After conquering the world in information technology, India has the potential to dominate in the field of telematics, says Prof. S Sadagopan, Director, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore.

He was briefing the media about the conference-cum-exposition on telematics in transportation, 'Tele Trans 2004,' which will be held in Chennai on September 6 and 7. It has been organised by the CII Institute of Quality in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Automotive Component Manufacturers of India, and SAE India.

According to Sadagopan, in future, automotive manufacturers will be the largest consumers of IT followed by healthcare. "If I were to list two billion-dollar companies from India, I would say, Infosys and TVS Motors. It shows how automotives and information technology can come together and form a major force in India."

Telematics, the convergence of telecommunications and informatics, offers tremendous opportunities in the automotive industry. For example, engine performance monitoring, electronic ignition, emission levels measurement, transmission control, remote diagnostics, safety measures, navigation, integrated fleet management, automated tracking for toll control, etc depend heavily on computing and communication: the core of telematics.

With 40 million landlines having been added in the last decade, with 10 million mobile phones in the last three years and a potential to add another 50 million in the next three years, the Indian telecommunications scene is very exciting.

As far as the transportation industry is concerned, India used to produce 100,000 two-wheelers and 50,000 passenger cars and trucks till the eighties. Now, it has grown to producing 5 million two-wheelers, 1 million cars and 200,000 trucks.

According to Sadagopan, there is a potential to double, if not triple, this size with many major automotive companies setting their base in India, and the Golden Quadrilateral and North-South and East-West Corridors progressing well.

But what is needed is a working together or a partnership between the three major industries; convergence of IT, communication and automation.

Experimentation of this sort has already started taking place in Korea. He also commented that this would be an 'investment for the future.'

With all the new products being launched in India, India is a huge market and has the potential to be a world leader. India shouldn't be looking at the Indian market alone, according to Sadagopan as there is a large market waiting outside to be tapped.

"But what we have to look for is, how we can benefit from the world market. There is a huge opportunity for the Indian IT and telecom industry and the transportation industry to join hands to address the global needs of this burgeoning telematics in transportation industry," he said.

With this idea in mind, the conference has the theme, 'Vehicle to the World.' With Chennai dominating in the field of automobile component manufacturing, IT and human resources, it is natural for the conference to be organised there. The first conference that took place last year in Bangalore stressed on IT.