The Diversity and Inclusivity Summit 2009, held in Bangalore, was organized by Nasscom as an effort to empower women leadership and enhance entrepreneurial capability in the IT industry.

The theme of the summit was “Diversity & Inclusivity Actions — Winning in a Transforming Economy”. It mainly focused on the diversity and inclusivity in the context of India and its socio-cultural and economic pluralities. Nasscom took this opportunity to announce the winners of gender inclusivity awards and honour the companies in IT-BPO industry which has implemented practices that promote gender empowerment and women leadership development.

In the BPO category IBM Daksh Business Process Services Pvt Ltd won the award. Hytech Professionals India Ltd won the award for best emerging company. Integra Software Services was awarded as the best company with less than thousand employees and IBM India Pvt Ltd for best childcare services.

Nasscom President Som Mittal, while addressing the reporters said that the Indian IT-BPO industry has set high standards in inclusivity and is among first to recognize the business imperative for diversity and inclusion. He also said that the industry is working towards developing a diverse and inclusive workforce. "The industry recognizes the global leverage of our ‘demographic dividend’ and the vital role played by women in the workforce."

Stating that there is no plan of revising the guidelines for software export in the fiscal year 2009-2010, he said the “industry is showing growth and the market in India is recovering, however, we are not planning to revise estimate of 4 per cent to 7 per cent rise in export revenue. The industry expects a 14 per cent CAGR in the coming decade.”

When asked about the usage of H1-B visas, he said that Nasscom and US government is working on the issueing of visas. Nasscom has proposed new scheme of offering service visas to replace H1-B visas and it is working with US government to issue visas. “The service visa will enable companies to send their employees to the US on work for a certain period and will not lead to immigration or permanent residency.” Nasscom launched WEConnect India an affiliate of WEConnect International. Nasscom aims to create competitive advantage and foster sustainable economic growth for women owned businesses. WEConnect India will certify businesses that are at least 51 per cent owned, managed and controlled by one or more women.