Tamil Nadu can be Web3 capital, govt ready to extend all support: IT Min Thangaraj

Tamil Nadu is already the SAAS capital of India and we can very well be the Web3 capital, Tamil Nadu Minister for IT and Digital Services Mano Thangaraj has said. He was addressing the ‘TN Web3 – Build Ahead’ meet-up organised by the Electronics Development Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Elcot) in association with the industry in Chennai on November 25. 

Any new industry would need two things: an inclusive government and talent. Tamil Nadu has both, and the government is ready to provide all support to stakeholders to make the state the Web3 capital of the world, the minister said. 

“The government is trying to rope in all players in the Web3 space. We are taking the initiative to usher in new data-enabled governance which is transparent and effective. We urge all players in the ecosystem to be part of it and the government will support all the good projects and initiatives,” he added. 

The meet-up was organised as a thought leadership initiative to build sustainable and healthy Web3 hubs that could provide employment to over 10,000 people a year. It also sought to explore the rapidly evolving technologies and ongoing projects in the areas of blockchain and decentralised finance. 

TRB Rajaa, MLA and member of the TN State Planning Commission, said at the event that Web3 is a new and emerging field with a lot of promise and any futuristic government will be committed to advancing its cause for the larger public good. 

“The government should be ahead of the curve and understand the new technologies so that they can be put to best use. We urge the industry to come up with inputs that the government could work on in terms of enabling growth,” said Neeraj Mittal, Principal Secretary IT and DS, Government of Tamil Nadu.

The conclave, according to ELCOT’s managing director Ajay Yadav, is only the beginning of something significant. It is a commendable effort that will significantly advance the industry-government conversation. Additionally, this will support an ecosystem that encourages innovation.

Presenting the context, Giottus CEO Vikram Subburaj explained how the internet passed through various phases and arrived at Web3. Web3 is the next upgrade of the Internet with global giants like Facebook, Google, TCS, Tesla, MasterCard, BlackRock Investments, PayPal, and Samsung all investing in Web3 projects. Web3 and blockchain can add a staggering $1.1 trillion to India’s GDP by 2032, Vikram said.

”Web 3.0 is bringing huge disruption today – while the gains seems favourable for early adopters, it can also pose high-stake risks for common users when the adoption scales, especially when high-value digital assets are being traded globally without any regulations or visibility by the government to act as a safety net. It is a big risk for anyone acting on Web 3.0 without sufficient information, and governments should provide education to create better awareness and follow it up with regulations,” said Madhava Venkatesh, Chief Technology Officer for TrusTrace, a Supply Chain Transparency and Traceability SaaS platform working with global fashion and retail brands.

The meet-up saw various sessions where expert speakers covered various topics. Lyricist Madhan Karky and singer Pradeep Kumar shared their experiences as artists who use Web3 and the metaverse.