The study, by independent research company Asset Management in collaboration with Kelly Services, shows India will have a growth rate in the KPO segment of 45% compared with 25% in the BPO segment.

Knowledge processing is a continuous process of creation and dissemination of information by bringing together stand-alone silos of information to create knowledge and out of this find a relevant pattern in information and its context. Information driven knowledge outsourcing is known as knowledge processing outsourcing.

Emerging KPO opportunities lie in sectors such as e-marketing, retail, R&D, business and technical analysis, learning solutions, animation and design, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, legal services, intellectual property research, data analytics, and network management.

The KPO white paper 2006 focusing on India said, “Thanks to its competitive salaries (less than 40% than of their US counterparts), proficiency in English (70-plus million people); large and competent pool of quality professionals (nearly three million new graduates every year), India is the most attractive KPO destination.”

India is expected to achieve a very high growth rate in all the technically advanced segments of the KPO industry with data and market research along with R&D in medical/pharma constituting 50 % plus of KPO business in India. “KPOs in India have the capability to compete on equal footing with the best in the world on process and technology,” the white paper reported.

The study says the outsourcing business, which started with BPO, is now propelling the outsourcing of knowledge process work also. “The move up the outsourcing value chain to KPO is complementary to the BPO business and not contradictory. Simply put, BPO is process-based and KPO is the next step in the business (knowledge-based),” said Achal Khanna, country general manager, Kelly Services India.

Unlike BPO, where the recruiting process is relatively simpler and aims to check voice, accent or data entry & attitudinal skills, KPO recruiting has to be much more complex as it also involves evaluation of domain knowledge, intelligence, analytical and data mining skills, decision-making abilities, conceptualizing skills, verbal and written communication skills, attitude and ability to work in teams.
 
According to an earlier report by GlobalSourcingNow, the global knowledge process outsourcing industry, (KPO) is expected to reach US17 billion by 2010, of which US12 billion would be outsourced to India . In addition, the Indian KPO sector is also expected to employ more than 250,000 KPO professionals by 2010, compared with the current figure of 25,000 employees.

Apart from India, countries such as Russia, China, the Czech Republic, Ireland, and Israel are also well ahead in the KPO industry.