Guwahati, Aug. 31: Aiming to open a new window for the Northeast, the biggest information and communications exposition in the region ? NICT 2005 ? gets under way here tomorrow.

The two-day exposition will bring together corporate honchos and government representatives from the seven northeastern states and Sikkim to chart a course for putting the region well and truly on the information and communication superhighway.

NICT 2005 is being held under the banner of The Telegraph and Nasscom, the premier chamber of commerce for software and the services industry in India.

Union minister for Northeast and tribal affairs P.R. Kyndiah will inaugurate the exposition at Vishwaratna Hotel at 1 pm. This will be followed by a conference on 21st Century Smart Governance.

Representatives from all the northeastern states and Sikkim will attend the exposition.

With a youth force proficient in English, the Northeast is considered a fertile ground for the spread of the IT sector. All northeastern states except Arunachal Pradesh have IT policies in place.

Assam, in fact, has put in place an e-governance network named “e-setu” under the Gogoi government. Last year, Jorhat district’s “e-setu” programme won a national award for its effectiveness.

Nasscom president Kiran Karnik was confident that the exposition would “sow the seeds of an IT revolution in the region in the true sense of the term”.

“I firmly believe the Northeast has great potential but somehow growth has not matched the talent available in the region. The exposition will try to expose the participating companies to the available talent and the infras- tructure in the region. Though IT companies are recruiting people from the Northeast but not to the level it should have been. The exposition will try to change that trend,” he said.