Thiruvananthapuram, February 20: The Kerala Cabinet, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, approved the state’s Information Technology Policy 2026 on Friday. This policy outlines a comprehensive roadmap to establish Kerala as a leading knowledge and innovation hub in India over the next five years.
According to official sources, the policy aims to secure at least 10 percent of India’s total IT export share and create a minimum of 500,000 new jobs in the IT sector and related industries.
The government also intends to significantly enhance IT infrastructure capacity. This will involve private sector participation and decentralized growth in emerging urban and semi-urban centers, focusing on tripling existing capacity while promoting an intellectual property-driven knowledge industry ecosystem.
The policy emphasizes emerging and high-tech sectors such as space, aerospace, defense, electronics, artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and genomics. The goal is to help Kerala capture 5-10 percent of India’s economic activity in these advanced technology domains.
A proposal to significantly increase the number of startups is also included. As part of its major innovation and entrepreneurship push, the government aims to create and support 20,000 startups.
Universal digital access is another critical aspect of the policy. Plans include expanding fiber-optic infrastructure to ensure 100 percent internet connectivity in homes across the state.
To streamline governance and enhance citizen services, a unified enterprise architecture will be established. This will provide a single user interface for accessing all citizen-centric government services, supported by predictive and prescriptive governance models using advanced data analytics.
Moreover, more e-governance applications will be migrated to cloud-based platforms, supported by a robust framework to ensure responsible data usage, data security, and privacy protection.
The policy also proposes creating a state-controlled data exchange to empower data-driven solution providers and companies. Additionally, adopting open-source technology for government-funded software projects and promoting community-led open hardware and software innovation initiatives will be essential.
Centers of excellence will be established in specific emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, data analytics, and bioinformatics to strengthen research, talent development, and innovation capabilities. The government is also planning to introduce a comprehensive cybersecurity law to protect digital infrastructure and user data.
To accelerate the sector, the government will take steps such as land pooling for new IT parks, creating plug-and-play workspaces in emerging technology clusters, offering incentives to attract investment in data centers, simplifying labor regulations, and establishing an essential infrastructure fund to enhance disaster response capabilities.
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My name is Ganpat Singh Choughan. I am an experienced content writer with 7 years of expertise in the field. Currently, I contribute to Daily Kiran, creating engaging and informative content across a variety of categories including technology, health, travel, education, and automobiles. My goal is to deliver accurate, insightful, and captivating information through my words to help readers stay informed and empowered.
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