Barinder Saluja, Chandigarh,Sept. 25: Chandigarh and Punjab are ready to host the 6th edition of the IT conclave for transforming the region through extensive adoption of ICT both in the government as well as the private sectors, especially in the MSME segment at Hotel Mountview on 29-30 September.
Addressing the media here today, Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Secretary Information Technology & Finance, UT Administration, said that the event would help in creating a road map for both the governments for the next five years, to work as more proactive enablers for transforming the region into a Knowledge Hub. He said that already many reputed companies are looking at this region for their expansion plans, and already the existing IT companies alone have provided direct employment to more than 10,000 people.
Mr. Rakesh Verma, Managing Director, Punjab Info tech, said that ICT is a veritable tool for the governments for effective management and delivery of citizen services, besides helping the burgeoning MSME sector to become more efficient, profitable and competitive in the global market.
The region is taking special initiatives to promote linkages in the government, industry, and the academia on the one hand, as well as partnering with other key stakeholders like financial institutions, venture capitalists, infrastructure builders, human resource developers, to lead towards success, he added.
Punjab is perhaps has the highest number of educational institutions in the country, and now our emphasis is to polish the students and make them industry ready, Mr Verma added.
Mr. Ajay Srivastava, Joint Director & Centre Head, STPI informed that Chandigarh and Punjab has become the number two amongst the Tier-II regions in the country after Trivandrum in the software exports.
Mr. I.S. Paul, former president of TiE, Punjab and Chandigarh chapter, said that this region would become ‘KnowledgeGarh” of India looking at the tremendous growth in the fields of information technology, biotechnology and the pharmaceutical fields.
The Governor of Punjab and Administrator UT, Chandigarh, Dr. Shivraj V. Patil, shall inaugurate the two day event which is being jointly hosted by UT Administration, Punjab Government and STPI, with Nasscom and TiE as conference partners.
Punjab will showcase its various initiatives in the session “Partnering for Progress”, while Mr. Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM, would be the key speaker on the second day to put into focus the agenda for the region in his power address on “Five Years from Now”.
Some of the other speakers including Mr S.C. Aggarwal, Chief Secretary, Punjab, Ms Urvashi Gulati, Chief Secretary Haryana, Prof Rajneesh Arora, Vice Chancellor of Punjab Technical University, Ms Savita Mahajan, Chief Executive, ISB Mohali, etc.
The technical session on “Technology Touching a Billion Lives” will have speakers amongst others, Mohanjit Jolly, Managing Director of a leading venture capital firm, Draper Fisher Jurvetson India, Kamlakar Kaul, Chief Strategy Officer of EMC India, Bhushan Jagyasi, Scientist from TCS Innovation Labs, Gaurav Mehra, CEO of 20:20 Social, Vinod Harith, Founder & Director, CMO Axis.
eRevolution2010 would focus on the next big areas in technology and the new generation marketing tools like Web 2.0, and other social media, the impact of 3G mobile applications on mBanking, mCommerce and mGovernance, which would not only empower the organizations but also create newer opportunities for the start ups.
STPI Mohali would have a special session “Jewel of the Crown” in the evening of the first day session to recognize and award some of the software companies in the region with Mr Pradip Mehra, Advisor to the Administrator, as the chief guest. CyberMedia Events which is an event division of CyberMedia group, India’s largest ICT media conglomerates are the event entrepreneur for eRevolution.