Welcome to 14th IT Forum 2016 : Afternoon Session
The Afternoon Session – “Digital India Empowering Nation by connecting all Dots..” was a power packed session of technical presentations, discussions and saw the involvement of the some of the most sought after technocrats from the world of ICT. Mr. Savitur Prasad, Principal Financial Advisor, Indian Army, was a Special Guest who attended the session along with the presence of other high-profile guests from the ICT industry that included Mr. Sanjay Jaju, IAS, Director (Admn & Finance), National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd; Mr. Anurag Kuthiala, Sr Director, Pre-Sales – India, SAARC & Europe, Sanovi; Mr. Vitaly Kamluk, Director, Global Research & Analysis Team, APAC, Kaspersky Lab; Mr. Shrikant Sinha, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation; Mr B. M. Baveja, Sr Director, DeitY; Mr. Rajan S. Mathews, DG, COAI; Mr. R K Bahuguna, CMD- RAILTEL Corporation Of India Ltd.; Mr. Sanjay Mann, Exec. Sr. Vice President- Reliance ADA; Mr. R. K. Bhatnagar, Director General, TEPC; Mr. Pankaj Khurana, Partner, Government & Public Sector, PWC; Mr. Shekhar Agrawal, Sr. Vice President- Vodafone India Limited; Mr. Rajat Chand, M.D.- CSDC India; Mr. Tarun Pathak, Sr. Analyst, Counterpoint Research; Mr. Altaf Halde, Managing Director, Kaspersky Labs – SA; Mr. Eric Loit, Chief Systems Architect, RAN International; Mr. Vishwanath Kulkarni, Director – South Asia, HID Global; Mr. Amitabh Nag, Country Manager – Public Sector, HP Inc.; Mr. Rudra Murthy K.G, CISO, Digital India programme, Ministry of Home – GOI; Mr. Rajeev Mishra, Sr. communication expert-India and Mr. Sanjeev Sehgal, M.D.- Samridhi Automations.
Starting off the afternoon session, Mr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Publisher & Chief Editor, Kalinga Digital Media & VARINDIA, spoke about digitization being considered to be driving economies around the globe and how it has a direct impact on the GDP of countries because of it having greater magnitude and reach. “India has emerged as one of the major players in the IT sector and has now become an IT hub for various multinationals across the globe. Smart cities and enterprise development have moved from the concept to application, with our everyday lives becoming smarter and more mobile.”
Mr. Anurag Kuthiala, Sr Director, Pre-Sales – India, SAARC & Europe, Sanovi spoke on “Automation of IT DR and Business Continuity Planning.”. Mr Savitur Prasad, Principal Financial Advisor, Indian Army spoke about how Digital India is empowering the Nation and Mr. Sanjay Jaju, IAS, Director (Admn & Finance), National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd spoke on how Digital India is connecting every dots, especially in his department of Highways and Infrastructure.
1st Session : Digital India - Smart IT and Communications
The first session of the afternoon slot was entitled “Digital India - Smart IT and Communications” and was moderated by Mr. Shrikant Sinha, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation. Joining him on the dais were speakers Mr. Rajat Chand, MD, CSDC India; Mr Amitabh Nag, Country Manager - Public Sector, HP Inc.; Mr R. K. Bhatnagar, Director General, TEPC and Mr. Rajeev Gupta, Chief Technologist- Airone. The discussion tried to find out why Digital India is important, how is the Indian ICT going to deliver to the global community and what are the opportunities for corporates in ICT to make a difference.
2nd Session : Technology is the backbone of ICT: Telcos to shape ICT
The second session that started with the note “Technology is the backbone of ICT: Telcos to shape ICT”, had an industry overview on the Telecom Industry by Mr. Gyan Ranjan Swain, co-founder and editor- Tele analysis. Mr. B M Baveja, Sr. Director-DeitY spoke on the Importance of Digitisation. Mr. Rajan S. Mathews, DG, COAI, took the floor as the moderator and called in speakers to join the discussion that included Mr. Sanjay Mann, Exec. Sr. Vice President- Reliance ADA; Mr. Shekhar Agrawal, Sr. Vice President- Vodafone India Limited and Mr. R. K Bhatnagar, Director General - TEPC. Through this discussion, the audience got an idea of where does the key opportunities lie in the telecom sector, how can Digital Divide be bridged and how users can get access to the Internet anytime, anywhere and everywhere.
3rd Session : Securing India & Make in India: Building Solutions for IoT, Smart Cities and Digital Economy
The third and the final panel discussion was titled “Securing India & make in India: Building Solutions for IoT, Smart Cities and Digital Economy”. There were also a few technical presentations planned where Mr. Vitaly Kamluk, Director, Global Research & Analysis Team, APAC, Kaspersky Lab; Mr. Tarun Pathak, Sr Analyst, Counterpoint Research; Mr Eric Loit, Chief Systems Architect, RAN International; and Mr Vishwanath Kulkarni, Director - South Asia, HID Global, talked extensively on how technology has paved the way for the emergence of a new era and how their respective organizations have shaped this technology with the introduction of new products and services. The Panel discussion was moderated by Mr. Chetan Hingu, Country Manager, Workstations, DSO and Attach- HP Inc., where speakers joining the discussion were Mr. Rudra Murthy K.G, CISO, Digital India programme, Ministry of Home - GOI; Mr. Vishwanath Kulkarni, Director of Sales, Physical Access Control, India and SAARC, HID Global; Mr. Sanjeev Sehgal, M.D.- Samridhi Automations and Mr. Rajeev Mishra, Sr. communication expert-India.
Evening Session
The evening session was, however, the most-awaited part of the event, as it saw the launch of the much-awaited Annual Brand Book. Carving a niche of its own, the Brand Book, now in its fifth year, has attracted attention of thousands of technology brands who have used it as a reference book to reach the ecosystem.
In this session there were certain deliberations on Technology that started with Mr. Amit Singh, PwC, Director, Advisory who spoke on the opportunity in smart city and Digital connectivity. Mr Shankar Aggarwal, Secretary, Labour and Employment, Government of India gave the Keynote address, while Shri Savitur Prasad, Principal Integrated Financial Adviser (Army), Government of India spoke about how Indian Army is transforming ahead towards make in India.
But the launch of the Brand Book was not the only attraction in the evening, as 14th IT Forum also had top companies receiving Brand of Excellence, Most Trusted Company and Made in Brand awards. The awards were based on the votes cast on the VARINDIA website where respondents voted for their favourite companies. Five companies have been chosen in each of the categories. EMC, HP Inc, VMware, SAP and Cisco have been named the Most Trusted Companies. The Brand of Excellence award this year has gone to Western Digital, LG Electronics, Canon India, Kaspersky Lab and Dell India. The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-Dot), Tally Solutions, Sophos Technologies, Micromax Informatics and Quick Heal Technologies have been chosen as the Best Make in India Brands.
1. Most Trusted Company Awards
2. Make In India Brand Awards
3. Brand of Excellence Awards
Supporting the Prime Minister’s vision to make India a digitally literate country, Mr Deepak Kumar Sahu, Publisher & Chief Editor, Kalinga Digital Media & VARINDIA, set the tone for the evening with his opening address. “The fast-growing technology sector in India, from being merely a technology adapter or importer, is now becoming a creator of technology- enabled disruptive solutions. Digital India is one of the most exciting initiatives in the country that uses technology as a great leveller for the citizens of India. Today, government leaders understand that while the end goal is to offer better services, foster innovation and generate more jobs, the critical enabler is going to be technology and the foundation to a digital nation will be laying a pan-India network.”
The Lucky Draw contest by VARINDIA generated great interest from the audience, with six lucky winners walking away with iPads and iPhones.