Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. And Y K Pandey, Managing Director, Indian Telephone Industries Limited is one such person who has heralded an era of much-required change at the ITI by bringing with him creativity, innovation and value-addition to the organisation. It is his efforts that have made ITI a leader in domestic market and an important global leader in voice, date and image communications. He has helped ITI build core competencies to enter into new business enterprises.

A man who believes that technology and communications are the keys to prosperity and power, Pandey has given ITI a technological edge by making it one of the leading telecom companies, which manufacture a wide range to telecom equipments including transmission systems, telephones, large digital switches, fibre optic systems and satellite communication systems. Pandey, after assuming office, has worked unrelentingly for excellence in quality and cost effectiveness of its products and services to his customers. To meet his goal, Pandey has given a new impetus to research and development at the ITI by incorporating enterprising engineers to its talent pool. He has also made sure that state-of-the-art infrastructure is at par with the best in the world.

It's no mean achievement that ITI today has one micron VLSI facility and six ISO 9000 accredited plants in the country. The ITI is also credited with providing a dedicated network system with value added services such as shared hub VSAT, MARTS and turnkey solutions to its ever-expanding group of customers, which include Department of Telecommunications, Railways, Oil sectors and defense services. As a result of phenomenal success of its products, the ITI has found a good number of customers in many African and South Asian countries too.

Pandey has added many feathers to ITI's cap. In fact, his energetic steps helped ITI enter into an agreement with Alcatel for the GSM technology equipment transfer. He was also instrumental in initiating steps for MoU with China's ZTE for the manufacture of CDMA equipment, for which it already has an order for 2.71 lakh lines. Pandey, again is the main motivation who has initiated a programme for the manufacture of SIM cards, for which the infrastructure is being upgraded. With so much on ITI's platter and a person like Pandey being its live wire, no goal could remain unconnected and unachieved for long.