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Events

e- Revolution 2008

In 2007, e-Revolution has focused on achieving excellence, development of an enabling eco-system, and promoting entrepreneurship through angel investment

e-Revolution 2008, fourth in series opened with a large number of young successful entrepreneurs sharing their knowledge and experience on "The Changing Landscapes : Creating New Trends and Opportunities" on August 7-8 at Hotel Taj, Chandigarh

On 7th August, Gen (retd) S.F. Rodrigues, Governor of Punjab, speaking at the inaugural function said that the government has put together a strong e-governance system with eJansampark centres so that the bureaucracy can facilitate and not interrupt the progress, and creating an enabling environment for the entrepreneurship to develop here.

Mr. Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman, NASSCOM, on his key note address emphasized the need to make IT an all embracing tool for social reengineering and the need for creating a sustainable ecosystem in the region which should have at least 1000 small entrepreneurs, access to skilled manpower on regular basis, besides the social infrastructure and government support which is already in place.
Minister for IT Punjab, Mr. Adaish Pratap Singh Kairon, assured that with the collective efforts of governments of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh Administration, we would be able to develop this region much more than expected.

Mr. Ramesh Inder Singh, Chief Secretary, Punjab, informed that Punjab government is coming up with new industrial policy and strategy to create a road map for the IT/ITES development in the state for which Ernest & Young have been engaged. Other social structure in GMADA area with its hi-tech institutes of biotechnology, nano technology, business school, and IIT, is going to make this area into a veritable knowledge hub for the region to cater for the need for talented manpower.
 

Mr. Ravi Bhardwaj, Site Director, Dell International sharing his experiences in the city said that the region offers best of the educational and health facilities, best governance and much better law and order situation, except that there is need for more effective local transportation and better entertainment opportunities, and need for skilled human capital.

Mr. Navyug Mahnot, CEO of QAI felt that innovation in the entire eco-system is another factor that needs to be built into emerging enterprises in this region.
Speaking on the subject of attracting talent from Tier-I cities as well as retaining them, Mr. Sameer Goyal, Site Director, Infosys Chandigarh, said that the city requires a better brand equity so that talent gets attracted to the city on its own and not because of family or personal reasons.

Mr Puneet Vatsayan, CEO of Mobera Systems, and member of Indian Angels Network focussed on the new enterprise solutions that are enabling the organisations to efffectively communicate with their people and customers in mutiple locations.
Mr. Sriram Bharatam, CEO and Founder of Iridium Interactive, shared the power of the social media as an enterprise solution, when his website 'cause and effects' in post-Tsunami period brought together 18 million unique visitors to contribute funds to help the victims and raised Rs.6 crores in just 45 days. He said that nearly 10 percent of organisation's productive time is typically lost in searching for the information and obtaining the quality data that can be taken care of with the latest enterprise solutions.

Mr. Pratap Aggarwal, Chairman, IDS Infotech, chairing the session on Emerging trends and opportunities in niche BPO underlined the need for the entrepreneurs to create synergy in IT space and offer solutions to manage data, analysis and research.
Mr. Rahul Sahgal, CEO of Annik Technologies, said that the KPO (knowledge process outsourcing) is emerging area but skill shortage is the key challenge in this domain, while Mr Ashish Bhatia, Managing Director of TotalSoft Solutions said that alarm outsourcing module is a flourishing opportunity for entrepreneurs in Tier2 and Tier3 cities but he suggested the need for a resource centre which should be setup under Nasscom. Mr. Charles Carneiro, Head of Marketing & Corporate Communication of Amadeus, informed that specialised BPOs for travel and tourism is another big opportunity especially with three million passengers travelling daily worldwide. He said that airlines are spending 14 percent on outsourcing booking, re-booking, and other related services. 

The second day of the eRevolution was focussed on youth and the discussions were spearheaded by three major partners in this initiative, Young Indians, Indian Angel Network, and The Indus Entrepreneur.
The tone of discussions was set by Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Secretary Finance, UT Administration, who said that in every age it is the youth which has defined the future, and today it is they alone who would be the drivers of the change they desire to happen in their own city and in their own region.
Punjab's Finance Minister, Mr. Manpreet Badal, complimented the IT sector leading the India's dream, and assured that Punjab which has laggard behind on the IT front due to two decades of political turbulence in the state, would catch up with the rest of the country through its sheer resolve, courage and entrepreneurship zeal that the youth of Punjab are endowed with.

Ms. Anupama Arya, Chairperson of Yi Chandigarh Chapter, said that youth in the northern region has great untapped potential and the need is to channelise it into productive nation-building activities.
Mr. R.K. Verma, Managing Director, Punjab Infotech, said that IT has empowered youth and positioned them to be a part of bringing about the change for the good of the social and economic fabric of our country, and emphasized that the state government is facilitating this change to encourage youth to fulfil their aspirations.
Principal Secretary Punjab, Mr. S.S. Channy, shared the broad contours of Punjab's new industrial strategy, which focuses on developing industrial infrastructure, building skills, public private partnerships and industry-specific task-forces, among others. He also shared a strategic road map for creating an IT ecosystem in the State that would be built upon four pillars of infrastructure, human resources, policy frame work and pro-active engagement with present and potential investors to facilitate their growth in the State. 

Mr. Raj Desai, India Country Manager, Rhythm New Media, a company engaged in the field of ads supported video on mobile, advised the aspirants to have an idea which can be monetized and if they are passionate enough with a fire in their belly, must validate their idea by talking to mentors like TiE. He said that there should be no fear of losing out on the idea because ultimately it is the person with the idea who would have the passion enough to realize his dream project by putting together the right kind of team.
eRevolution2008 also brought together through the efforts of The Indus Entrepreneur (TiE)'s local chapter chairman Puneet Vatsayan, and the Indian Angels Network, many entrepreneurs from around the country who made a success of their enterprise, and highlighted their journey in the afternoon sessions.
Sharing his success story with Daksh which he founded in 2000 and was acquired by IBM in 2004 ran the company as its CEO till June 2006, with 20,000 employees, Mr. Sanjiv Aggarwal, Managing Director, Helion Venture Partners, said that Chandigarh region has great potential and I am looking at the emergence of next Infosys from Chandigarh. On the question of scaling up and even diluting one's share in the organisation, Mr Aggarwal advised, that an entrepreneur should not have financial attachment to his project rather should focus on continued excellent performance of his enterprise.

Subrata Chakraborty, Managing Director of Brand Curry Communications Pvt Ltd, shared his journey which he started in 2004 with five people to set up a creative agency after leaving a well-paying job in O&M, which he has turned into a Rs.25 crore company today. His advice to the aspirants was that one must invest in one's people and create heroes out of them to make a success of their enterprise.
Jaspreet Singh, an IIT from Guwahati, founded Dhruvaa, a technology firm which offers data protection solutions to the companies. He started his career with Veritas and Ensim Corporation, and today owns two patents on his name.
City girl, Anu Lall, who runs an ERP solution company out of Gurgaon, and New Zealand, Snartak, shared her entrepreneurial journey and remarked that if one is passionate about one's idea one can go a long way in realising it.
Another serial entrepreneur Rohit Aggarwal, CEO of TechTribe, remarked that having an idea, giving it a trial, knowing your market and the customer base, and the dream of scaling up are pre-requisite and fundings come automatically.
The partners in eRevolution 2008 include NASSCOM, the Indian Angels Network, The Indus Entrepreneur, and Young India (Yi). The event entrepreneurs were CyberMedia Events which is a division of CyberMedia group, India's largest ICT media conglomerates.

STPI SOFTWARE EXPORT AWARDS 2007-08

STPI Software Exports Awards for the year 2007-08 function held on 7th August at Taj Hotel. Mr. Pradeep Mehra, Advisor to Administrator UT, gave away the awards.The highest exports awards for software development were bagged by Infosys Technologies (in large units category), and by Seasia Consulting of Chandigarh, SEBiz Infotech from Panjab, and Nvish Solutions from Haryana, in SME sector category.

In the ITES segment, the highest export awards went to Dell International in large unit category, and GW Tech from Panjab in SME category. Three units were honoured with Fast Trackers Award, namely Impinge Solutions from Panjab, Visionaire Technologies from Haryana, and Winshuttle Software of Chandigarh. Varun Shoor of Aniki Exports with subbrand Kayako was honoured with the Youngest Entrepreneur Award, while Ms Anupama Arya, Director, Mobera Systems, was given Women Entrepreneur Award for 2007-08. Sameer Jain of Net Solutions received the Emerging Entrepreneur Award. STPI also honoured IDS Infotech Ltd with a special Veteran Award for completing 10 years of operation under the STPI Scheme.

e- Revolution 2007

e-Revolution 2007 was organized in Chandigarh from 2nd – 3rd August 2007 which is the third in the series of international conclaves initiated by the Chandigarh Administration along with the Governments of Punjab and Haryana, STPI, to promote this region for IT industry.

The two-day event had been demarcated with first day on the Nasscom’s initiative ‘Achieving Excellence through a 360˚ Approach’ , and on the second day Band of Angels, Indian Venture Capital Association and TiE discussed “Entrepreneurship: Innovation is the Future”.

General (retd) Rodrigues inaugurated e-revolution 2007 and in his keynote address he called upon the IT professionals the need to create an environment of trust and all inclusive growth. He requested the IT professionals who had gathered at eRevolution2007, to make the development of IT “all inclusive”, so that a large number of unemployed people living below the poverty lines can be uplifted and brought into the mainstream of development and uplifted. He asked the IT professionals to innovate technology that could deliver health and education benefits to the lower strata of society, as well as develop interactive learning aids for the primary school teachers to improve education delivery methods.

S.K. Sandhu Secretary IT & Finance in his welcome address extended warm welcome to all delegates and said that eRevolution2007 has received tremendous response from the IT industry.

He provided an overview of the ccomplishments of the Chandigarh Administration including setting up of the Cyber Security Centre in a record time that was suggested by Nasscom in last eRevolution conclave, and successful implementation of its e-governance programme. S.K. Sandhu said that footfalls at e-sampark centres have now touched 1.40 lakh and the transaction amount through these centres has grown from 239 crore last year to Rs. 350 crores.

APS Kairon Minister of Information Technology, Govt. of Punjab in his keynote address said that Mohali is being developed as a centre of excellence where best of infrastructure, a nano city, biotechnology institution, and education facilities are planned. More institutions are planned in GAMDA on 350 sq.mt. area in collaboration with Singapore. He said that in four years time the State would ensure 100 percent availability of power for which the steps are already being taken.

He underlined the need to review of the education system, quality of the education and employability.

Mr. Laxshmi Narayanan, Chairman, NASSCOM & Vice Chairman, Board of Directors, Cognizant Technology Solutions commended UT Administration for setting up the Cyber Security Centre in record time which is most creditable. Speaking about the key pre-requisites to succeed in this industry, he said that globally, the companies are chasing human talent. He lamented that employability of engineering graduates in the country is just 25 percent which needs to be taken care of through finishing school, which Mr. Narayanan proposed to set up in the city with the help of Chandigarh Administration.

Mr. Harmohinder Singh Chatha Minister of Agricultue, Govt. of Haryana in his speech said that Gurgaon has already created a niche as one of the best IT destinations in the country, and now the state government has acquired 74 acres of land to develop IT park in Panchkula, which would be another most favoured destination because of high literacy state in the region and the enabling environment offered by the government.

Mr. Srinath Batni, Director and Group Head (Worldwide Customer Delivery), Infosys Technologies Ltd. said that knowledge is the growth driver in today’s world and contributing immensely to the GDP of economies. Economies are spreading and creating vast new markets with Asia Pacific emerging as hi-growth regions in the world, and so is the demographics where youth is the dominant force as a customer. India is well positioned to take advantage of these changes and just needs to leap forward by developing education and skilled talent, by teaching soft-skills and problem solving techniques, and by creating an eco-system that promotes innovation.

On second day of e-Revolution 2007 ended with focus on entrepreneurship with major thrust on the role of innovation. The day’s event was driven with the joint initiative of mentors like Band of Angels, India Venture Capital Association and TIE (The Industry Enterprises), to guide participants on entrepreneurship. Ramesh Inder Singh, Chief Secretary, Government of Punjab, said that what started as a competition amongst the states here for the IT revolution has evolved into a cooperative endeavour where all the

Software Export Awards 2006

Six regional IT companies received the Software Exports Award instituted by the Software Technologies Parks of India (STPI) at the curtain raiser evening of e-Revolution 2006. Lalit Sharma, Advisor to the Administrator, UT, gave away the awards. Awards were given in Software Development and IT/ITES categories. Infosys Technologies topped in their export performance in software development category followed by Quark and Second Foundation. Dell International Services India topped in their export performance in IT/ITES category followed by IDS Infotech and Universal Cyber Infoway

E Revolution 2006

After the resounding success of the last year e-Revolution event, the edition of e-Revolution 2006 was organized in Chandigarh from July20-21, 2006 with objective of showcasing Chandigarh as an excellent Tier II IT destination to the Industry. The e-revolution 2006 curtain raiser evening opened on July 19,2006 with presentation of the Software Exports Awards by Mr. Lalit Sharma, Advisor to the Administrator, UT. Six regional IT companies received the Software Export Award instituted by the Software Technologies and Dell International topped in their export performance in software development&& IT/ITES categories respectively.

Gen. (retd) S.F. Rodrigues, PVSM, VSM, Governor of Punjab & Administrator, UT, Chandigarh, inaugurated the e-Revolution 2006. E-revolution 2006 started with keynoted of Mr. Kiran Karnik. He Complimented the Chandigarh Administration for the successful initiative of promoting the region as IT destination. He called upon the administration to set up a regional center for training and research in cyber crime.

Gen. (Retd) S.F. Rodrigues, PVSM, VSM, Governor of Punjab & Administrator, UT Chandigarh in his inaugural speech called upon the IT professionals to partner with the government in taking the benefits of the technology to the common man. Mr. S.K. Sandhu, Secretary IT and Finance, UT Chandigarh said that Chandigarh Capital Region as a whole is being developed in an integrated manner which spans education, human resource development and connectivity. Mr. T.V.Mohan Das, Pai, Member of the Board and Director, Human Resources, Infosys Technologies made a passionate appeal to bring about radical changes in the education system to take care of the resource crunch in all streams of industrial segments.

The eminent speakers who spoke on the first day were Mr. Pradep Gupta, CMB Cyber Media, Mr. Sujit Bakshi, President Corporate Affairs- Tech Mahindra, Mr. Srinivas Polysetty, Innovation Head-CSC India, Mr. Ravi Bapana, Executive Director, Centre for IT & Network Economy- Hydrabad, Naukri.com, Mr. Pratap Aggarwal, CEO-IDS Infotech & Mr. Sameer Jain, CEO-Net Solutions. The delegates were mix of CEOs, IT professionals& Government Officers. After the day’s proceedings a High Tea at Punjab Bhawan with Gen. (Retd) S.F.Rodrigues. PVSM, VSM, Governor of Punjab & Administrator, UT, Chandigarh was organized for the delegates & CEOs, followed by networking dinner at Taj. On the second day, ie…July 21,2006 the inaugural session was chaired by Mr. Lalit Sharma, Advisor to the Administrator, UT, Chandigarh who spoke on good governance. Mrs. Naina Kidwai, CEO and Country Head-HSBC India, Dr, N.Vijayaditya, Director- National Informatics Centre, Mr. B.R. Bajaj, Mr. N.S.KALSI, Secretary IT Punjab and Mr. Anurag Rastogi also spoke. The other eminent speakers who spoke on the second day were Dr. Jaya Menon, Director IT Innovation, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Mr. Niraj Prakash, General Manager, Solutions & Technologies-Oracle India, Mr. Vijay Shekhar, Country Manager India & SAARC, Cissco, Mr. J. Satyanarayan, CEO-National Institute for smart governance, Dr. Rajendra Gupta, Lead Solution Architect, IMB India, Mrs. Usha R. Nair, Deputy General Manager- State Bank of India, Mr. Anil Awasthi, Head Public Services, SAP. Mr. Rohit Anand, Senior Consultant with PWC.

The mega international IT Event culminated with Governor of Haryana. Dr. A.R. Kidwai setting the agenda for the IT professionals.