Getting to the point: The Indiana Information Technology Association and the Indiana Technology Partnership merge to better help the state develop its high-tech industries.

• Author: Kaelble, Steve
• Position: Cover Story

David Becker is, among other things, a banker. But he can be forgiven for espousing a little unconventional accounting. "It could be the proverbial 1+1=3," Becker proclaims.

He's referring to the proposed merger between the Indiana Information Technology Association and the Indiana Technology Partnership. The two Indianapolis-based organizations--often known by their respective acronyms, INITA and ITP--have always shared a similar goal: boosting the state's technology industries.

From that common ground a new organization called TechPoint is scheduled to sprout as the new year begins. Chairing the new group will be Becker, CEO of First Internet Bank and re:Member Data Services in Indianapolis. "It's a good fit with the two organizations," Becker says of the merger.

"We're two good organizations going along a separate and sometimes converging path," says Donna Gastevich, who is president of INITA now and will become president of TechPoint. "We have a lot in common and a lot of strengths. We're doing this to grow Indiana's knowledge-based economy."

"It just makes sense," agrees Scott Jones, chairman of the Indiana Technology Partnership and of Escient Technologies in Indianapolis. While the two groups' functions have not really overlapped, their dual presence has created confusion, among both constituents and potential financial supporters. "It's not like we've been competing, but perception sometimes becomes reality."

By merging the two, Jones says, "you reduce the alphabet soup, reduce confusion and get everybody marching in the same direction."

NOT JUST "IT"

"INITA has been around for years as the old Indiana Software Association," Becker says. The trade association, founded in 1991, evolved through the years as technologies changed, expanding its membership to include others involved in various aspects of the information-technology business.

"The definition changed from software developers to information-technology creators," says Gastevich. Reflecting the evolution, its name changed in 1999 from the Indiana Software Association to the Indiana Information Technology Association.

"We've changed again within the last year or 18 months to an even broader definition," Gastevich continues, explaining that INITA now serves not only providers of info-tech services but also major IT users. "We've defined our constituency to include Lilly, Roche, Anthem--some of the largest corporations that have information technology as a very substantial business unit." For example she says, insurance carrier Anthem employs some 1,400 IT people.

With each change, INITA's technology definition has moved closer to the more expansive way ITP has viewed technology. ITP has from the start been interested in nurturing high-tech industries in Indiana, but its radar screen includes not just IT but such segments as...