Thiruvananthapuram: With painting the other eye of Daruma doll, the Japanese traditional doll, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan marked the launch of Nissan digital hub at phase III campus of Technopark on Monday.One eye of the doll was painted when the state government and Nissan signed the memorandum of understanding in June this year. In accordance with Japanese tradition, the second eye was painted when the target was achieved with the launch of Nissan’s first global digital hub.Inaugurating the facility, the chief minister said that Kerala’s IT-friendly ecosystem and vast talent pool would provide the best avenues for global IT firms like Nissan.The CM said that within two years, the state had achieved the building of 4.5 million square feet IT space, a good progress in its target of 10 million square feet in its tenure. “Nissan coming to Thiruvananthapuram marks the beginning of a new era for Kerala IT. We will do our best to ensure Kerala proves to be Nissan’s second home after Japan,” he said.Minister of state for tourism K J Alphons, Japanese ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu, MP Shashi Tharoor and Nissan CIO Tony Thomas attended the function.The state-of-the-art facility located in Kerala’s IT hub, Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram will be the first-of-its-kind in a number of software and information technology development centers in Asia, Europe North America and Latin America. These centers will drive digital transformation for Nissan’s business by placing digital technology at the heart of key operations and services. The hub will allow Nissan to provide application portfolio management, best-in-class user experiences, product development capabilities, data science, cybersecurity and connectivity as the automotive industry evolves, with the growing use of autonomous, connected and electric vehicle technology.Alphons emphasized on the need to support common developmental goals of the state. Kenji Hiramatsu, ambassador of Japan to India, said that Japan-India relation had become stronger today based on the trust between the two prime ministers. He stressed on the collaboration between Japan and India, the former a front-runner in hardware and the latter in software.MP Shashi Tharoor said that people’s representatives in the state work in a non-partisan way to achieve a common goal. “It is delighted to see world-class companies recognizing that the future of Indian IT lies in places with clean air, manageable traffic, reasonable distances and strong infrastructure,” he said.“This hub in India will serve as an important engine to drive Nissan’s global digital transformation and we already have some of the finest technology talent driving outcomes to serve our customers around the world better,” said Tony Thomas.As soon as it develops the Technocity campus, Nissan will shift to the 33 acres which is allotted for phase I development. The dignitaries also test drove Nissan Leaf, one of the popular electric cars at the phase III campus of Technopark.

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