Controversial Outsourcing

Subir Roy of Business Standards interviews of Harris N Miller who is president of the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), which represents over 500 leading IT-related companies in the US.

"What is your role in the US?
Ans.
The role of IT in the US is to stop bad things from happening. We want to stop governments from imposing restrictions on work going offshore, stop there being additional restrictions on immigration. If the opponents define the debate as a win-lose situation, that if the Indian industry grows, the US industry falls, then we, the US and the Indian industry, are all in trouble. If we define the debate in the US and in India as a win-win and be mutually together then the opponents are going to fall by the wayside.


It has been said that it is necessary to seek a far higher level of political support on the issue in the US than available so far.

Ans.
Even the strongest supporter of globalisation in the US Congress is not a strong supporter when unemployment is 7 or 8 per cent in his Congressional district. The ITAA and its member companies who support globalisation don’t support offshoring. We don’t support losing jobs to India. My membership [of ITAA] is US-based.
We support fair global competition, we oppose restrictions on it and we have to convince our elected officials day in and day out. My lobbying message is: that’s a better model than the restrictionist and protectionist one. And we can give them things to do, like promoting education and training in the US. We’ve been falling behind in the US on this. "

- Business Standard .. ‘Outsourcing to India is a controversial issue’: