala as a premier global IT hub. The leadership of KITA envisions an organization where every member has an important and active role to play in accomplishing the vision by working on different aspects of the 12 point program agenda," said Antony Satyadas, Chief Competitive Marketing Officer of IBM Lotus Software from Boston, who presented the vision, mission and a 12 point program that will be executed through working groups in KITA.

U.A. Naseer introduced the chief guest. Padma Kumar, president of SoftIncubator and Realtybargain read out the message from the Chief Minister. Daniel Mohan, President of IDSi International received the inaugural copy of the souvenir from Ommen Chandy. Millon Jose was the chairman of the souvenir committee. Boby Thomas, CEO of Erasys technologies gave the vote of thanks. Chacko Pallathucheril was the Master of Ceremony.

Alex Vilanilam speaking on behalf of the World Malayalee Council, with chapters in ore than 25 countries, welcomed KITA and promised support to make this a global phenomenon. Various entrepreneurs and community leaders were present including Vinsion Palathingal President of Amaram technology who represented the Washington D.C area. "It is time for you to start a strong organization to support
the IT development of Kerala", said Gladson Varghese, President of Malayalee Engineers Association of North America.