SECTORS

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Past Events

Hyderabad IT Summit 2008 - Empowering IT With World Class Infrastructure
March 20 - 22, 2008, HICC Hyderabad

An international Summit & Exhibition 'Hyderabad IT Summit 2008 - Empowering IT with World Class Infrastructure' was organized by Department of Information Technology and Communications, Government of Andhra Pradesh in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) from 20th - 22nd March, 2008 in Hyderabad, India

The objective of this summit was to focus on Hyderabad as the most preferred destination for the growth of IT industry in India.

The focus of the conference was on creating global hubs of excellence, creating culture of innovation, human capital and discussion various pro-active and positive policy measures for investment opportunities in IT-ITeS/BPO sector.

The summit was inaugurated by Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Hon'ble Chief Minister, Government of Andhra Pradesh in the presence of Shri R Damodar Reddy, Hon'ble Minister for Information Technology & Communications, Youth Services & Sports, Government of AP; Smt P Sabita Reddy, Hon'ble Minister for Mines & Geology, Handlooms & Textiles, Spinning Mills, Government of AP & Dr. G Chinna Reddy, Hon'ble Minister for Rural Development, NREGP, Self Help Groups, Government of AP.

Interactive meeting with Mr. Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation on 'Role of IPR in Knowledge Economy'
September 13, 2006, FICCI, New Delhi


FICCI organized an interactive meeting on 'Role of IPR in Knowledge Economy' with Mr. Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation on 13th September 2006 in FICCI, New Delhi.

Mr. Craig Mundie was named to the new position of chief research and strategy officer of Microsoft in June 2006. He is working closely with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates to assume responsibility for the company's research and incubation efforts - in anticipation of Gates' departure from a day-to-day role in Microsoft in July 2008. Mundie also partners with General Counsel Brad Smith to guide Microsoft's intellectual property and technology policy efforts.

Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, Director General, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) also addressed the participants in this interactive session.

The meeting provided participants valuable opportunity to interact with Mr. Craig Mundie, Dr. Mashelkar & other high Government officials and to get an insight into innovation and IPR in the software sector in India.

As an outcome of the meeting FICCI wrote a recommendation letter to Ministry of Commerce & Industry that India must have a regulatory framework that protects "software patents" and should also have a stronger enforcement of IP rights for making India a true Global Economic Powerhouse. This would be the key component of moving the country beyond manufacturing and service economy promoting overall innovation, productivity and a world-class knowledge economy.

FICCI ICT Business Delegation to Sweden & Latvia
27th June - 1st July 2005

FICCI took an ICT business delegation, led by Mr. B Ramalinga Raju, Chairman, Satyam Computer Services Ltd. to Sweden between 27th- 29th June 2005 and in Latvia between 30th June - 1st July 2005.

The ICT program in Sweden coincided with the visit of Shri Dayanidhi Maran, Minister for Communications & Information Technology from 28th - 29th June 2005.
Sweden offers excellent opportunities in the field of wireless communication, Internet technologies, converged area and cutting edge researches in the sector for Indian ICT industry.

After joining EU, Latvia; a low cost but with high IT expertise has gained new dimension for Indian ICT sector to collaborate and expand.

The objective was to look for business potential and opportunities and work in co-operation with Swedish and Latvian ICT industry.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between FICCI and SIBC (Sweden Indian Business Council). The purpose was to sets out the agreement of the parties to co-operate in areas of mutual interest for the benefit of their member companies and regions, with the objective of facilitating and developing a working relationship to help FICCI and SIBC to achieve their common but independent goals.

The companies, which were part of the delegation, were Satyam Computer, Salora International, Patni Computer, Hexaware Technologies, HCL Technologies, Larsen & Toubro Infotech, vMoksha Technologies, AmSoft Systems, Megasoft, Appulse Retail Software Solutions, Spray Engineering Devices

FICCI Business Delegation to Saudi Arabia
April 12-13, 2005, Riyadh

FICCI has taken a high-powered business delegation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 12th and 13th April 2005. Shri P Chidamabram, Hon'ble Minister of Finance, Government of India, has led the delegation on 12th April 2005 wherein JBC agreement was signed between FICCI and Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce & Industry along with India-Saudi Arabia Joint Commission Meeting (JCM).

Mr. Saroj Kumar Poddar, Senior Vice President, FICCI, led the FICCI Business Delegation for Investment Seminar and other business meetings.

The delegation consisted of CEOs and top management executives from Satyam Computer Services Ltd., Wipro Infotech, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, MEDICOM, Tata Motors (Telco), ESSAR Group, Coral Telecom Ltd, NSE.IT Ltd, Pointred Technology Inc, Voltas, Satnam Overseas etc.


Interactive meeting on Telecom & IT with Ambassador David A Gross, US Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy (WSIS)
February 3, 2005, New Delhi

FICCI organized an Interactive luncheon meeting with Ambassador David A Gross, US Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy.

Ambassador Gross exchanged notes with select senior representatives of Government of India and Indian businesses on changes in regulatory and economic policy environment and their impact on US investments in India.

Ambassador David A. Gross spoke on:

  1. His impression after meeting people on 2nd of February 2005.
  2. Indian businesses - US view
  3. Changes in regulatory and economic policy environment
  4. FDI - US investors concerns
  5. Appreciation on Indian strength in IT
  6. Growth in mobile telephone sector
  7. Others

Some of the issues that were raised by the industry representatives in the meeting are as follows:

  1. India's position in the WSIS
  2. Outsourcing - The USA position
  3. Movement of professionals to USA and in other developed countries
  4. Visa and work permit for knowledge workers
  5. Social Security Contribution - Indian companies don't get the benefit of contribution for short term projects.
  6. Virtual Private Network - US experience
  7. Broadband
  8. Internet Governance
  9. Internet telephony
  10. Spectrum distribution - US experience in managing it
  11. Convergence

Panel Discussion on R & D and IPR in ICT Industry in India
December 23, 2004, New Delhi

India is one of the leaders in IT and related products and services and its growth in this area has been phenomenal with contribution to the Indian GDP estimated to grow further to 3.8 percent. Research indicates that the Indian IT Industry, given its emphasis on export led growth and global competitiveness, is ready to proactively seize the opportunities as it moves up the value chain, generating and creating value - tangible and intangible. More and more companies are allocating significant resources behind research and development. Many have already developed products for niche market like banking and financial markets and others are in the process of developing mass-market products thus rising up the value chain. Although significant portion of the IT industry's revenue come from overseas customers and predominately on account of customized services to its customers, the day is not far when the Indian IT industry would compete on global scale in the mass market product area.

Increasing proactive and creative use of IP has notably contributed to increased economic growth. The pro IP protection strategy needs to be widely communicated and assimilated in the government policy and boardroom strategies for enhancement of such economic growth. A true and sustainable increase in national economic, social and cultural well-being requires a synthesis of various policies geared to increasing each country's national capacity, enhancing its knowledge resources and helping it to use intellectual property as a tool to enable these resources to be transformed into value.

According to the World Economic Forum 2003 a country seeking to promote Networked Readiness must create an environment that fosters innovation and to this end, policies can be directed towards encouraging research and development. Intellectual Property protection is playing an increasingly important role in incentivising investment in research and development. Once an enterprise is guaranteed intellectual property protection on a fixed criterion, then the risk that its investment may be pilfered is significantly reduced. Apparently, a strong IP regime therefore leads to stronger inflows of Foreign Direct Investment and may even spark off an increased venture capital flow. Absence of the same may lead to lack of stabilization of the software industry and a fall in investments in IT bay businesses and other R & D centric industries.

The 'IP' centric approach to business enterprises has become relevant today to all; the industry, policy makers, the government as well as simply to an individual. Creating awareness of importance of creative thinking and innovation among people and getting about a mind shift in the way people think about creativity and intellectual property is therefore crucial. Education and curriculum can be modified and emphasis may be provided on this aspect. The imminent need is to create an environment at a national level that facilitates the process of creative thinking and the policy makers and the government should therefore provide all necessary encouragement.

More…

  • Programme
  • Presentations

    • India – a potential technology exporting country; where are we?: by Mr Anand Patwardhan, ED, TIFAC
    • IP - A Modern Tool for Wealth Creation: by Mr Diwakar Nigam, Newgen Software
    • Incentives and Measures to encourage an R&D Culture in India: by Mr Pankaj Agrawala, Joint Secretary, Govt. of India Deptt. of Information Technology, MCIT
    • R&D in ICT, 2004: by Mr Sugata Mitra, NIIT
    • Capacity building and Innovation in a Globalised Business Environment: by Mr Vinay L Deshpande, Chairman & CEO, Encore Software Ltd.
    • How Important is R&D to the growth of Local Indian ICT Industry?: by Mr Vinnie Mehta, MAIT
    • Exploiting IP Challenges Faced by Indians in Global Markets: by Dr Gautam Shroff, Vice President, Markets Technology Programs, Tata Consultancy Services

 

FICCI ICT Mission to Japan
November 22 - 26, 2004

As you are aware, FICCI has taken several initiatives to enhance bilateral trade and business cooperation between India and Japan.

In continuation with our initiatives, FICCI along with Embassy of India, Tokyo, Japan has organized Indian IT Seminars in four prefectures of Japan i.e Okinawa, Osaka, Hiroshima & Okayama from 22nd to 26th November 2004 and thus took a ICT delegation for the same.

The objective of the seminars in these prefectures was to ascertain the ICT potential in the Japanese market, address key issues & concerns, highlight India's capabilities in IT and explore ways for forming business relationship with Japanese organizations.

This event was one of the top business forums and delegates had an opportunity to meet more than 500 to 600 senior industry representatives, Government officials and consultants for possible tie-ups.

Interactive Session on Information Technology & Information Technology Enabled Services
October 20, 2004, Hotel Le Royal Meridian, Chennai

Programme

Presentations

  • India – ASEAN Business Summit: Presentation by Mr. K Subrahmaniam, President & CEO, Covansys India
  • “Development of HR Infrastructure for IT Enabled Society” : Presentation by Mr. Tarun Mitra, Dy Vice President, Asia - Pacific, APTECH Limited
  • NIIT Training: Presentation by Mr. Jeffrey S Peter, Regional Head - NIIT Ltd.
  • Global Sourcing: Presentation by Mr. Prem Prakash, Executive Vice President ( Asia Pacific), vMoksha Technologies - Singapore
Panel Discussion on SPAM
October15, 2004, New Delhi

Overview

The Internet affords a plethora of opportunity - opportunity to learn, to communicate, to express one self and for other forms of self-development. Like most other media of communication, the Internet affords a space that can creatively be utilized for commercial purposes also. Like all other media the Internet can creatively be misused - it can be used for cyber-crime, for harassment, for cyber terrorism, to spread hate, to generate and disseminate pornography and to spam.

Spam is a term generally used to describe mass, unsolicited advertising or solicitations sent through email. Spam messages are sent in an indiscriminate manner, often by automated means and in many cases include or promote illegal or offensive content. Spam often has disastrous effects for most commercial activities on the Internet. It retards the spread of legitimate use of the media. It erodes trust in technology, wastes valuable time and requires Internet service providers and corporate networks to expend enormous amounts of money on filtering systems. Therefore, Spam poses a real and serious threat to the viability of Internet email and is a danger to e-commerce

Brightmail Inc., a business specializing in anti-spam software and services, has estimated that spam accounts for 20% of all email messages sent. The Gartner Group has estimated that 35% of all business messages received are spam, and that this figure is likely to touch 50% by 2005. 1The Global incidence of Spam has been increasing rapidly at the rate of 200% to 300%. Estimates in the UNCTAD E-Commerce and Development Report 2003 indicate that by 2002 there were over 16 million Internet users in India. They would have faced the problem of spam, in one form or another. Spam uniformly affects users on the Internet across the globe regardless of territorial borders. Spam results in disastrous economic loss. A study conducted in the European Union indicates that the worldwide cost of spam is approximately around US $ 10 billion annually. 2

Consumer Interests

Among the direct impacts of spam are the inconvenience and costs incurred by the consumers for the amount of time they spend online, either reading or downloading their email messages. Additionally for those who have limits on the amount of mail permitted to be stored by their ISP, spam often creates full mailboxes that may result in legitimate messages being rejected.

Commercial Interests

By effectively exposing recipients to extensive unsolicited emails, spam often overwhelms a consumer's inbox. It destroys the effectiveness of email as communication tool. It leads to legitimate businesses losing credibility. Legitimate commercial entities seeking to market their goods are often lumped together with pornographers, fraudsters, spammers of dubious origins, all destroying the viability of email marketing.

ISP Interests

Spam drains productivity, wastes valuable time and requires costly resources for ISPs and corporate networks to block. It increases the costs of most online service providers. This increase in cost can be attributed to investment in filters, requirement for additional storage space, requirement for greater bandwidth, requirement to employ extra staff to address the problem of spam etc.


Need to control the Problem

The magnitude of the problem is fast multiplying because the Internet makes it easier to (1) collect email addresses and to (2) send huge volumes of email. Further, the lack of a system of authentication of the originator of an email compounds the problem. The problem therefore, has its roots in the amorphous nature of the Internet, the malleability of technology and the lack of a uniform set of laws governing activities on the Internet. Many progressive countries including USA, the European Union, Australia, Japan and Korea have enacted legislation in some form or the other to control the menace of SPAM. At present India does not have a law on spam. The Information Technology Act, 2000 is silent on the issue, and other Indian laws do not appear to deal with the problem either. In keeping with the proposition of a multi-pronged approach that is adopted by many countries to counter spam, India too should consider adopting a layered strategy comprising of technological solutions, appropriate self-regulatory measures, consumer awareness campaigns, legislative measures and guidelines for international cooperation.

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1. The NOIE Report at 9.
2. Commission of the European Communities Unsolicited Commercial Communications and Data Protection: Summary of Study Findings, 2001
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FICCI CEOs MISSION TO GULF COUNTRIES - OMAN, UAE & QATAR
5-11 March, 2004

As you are aware, FICCI has been taking several initiatives to enhance bilateral trade and business cooperation between India and the countries of the Gulf Region.

We have successfully organised meetings and other interactive meetings with the visiting dignitaries/ delegations from these countries from time to time. In an effort to continue with our initiatives, FICCI organized a CEOs Mission to Oman, UAE and Qatar from 5th to 11th March 2004. The Delegation was be led by Dr A C Muthiah, Immediate Past President, FICCI and Chairman SPIC Ltd with Mr H S Mejie, Special Advisor, FICCI Gulf Cell & Chairman, PCP International Ltd, as the Co-Leader.

The Members of the Delegation had an opportunity to meet senior businessmen, Government officials and members of the Indian Diaspora in the respective countries for possible tie-ups.

Knowledge Based Industries-Networking for Global Leadership
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, January 10, 2004

Worldwide, the macro economic trend revealed that the most of developed and developing countries have either embraced or entered into the new era of knowledge-based economy. The knowledge-based sector in these countries increasingly represents a significant share in terms of investment and capital formation. It offers more opportunities for employment to young generation and has been a vital instrument in promoting economic growth and enhancing economic as well as industry competitiveness.

India has put herself into a unique position and created a niche segment that set sights on to become a global leader in the emerging sector of knowledge-based industries. India's profound scientific skills, indomitable knowledge base and inherent entrepreneurial capabilities offer tremendous potential to be world leader in this sector. It is noteworthy to highlight some of the impressive strides notably into the segment of Information and Communication Technologies including software development, system integration and management, design and R&D, communications equipment, data communications and IT enabled services.

Biotechnology, bio-related industry along with Information and Communication Technology is the economic driver in the 21st century. With the help of biotechnology, we can provide real answers to some of the greatest challenges we face at the dawn of a new century such as hunger and malnutrition as well as more effective ways to prevent diseases and treat serious illnesses.

The first Pravasi Bharatiya Divas sets the agenda to "synergizing for growth" in the knowledge-based industries. The theme of the 2nd Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is "Networking for Global Leadership" and NRI/PIOs can play very important role here.
· NRIs can help India become a knowledge partner rather than a mere service provider by recognizing and intensifying the use of Indian expertise in ICT & BT in their respective countries.

  • NRIs support to fill technology gaps through technology transfer collaborations will be of great help to boost biotechnology sector
  • NRIs can leverage their knowledge and skills to support Bioinformatics and Biotechnology sector
  • NRIs can further cooperate in the areas of E-governance, customer relationship management, sales and marketing and corporate governance.

It is important to mention that the government of India has taken various steps to adjust their policies in response to the challenges of the knowledge-based economy. The government has also responded positively to the suggestions of the first Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.

The second Pravasi Bharatiya Divas gives greater emphasis on the "Networking for Global Leadership of India" in the knowledge-based industries. The session focuses on the advancement of Information and Communication Technology, Biotechnology and BioIT-an interface between the two streams.

The theme presentation on "ICT - 'From ONLINE 2 INLINE - Moving up the Value Chain" calls for ways of adding value for the customer by being context based solution provider. ICT industry has come a long way from the dot com era to value added solutions and services where more and more IT projects end up actually benefiting user segment. The leadership role for Indian ICT sector in the knowledge-based industry will come when IT solutions and services are inline to the requirement of sectors like space, aviation, automobile, education, utilities, manufacturing etc. industries.

The theme presentation on "BioIT- Leveraging India's IT Potential" invites the NRIs of multidisciplinary skills in bioinformatics and bioscience-related services to support Indian IT academia as well as industry to resort to emerging areas of BioIT. Recently, India has taken major initiatives in biological data mining, genome sequencing, bioinformatics, genomics, pharmacogenomics and clinical trials to take a leap into the global market and carve a niche for itself. The Diaspora knowledge and skills can be leveraged by India to achieve this objective.

The theme presentation on "Biotechnology-Building India a 'Biotechnology Hub' through Global Partnership" calls for greater participation from the NRIs to contribute in the process of making India a "Biotechnology Hub". As mentioned, Biotechnology provides India with an enormous opportunity to exploit its pool of highly qualified scientific and technical expertise. The country's incredibly diverse plant and animal genetic resources, flora and fauna and the gene pool, which provides clusters of isolated genes with intra-married castes and remote tribal groups offer a potential gold mine of raw materials.

The NRIs and PIOs have achieved the remarkable position in the knowledge-based industries and are well position to play catalic role to help our nation to achieve leadership in this field.

For any query, you may get in touch with Mr Tabrez Ahmad (tabrez@ficci.com), Mr Bhagirath Choudhary (biotech@ficci.com), Ms Priya Prasad (priya@ficci.com)

FICCI IT MISSION TO GERMANY
September 15-22, 2003

Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business is organizing the Indo-German Business Conference on 16th September 2003 at Berlin, Germany.

FICCI is one of the lead co-organizer of the Indo-German Business Conference and has been entrusted with the responsibility of organizing a Workshop on Information & Communication Technology sector during the Conference jointly with Confederation of German Industries (BDI). The Conference will be attended by more than 200 top German CEOs representing cross section of industries, Governments, Consultants, Media and others and at creating linkages between Indian IT industry and German IT user group.

The objective of the workshop is to ascertain the potential of the ICT market in Germany, the key issues in the ICT sector, highlight India's capabilities and discuss possible ways for promoting bilateral cooperation between India and Germany in this sector.

Shri. Arun Shourie, Minister of Information and Communication Technology is also visiting Germany for this conference and is leading a business delegation. There are a dozen of high profile companies visiting Germany like Wipro, TCS, HCL Technologies, NIIT Ltd., Hexaware Technologies Ltd., Hughes Software Systems Ltd., Xansa, HCL Perot Systems, Sify Ltd., Nucleus Software Exports Ltd. CEO's from these companies are accompanying Minister Shourie. This event is one of the top business forums and along with business meetings cultural and academic events related to the region are also being offered.

Interactive Session with Mr William E Kennard

FICCI organised an Interactive Session with Mr William E Kennard, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission, USA and the accompanying Delegation on 21st September, 2000 in New Delhi. The focus of the Interaction was "Regulations in the Era of Convergence".

National Conference on Right to Information

FICCI organised a National Conference on Right to Information on January 21, 2000 in New Delhi. I delivered the Welcome Address. The Inaugural Address was delivered by Mr Ram Jethmalani, Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs. Mr Rajendra S Lodha delivered the Vote of Thanks. The Business Session on Impact and Implications on Government and Business: Legal, Constitutional and Commercial was Chaired by Mr Justice B P Jeevan Reddy, Chairman, Law Commission of India. During the Second Business Session, Mr Arun Jaitley, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting, delivered the Special Address on the Theme of Bill on Right to Information: Impact on Print and Electronic Media and Internet followed by presentations by experts. The Conference concluded with the Vote of Thanks by Mr Vimal Bhandari.

International Conclave on E-Commerce
FICCI organised an International Conclave on E-Commerce on 15th February, 2000 in New Delhi. The Inaugural Address was delivered by Mr Pramod Mahajan, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Information Technology. A Special Address was made by Mr Dewang Mehta followed by Vote of Thanks by Mr Sunil B Mittal. The Session focussed on the New IT Bill, International Legal Framework, E-Business Opportunities. E-Commerce Application in Business and E-Commerce in International Business.

National Conference on "Y2K Preparedness - An Assessment"

A National Conference on "Y2K Preparedness - An Assessment" was organised by FICCI on 15th September 1999 at New Delhi. The Conference was inaugurated by Shri Ravindra Gupta, Secretary, Department of Electronics. Shri Vinay Rai, Chairman, IT Committee, FICCI made the Welcome Address and Theme Presentation. Shri N Vittal,  Central Vigilance Commissioner has addressed the gathering on Y2K Preparedness. Shri Dewang Mehta, President, NASSCOM and Member, National Y2K Action Force, Shri P V Rao, Head-Information Systems Group, CMC Ltd., Dr S Ramakrishnan, Senior Technical Director & Member, Y2K Coordination Committee, Department of Electronics, Shri V Kumaran, Additional Member (IT) Railway Board, Shri Peter Theobald, Mg Director, IT Secure Software Ltd., Shri S I Fazzuludin, Sr. Manager (IT), Gas Authority of India Ltd. and Shri V K Kamath,  Chief Manager, Siemens Information Systems Ltd. gave detailed presentation on Y2K. The Conference concluded with the vote of thanks by Shri Vinay Rai, Chairman, IT Committee, FICCI.

A Conference on National Competitiveness Policy was jointly organized by National Productivity Council (NPC), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Standing Conference on Public Enterprises (SCOPE)
April 5-6, 1999 at New Delhi

Shri N Vittal, Chairman, Conference Steering Committee and Central Vigilance Commissioner, Chairman of the conference delivered the opening address followed by the statement by Dr S Narayan, Secretary, Industrial Development and Chairman, NPC, Dr Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI and Dr Uddesh Kohli, Chairman SCOPE. Keynote speech was delivered by Prof. Sumantra Ghoshal, Professor London Business School. The subsequent Technical Sessions included Infrastructure Development, Financial Sector Reforms, Labour Market Reforms, Fiscal changes and Trade Policies, Agriculture Sector Reforms, Education of Government Sector  Reforms, Micro level strategies, Quality of Governance and corruption, Technical Session on Public Sector Competitiveness was chaired by Shri K C Pant, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, while the Technical Session on Innovativeness, Technology upgradation and Role of Information Technology was chaired by Prof. M G K Manon, Former Minister of State for Science and Technology. The speakers at the various technical sessions were Academicians, Senior Politicians, Economists, Chief Executive Officers of Corporate giants, Trade Union leaders etc.  At the concluding session, draft policy statement was made by Shri N Vittal, Central Vigilance Commissioner.  Dr Amit Mitra and Shri M A Hakeem, Secretary General, SCOPE made concluding observations. The Conference terminated with the Vote of thanks by Dr N K Nair, Director, National Productivity Council.

 
 
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