Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 20 (NationPress) The Kerala Cabinet, presided over by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has officially sanctioned the state’s Information Technology Policy 2026, presenting an ambitious blueprint to establish Kerala as a premier knowledge and innovation center in India over the next five years.

Central to this policy is the objective of capturing at least 10 percent of India's total IT export market and generating a minimum of five lakh new jobs within the IT sector and its related industries, as reported by official sources.

The government also plans to drastically enhance IT infrastructure capacity, focusing on tripling the current capacity through private sector involvement and promoting decentralized growth in both urban and semi-urban areas while nurturing a knowledge industry ecosystem driven by intellectual property.

This policy strongly emphasizes high-tech and emerging sectors such as space, aerospace, defense, electronics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and genomics, aiming to secure a 5-10 percent share of India's economic activities in these advanced technology fields.

The state aims to significantly increase the number of startups, targeting the establishment and support of up to 20,000 startups as part of its expansive innovation and entrepreneurship initiative.

Universal digital access is another crucial pillar of this policy, with plans to guarantee 100 percent household internet connectivity through expanded fiber-optic infrastructure throughout the state.

To enhance governance and improve citizen services, a unified enterprise architecture will be developed, providing a single user interface for all citizen-centric government services, backed by predictive and prescriptive governance models utilizing advanced data analytics.

Additionally, more e-governance applications are set to be transitioned to cloud-based platforms, supported by a comprehensive framework ensuring responsible data utilization, data security, and privacy safeguards.

The policy also recommends the formation of state-controlled data exchanges to facilitate data-driven solutions, while mandating the use of open-source technologies for government-funded software initiatives and promoting community-led open hardware and software innovation.

Centers of Excellence in key emergent areas like Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, data analytics, and bioinformatics will be established to bolster research, talent development, and innovation capacities. Moreover, the government plans to introduce a comprehensive cybersecurity law to protect digital infrastructure and user data.

To propel sectoral growth, the government will implement measures such as land pooling for new IT parks, creating plug-and-play workspaces in emerging technology clusters, offering incentives to attract data center investments, simplifying labor regulations, and establishing a critical infrastructure fund to enhance disaster resilience.

Specific technology missions, including the Kerala Electronics & Semiconductor Mission (KESM), Kerala AI Mission, and Kerala Future Tech Mission (KFTM), will be initiated to drive focused growth in strategic sectors. Furthermore, a Digital Transformation Mission will be launched to provide shared digital infrastructure and subsidized access to cloud computing and Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) resources for startups, enterprises, and research entities.

The draft of the IT Policy 2026 was previously made available for public consultation before receiving formal endorsement from the state Cabinet.