Mr Laxmi Narayanan, Vice Chairman, Cognizant spoke at the Panel Discussion on ‘Ecosystem- Future Focus’ in his remarks highlighted how the workplace itself is changing rapidly. He aptly cited the example of Monday morning experience of today’s workforce in the ICT industry. He pointed out that today’s young workforce likes to stay connected through social media and other ICT tools. They like to use tools such as Facebook to stay connected, which they extensively use over the weekend, On Monday morning when they arrive for work, the feel a sudden change on environment, with restrictions on social media access. He felt these two worlds in the life of a young ICT employee are too far apart and may not be very sustainable in long term.

Mr Narayan pointed out that the workplace itself is changing. Today’s ICT worker is used to working from his company’s premises. The trend is changing and ICT workers must now prepare themselves to work from hospitals, retail markets and the shopfloors, places where the software they produce is being used. For instance, in a car plant in Germany, the worker sits in the back office and controls the robots, who produce the car. The worker is no ordinary worker- many of them are like software and hardware engineers.

Mr Narayanan also pointed out the talent shortage in larger cities and the gradual crawling shift of ICT industry into the Tier 2 cities. He pointed out that the smaller cities lack the ecosystem such as academic and research institutions that is hurting the growth of ICT industry in smaller cities. Also, the engineering institutions themselves need to keep themselves abreast of the latest developments in Technology. Fortunately, in Tamil Nadu, we have the ICT Academy and that facilitates skill up-gradation of the faculty which happens in virtual fashion through use of ICT tools.

Is it possible to have another Silicon Valley in Chennai or somewhere else in India. What are the key ingredients? asked Ubale of the audience.

According to Ubale, key ingredients would be :

• Nerds
• Rich Investors

->To have this, Ubale suggests a conducive environment-University Towns that have the right culture, mindset, infrastructure and companies that would allow nerds to stay put once they pass out.

->Nerds innovate and innovations require funding. Rich investors (read VCs) will fund these ideas and have patience to stay invested till payoff

(Co posted with Anuj Srivas)

Dr. V Sumantran opened up the panel and talked about how the first panel was mainly focussed on investors and manufacturers, here the second one is about what technology can be used to achieve, and how can Chennai be uniquely propelled as the engine of growth.

The rest of the panelists were Mr. Vijay Paranjape, Managing Director, Siemens India, Mr C Sivakumar, Chief Executive Officer, Prabha Engineers, Mr. Andy Kalambi, President, Dassault Systems and Mr Subu D Subramanian, Managing Director and CEO, Defiance Technologies.

Mr. Vijay Parnjape of Siemens India started the panel discussion by talking about the immense pressures that are on the automotive industry. A huge pressure to introduce newer models to the market in quicker intervals. For this, the cycle of production must be compressed and a completely integrated manufactured set up is necessary. He concluded by saying that only when the data system and ecosystem is integrated the demands of the customers can be met.

At this point, the rest of the panelists agreed on the fact that when compared to China, the penetration of automation in India is far less.

To this end, Mr Kalambi of Dassault systems spoke about how the next horizons of technologies, including social innovation, crowd sourcing etc are ways to fill the gaps in digital continuity from design to manufacture . He also spoke about how certain companies need to harness the power of IT to reduce the more cumbersome aspects of the manufacturing process.

As the discussion shifted more and more towards how IT services could be used to gear OEM products, Mr Subu of Defiance Technologies talked about how IT has transformed support and increased production in the automotive industry. He summed up by asking why IT can’t be used to make industries much less capital intensive. For example, there are mature technologies which now can reduce costs on server, bandwidth and networking.

Mr Sivakumar of Prabha Engineers gave examples of his own company and explained how Prabha Engineers has used IT to propel efficiency and productivity. He also gave other examples on how small and micro enterprises can use techniques such as frugal engineering, cloud computing to give themselves a player’s advantage on the global playing field.

Mr Subu, CEO of Defiance Technologies highlighted how frugal engineering based on efficient use of IT tools is not a choice anymore, but almost a necessity to maintain competitive advantage.

Here’s a brief overview of today’s activities at Connect2010.

0930 – 1030 hrs : HIGH OCTANE KEYNOTE PANEL DISCUSSION:
‘ECOSYSTEM’ – FUTURE FOCUS
The panel discussion will focus on the Ecosystem which is a complex and interdependent set of technical, social and business relationships. The system functions when multiple underlying factors align to reinforce one another. Sustainable & inclusive growth can be envisioned only through development of: – the infrastructure – physical and digital, the smart governance, and the human resources.

1130 – 1230 Hrs : PARALLEL TRACKS
ECOSYSTEM: INCLUSIVE & SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
Hall 1
[1130 – 1230 hrs] Physical Infrastructure: Paving the way for sustainable cities
The session will discuss the feasibility of sustainable cities with its attendant features including high efficiency buildings, roads and their integration with transit systems to achieve smoother flow of people, integrated townships and energy demand management initiatives

Hall 2
[1130 – 1230 hrs]
Digital Infrastructure & Inclusiveness
Six out of ten jobs in the next few years will demand a basic level of digital literacy. Grass roots engagement as well as leadership from Government and major corporations, will be key to the successful delivery of digital inclusion at all levels in the Digital Economy. Is our digital infrastructure geared up to inclusiveness? This session will debate and see case study presentations on the topic.

Hall 3
[1130 – 1230 hrs] Financial City & Smart Governance

Hall 4
[1130 – 1230 hrs]
HR & Skill Development

1230 – 1330 Hrs Networking Lunch Break
1330 – 1430 Hrs
Keynote Panel Discussion – INNOVATION

1430 – 1530 Hrs Keynote Panel Discussion – ENTREPRENEURSHIP

1530 – 1545 Hrs
Networking Break
1600 – 1730 Hrs
VALEDICTORY SESSION:
Valedictory Panel Discussion: ICT 2020: Tamil Nadu Surging Ahead

CII – ICICI Venture Connect Awards

Some machinery components were displayed in a very eye catchy manner- here’re a few that were photographers’ delight…

Photos by Shrinidhi Hande