Opportunities For IT Sector

Apex software industry body Nasscom today said that 80 per cent of the fresh opportunities for India''s IT and ITeS sector this decade (2011-2020) are going to come from new geographies, verticals and customer segments. Nasscom (National Association of Software & Services Companies) President Som Mittal said that growth has come back to India''s IT and ITeS industry and "the growth is going to be very different from the growth that we had in the past". "...as per our analysis, in the coming decade (2011-2020), 80 per cent of the new opportunities are going to be from new areas such as new geographies, new verticals, new customer segments," he said. "So I think we need different focused approaches for the next decade. I think we have a sound foundation that is there," Mittal told reporters at the inauguration of an international conference on software engineering, organised by the Computer Society of India. There are huge opportunities ahead of us, Mittal said. He said the US would continue to be a large market for India''s IT companies, noting that revenues from here grew faster than the industry average last year. "There is still a lot more to be tapped within the same country, within the same customers". Mittal said Nasscom is working with automotive and textile clusters to encourage adoption of IT by small and medium enterprises. "With cloud (computing services) coming in, it''s possible to offer IT at a very reasonable cost". Cloud computing services would throw up a new breed of entrepreneurs and drive complancency out of the big players, he said. On scams dominating the political and media landscape, Mittal said that it would have no impact on the IT industry, saying customers are actually happy that these scandals are not being brushed away and indeed are being addressed.

World Sportsman of the Year

Tennis ace Rafael Nadal''s remarkable run in the season gone by helped him pip star footballers Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta for the ''World Sportsman of the Year'' honour, while the World Cup winning Spanish football side walked away with the ''World Team of the Year'' trophy at the Laureus World Sports Awards here today. The ''World Sportswoman of the Year'' award went to American alpine skiier Lindsey Vonn, who beat off competition from Belgian tennis ace Kim Clijsters, who won a second straight US Open and four other events last year, Serena Williams, and world number one tennis player Caroline Wozniacki among others. Vonn had secured her third straight skiing World Cup and the Olympic Downhill gold medal last year. World number one Nadal -- who completed a career slam last year by clinching the US Open, French Open and the Wimbledon to go with his 2009 Australian Open triumph -- walked away with the top honours by pipping pre-awards favourites Messi and Iniesta. It was Nadal''s second after the Laureus Breakthrough Award in 2006. "Thank you very much for this," said the star who received the trophy from German tennis legend Boris Becker. The Spanish celebrations did not end at that as their World Cup winning football side clinched the ''Team of the Year'' honour ahead of Europe''s Ryder Cup-winning team and the Italian football club Inter Milan -- which had won the treble of Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia last year -- among others. The Spanish team, however, could not make it to the awards ceremony because of training engagements for an international match. French football legend Zinedine Zidane was presented the ''Lifetime Achievement'' award "in recognition of his remarkable career. The ace midfielder walked in to a standing ovation from the gathering and received the trophy from legendary Moroccan athlete Nawal El Moutawakel and English football legend Sir Bobby Charlton. "Thank you to all those who voted for me. I have to thank (former France teammate) Marseille Desailly for all that he did for me. Today is February 7 and it has been 20 years since I got married, it''s a special day for me," Zidane said in French, insisting speaking in English would be "too difficult" for him. American Kelly Slater was presented with the ''Laureus Action Sports Award'' for the third time, after winning a record 10th World Surfing Championship. .