Strengths:

• Large pool of talent.
• English speaking human expertise which makes India a preferred investment market for the western world compared to China, Japan or Korea.
• Low manpower cost.
• Large IT base.

 Weakness:

• Weak track record in commercial biotechnology innovation.
• Poor bioinformatics research infrastructure for incubation.
• Poorly developed bioinformatics education and training.

 Opportunities:

• Investor friendly policies can prompt more NRIs to infuse funds.
• More indigenous software products to help the research community.
• Creating interest with in the venture capital community.
• Huge existing data resources that can be commercialized as bioinformatics tools.

 Threats:

• Lack of R&D funding by the government.
• Low awareness on IP related issues.
• Lack of quality bioinformatics software tools at affordable prices.
• Absence of facilitating engines like EBI (European Bioinformatics Institute).

 "We estimate the Indian bioinformatics industry to touch $2 billion by 2006. For this, we need affordable world-class software and talented bioinformatics professionals. " - Mr Kolaskar, vice- Chancellor of Pune University