The objective: To find solutions to burning issues which would otherwise be difficult to thrash out formally across office tables and to know each other better in general. Though the idea's origins lie in Bangalore, there are however several differences between the two.

First, thanks to the cyber-savvy chief minister Chandrababu Naidu's policy of not licensing exclusive pubs, the CEOs will not be talking shop over mugs of cool beer but will be doing so over piping hot cups of coffee. And second, though there is nothing official about the forum, the impetus however is mainly from mandarins of the state and central governments.

While a brainchild of the director the Hyderabad Software Technology Park (STPH), JA Choudhary, unlike its counterpart in Bangalore the forum, which met forthe first time last month with hospitality being extended by Oracle Corporation, has agreed to take on-board some like-minded state government officials also.

Though the attempt is to keep the numbers just within ten, the next meeting which is to be hosted by the Mentor Graphics chief on Thursday will see the entry of the secretary of information technology and the secretary of tourism, Choudhary says. The chiefs of Satyam Computers, Microsoft in Hyderabad and IBM are also expected to join in at the next meeting.

This is only to be expected considering the thrust being put by the state government on positioning Hyderabad as the next Silicon Valley. Moreover, it makes the job that much easier if official push is there for some matters which need to be sorted out by government departments, observed one IT chief in the city.

Understandably top on the list of issues to be discussed are subjects like infrastructure, the increasing employee attrition rates in Hyderabad and the reality of poaching whichcompanies based here are finally waking up to. While the first meeting discussed the infrastructure issue, the second meeting will be taking up the poaching issue.

Hyderabad is finally waking up to the true proportions of employee turnover rates with the city fast catching up with the national average between 25 per cent to 30 per cent from its 20 per cent rate, a senior official of TCS says.

Though surprisingly, there is little poaching from fellow companies located in Hyderabad the real threat is from the brain drain which the country is likely to face in the coming months with the US government deciding to raise the cap on H1 visas from the present 65,000 to nearly 1,30,000 in a phased manner over the next couple of years, says another official of Baan.

Therefore, the emphasis within the forum is more on how to get back these IT professionals to Hyderabad and provide better living conditions and packages to them. Thus, the significance of roping somebody like the tourism secretary into the fold, onemember of the forum pointed out.

The seriousness of the forum cannot be mistaken. Though there are no formal articles of association, agenda, or minutes, it has been decided that only those who are serious will be admitted, Choudhary says. Those who are not committed or regular are liable to be left out, he warned.