The nascent structures coming up in Madhapur area of the 400-year-old Hyderabad
city provide a sophisticated contrast to the great and ancient monuments and palaces
in the Qutb Shahi capital. It is a consummation of the vision of an information
technology crusader unfolding itself in a healthy hurry, comparable to the architectural
dreams of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah. The structures are a two-phase tribute to a technology
that has reduced the world to a global village.
The business like ambience of the HITECH city is in juxtaposition to its equally
famous and graceful neighbourShilparamam, an arts and crafts village, manifesting
the simultaneity of two disparate periods in history, and contributing to the variety
and contradictions in Indian life and tradition. Both the HITECH city and Shilparamam
are an evidence of chief minister Chandrababu Naidu's skills in reconciling his
respect for the old with his desire to inscribe Andhra Pradesh firmly on the roll
of achievers and performers.
The axis of the HITECH city is an artistically and yet functionally built 10-storeyed
cylindrical building surrounded by a galaxy of imposing structures raised to house
IT companies, foreign and Indian. It is a city planned as an integrated township
with all infrastructural facilities like office space, production areas housing
colonies, showrooms, cafeteria, health club, banks, shopping complexes and auditoriums.
One look at the township will explain why 25% of computer personnel in the United
States are from Hyderabad.
The HITECH city has already attracted multinational software giants like Microsoft
IBM Metamor GE Capital Toshiba, and Oracle and Indian companies like Satyam Computers
and Wipro. An earth station has come up in the township which links Hyderabad to
the five continents of the world. It is planned to permit further growth and expansion
with the 160 acres of land allotted by the government. The cylindrical showpiece
known as Cyber Towers offers five lakh square feet of executive space.
A companion structure known as Cyber Gateway is nearly complete with 8.5 lakh square
feet of built up space. The main features of the city are its land and hillscapes,
wide roads, satellite earth station, fast internet access, ATM facility, VSAT and
ISDN connectivity, videoconferencing and multimedia systems, power back-up, dust-free
atmosphere and medicare. What makes the HITECH city different from other technology
parks in the country are the International Institute of Information Technology and
the Indian Business School , designed to be motors of leadership in their areas.
The Indian Business School is affiliated to Wharton School at the University of
Pennsylvania , the Kellogg School of Managementat Northwestern University and London
Business School . IBS shares expertise and resources with these schools, besides
participating in exchange of students and professors. Wharton and Kellogg schools
have inducted the latest global management techniques and perceptions into IBS's
academic programmes. Faculty members from these institutions now teach at the IBS
after designing the school curriculum. Academic, residential and recreational infrastructures
provided for students here match those found at the best business schools in the
world. The campus structures are a blend of modern and traditional Indian architectures.
State-of-the-art air-conditioned amphitheatres, library, meeting rooms, coffee bars
and restaurants mark facilities available at the school. These are in addition to
wired classroom conferencing, and hispeed data communication networks. Services
such as banking, ATM, infirmary, ISB shop, bookstore, documentation centre etc.
are available. The school was inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
on 2 December 2001, praising it in these words: "The speedy journey of ISB from
concept to completion was itself a case study of the world class management capabilities
of the new generation of Indians who have promoted it."
In its fourth year now, the International Institute of Information Technology has
a campus of 62 acres, housing such internationally known corporate schools like
IBM School of Enterprise-Wide Computing, Signal Tree School of Excellence in Software
Development Methodologies, Oracle School of Advanced Software Technology, Satyam
School of Applied Information Systems and Motorola School of Communication Technology.
A major aim of the institute is to provide a uniquely broad and interdisciplinary
IT education of the highest academic quality.
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