Information technology and the epithet of Bangalore as the Silicon Valley of India were phrases that were not much in vogue just five years ago. It all began when Bangalore began getting global attention just a couple of years before the year 2000, when the Y2K bug did its rounds like wildfire around the globe.

That was when Bangalore and Karnataka got universal recognition. That was also the time that the state government decided it had to do something to leverage this attention.

First on the list was the creation of an Information Technology department headed by an IAS officer. However, for reasons best known to the government the first incumbent was quickly replaced and in stepped an unassuming officer by the name Vivek Kulkarni. That's when IT became a buzz word in Karnataka.

Strangely enough, not many people thought Mr. Kulkarni would make a go of it. Simple, quiet and modest, he was everything that one thought an IT secretary should not be. And yet he managed to achieve things which were quite remarkable.

To go back to the beginning, Mr. Kulkarni comes from a very ordinary background, a fact that has probably helped him in his achievements. In fact, his beginnings were so humble, that he is something of a role model for every aspiring student from a non-urban center. He reportedly did his schooling in a municipal school before going on to complete his engineering degree from Karnatak University, Dharwad. But that was not all. His aspirations went beyond the boundaries of the country and he successfully emerged with an MBA degree from Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania.

A 1981 batch IAS officer, Mr. Kulkarni served the usual round of postings all over the state before being appointed to this high profile job.

As IT boomed and then boomeranged, Mr. Kulkarni has taken it all in his stride and strived to get Bangalore's lost glory back. Instrumental in making Bangalore IT.com the largest event in South Asia, he also introduced many new initiatives. Yuva.com to train youngsters in computers, rural IT quiz to create awareness and keen interest in IT for rural students and the much acclaimed IT policy are all his babies. In addition, he is known to coordinate with all the other departments in making e-governance a reality.

When the boom busted, he stood rock solid, trying to instill confidence in investors and becoming the face of the Government. He is credited with playing a key role in winning back investors' confidence in Bangalore and also in being part of numerous information technology (IT) initiatives of the Government. He and his team successfully managed to organize the Bangalore IT 2001 in the post September 11 scene when most conferences and exhibitions were cancelled world over.

Fresh from finishing IT.com 2002, claimed to have done business worth $300 million, Kulkarni managed to do his magic despite the economic downturn. But laurels are not something that he will rest on. After making Bangalore the uncrowned king of IT in India, Mr. Kulkarni has stepped out to conquer uncharted territory. The IT department recently held a seminar in Bangalore to promote Hubli as the next IT destination.

His take on the reason: "Most IT companies are primarily coming to Bangalore. We plan to get the companies to Bangalore and later inform them about other cities in the State. That's how Hubli Destination seminar was launched. It was also to promote the IT Park. Already, some seven entrepreneurs have set up firms apart from some call centers. Hubli will take about two-three years to become the next IT hub in the State," he says confidently.

Bangalore is never far from his horizon. After IT becomes a thing of the past, it is now BT or biotechnology that has caught his attention. And his dream: to make Bangalore India's capital of BT as well. Hence, the annual BangaloreBio.com, a global conference on biotechnology…

"Bangalore will be the biggest biotechnology city in the country within five years. So far, we know that Rs.800 Crores have come into biotechnology. To spread it to other parts, the Government has released Rs.5 crore for establishing the Institute of Agri-biotechnology in Dharwad. It will be operational from June this year and will be the nodal center for agri-biotechnology. Also on the anvil are BT corridors and a host of other initiatives. To this end we were the first to announce our BT policy with many incentives to investors,'' he says.

So what's next? "Lot of exciting things… So many advancements are taking place and we want Bangalore to be in the forefront. We are now stepping into core sectors such as governance, finance and banking. Our focus will be on BPO (Business Process Outsourcing). The possibilities are endless. Recruitments and the market are also looking up, so we are on a roll,'' he says optimistically.

It is said that it requires a man of vision to foresee the future and prepare for it. Mr. Kulkarni might dismiss it with his typically modesty as high praise, but people of Karnataka, the country and those from abroad who have interacted with him, know better. Here's wishing we had more people like him.