Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan today advised the IT industry to focus more on research and development to reduce dependence on imports.

"I am not saying that IT industry should not concentrate on revenue generation. My question is what have we done in terms of research and development? We cannot depend on imports in the long run," he said.

Narasimhan was speaking after inaugurating the Technology Day celebration of the IT and ITES Industry Association of Andhra Pradesh (ITsAP) here.

He said there are security issues with applications such as Google mapping and cloning. "Sitting in a place one can see the actual location of a site without any problem. Do we have the technology that prevents Google maps from showing particular locations?" he asked.

The Governor said the IT industry should work with security agencies to address these issues. The industry should also work out a mechanism for ensuring facilitation of services to the common man.

Narasimhan said Andhra Pradesh, which had witnessed violent agitations for Telangana state in the past, was a safe destination for the software and related industry.

ITsAP President V. Rajanna said the State had the potential for becoming a leader in the IT sector and the association had submitted a 10-point roadmap in this direction to the Government.