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Bangalore decks up for mega IT summit

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

Come November 1, and it is time for India's Silicon City to showcase its strengths and achievements in the booming Information Technology sector, which is, of late, becoming a major force in the Indian economy.

Even as the countdown for the hour of reckoning begins, the Garden City decks up for hosting the third edition of Bangalore IT.Com2000, a five-day mega event that will bring the who's who of the IT industry, hailing right from the Silicon Valley in the US to the home-grown IT gurus like N R Narayana Murthy of Infosys and Azim H Premji of Wipro to the centrestage, for sharing a moment of glory.

Billed as the largest IT show in the country, the technology summit-cum-exhibition is expected to generate business deals worth Rs 3.5 billion, over Rs 1 billion more than what was clinched at the last event, through tie-ups, strategic alliances, and massive inflow of venture capital funds for launching start-ups and enterprises in the city and across the state.

Piggy-riding on the crest of popularity generated by the captains of the Indian IT industry as well as by the efforts of countless entrepreneurs, the Karnataka government has pitched in timely to hog the limelight and share the honours of the day for being the host state of the IT boom.

On its own admission, though the Victorian bureaucratic set-up had not much role to play in the growth and success of the IT industry, especially in its globally reputed software segment, the state government is attempting to gain some recognition by pulling all stops to organise the grand show.

In a bid to retain the pre-eminence of Bangalore as the Mecca of the Indian IT industry, and check the flight of capital or investments that were finding other hot destinations like Hyderabad, Madras and Pune more attractive in terms of better incentives and upgraded infrastructure, the state government woke up belatedly to become, at least, a catalyst for facilitating its continued growth, and trigger off a technology revolution in the state.

In order to derive maximum mileage and enable the benefits of the convergence between computers and communications reach the common man for bridging the digital divide, the Bangalore IT.com is organising a two-day conference on "IT for the Common Man" on November 1-2, 2000.

Sponsored by the Bangalore-based global software giant Infosys Technologies, the conference will focus on the issues concerning the common man, and highlight case studies in e-governance, besides the contribution of Indian entrepreneurs in the IT sector. It is being inaugurated by UK minister for e-commerce Patricia Hewitt.

There will also be a presentation by IT-savvy Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna to showcase the government's millennium IT policy called "Mahithi", which outlines the various initiatives being taken by the state to make IT reach the common man. Alex Lightman of the US-based Charmed Technology will unfold "an Internet plan for the common man."

Michael L Best of Media Lab, MIT, Boston, will demonstrate the "Impact of IT on sociological development of society." There will also be a talk on the "Impact of Knowledge-based technology on the life of the rural poor" by Aditya Dev Sood of Bangalore Centre for Knowledge Societies.

For the geeks of the IT world, the mega event is hosting a one-day conference on November 2 on the "Technologies for the future". Sponsored by another Bangalore-based global software giant Wipro and Nortel Networks of Canada, it will be inaugurated by Dr Herbert Weber from the University of Berlin, Germany, and addressed by the likes of Nortel COO Clarence Chandran and Wipro chairman Azim H Premji.

As an icing on the cake, TiE India (Bangalore Chapter) of the Silicon Valley-based The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) will also hold a two-day brain-storming session on Entrereneurship and Venture Capital Funding. Sponsored by ICICI, Reliance, Deutsche Bank and Nasscom, the meet will be opened by P V Jayakrishnan, Secretary for the Ministry of Information Technology, and presided by TiE founder Kanwal Rekhi.

The main event will be inaugurated by Planning Commission deputy chairman K C Pant. Being held in the historical Bangalore Palace grounds, the mega show has received an overwhelming response from the IT industry with 376 companies participating and spawning 24,000 sq ft.

Its international pavilions 'country.org' boasts of representation from 12 countries, including the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Belgium, Sweden, and the UAE. Over 250 foreign delegates from Japan, China, Scotland, Singapore, and the UK are scheduled to visit the summit.

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