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 The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII),
in association with the Government of Tamil Nadu, is organising
Connect 2007 with the theme 'ICT : Innovation through
Integration – Building an Inclusive Ecosystem' in Chennai
between September 14-17, 2007, to position Tamil Nadu as the
destination of choice for ICT industry.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi will
inaugurate the event on September 17, 2007, at the Chennai Trade
Centre, Chennai.
The 7th edition of Connect will host
pre-conference Technical Sessions on September 15, 2007, and the
main conference on September 17. Connect 2007 will feature
‘Taitronics India 2007’, a three-day B2B concurrent exhibition
organised by the Taipei World Trade Centre which would showcase
3C products, electric and machinery, electronic components, auto
parts and accessories and hand tools.
The event will also feature CII-Connect 2007
Entrepreneur Award on September 17 evening.
S Mahalingam, chairman, Connect 2007, and
chief financial officer, Tata Consultancy Services, said Connect
is India’s premier ICT event. It brings together all
stakeholders of the ICT industry, namely: industry, government,
academia, eco-system enablers and customers. The event is
attracting wide international and national delegations spanning
the ecosystem.
Commenting on the theme of the event: 'ICT:
Innovation through Integration – Building an Inclusive
Ecosystem', Mahalingam said it is important for the ICT industry
to build a dynamic eco-system based on entrepreneurship and
inclusiveness. The industry should focus on certain key areas
such as innovation, infrastructure and leisure, integration,
competency creation, venture economics and governance to create
such an eco-system.
Connect 2007 Conference on September 17 would
feature plenary sessions on urban infrastructure (infrastructure
& leisure), co-creation roadmap for building competency,
capacity and capability and parallel sessions focusing on
hardware, IT software, auto/design services and knowledge
process outsourcing.
The event will also showcase successful
experiences of the ICT sector in India and abroad. There would
be a 'Celebration Session' to celebrate India’s achievement in
the world ICT market on September 17.
The pre-conference technical sessions on
September 15 would focus on India-Taiwan economic co-operation,
clustering for sustainable growth, innovation and
entrepreneurship, funding (venture economics), ICT growth in
Tier-II cities.
Karunanidhi will deliver the inaugural
address. A Raja, Union Minister for Communications and
Information Technology, M K Stalin, Tamil Nadu Minister for
Rural Development and Local Administration, will also address at
the conference on September 17.
Connect 2007 Conference will have a
participation of who’s who of the ICT industry both
international and domestic, all the constituents of the
knowledge eco-system – academia, industry and government.
C Chandramouli, secretary – Information
Technology Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, said the ICT
industry in Tamil Nadu is attracting huge investments
continuously. The built up space created by the IT parks are
being taken up by the industry even before completion of the
projects. The software companies are continuing to aggressively
expand their development base in the city and also in several
Tier-II and Tier-III cities of the state such as Tiruchirapalli,
Madurai, Coimbatore and Hosur. The state is also increasing its
export of electronic hardware products steadily in the recent
years.
He said the main advantages of Tamil Nadu
are: human resources, a large presence of reputed academic
institutions, good infrastructure and the presence of global
majors in hardware, communication, software and BPO players. He
hoped that there would be more industry-institute interface to
enhance employability of the graduating students, especially of
the Tier-II, Tier-III cities to make them part of the economic
boom.
Gopal Srinivasan, chairman, CII Tamil Nadu
State Council, said the ICT sector in Tamil Nadu is witnessing
huge investment inflows and "we need to strengthen the
eco-system so as so increase the share in the IT hardware".
This year, Connect 2007 will focus on
building partnership with Taiwan, which will be represented in a
big way at 'Taitronics India', an exhibition organised
concurrently with Connect 2007 and will showcase a wide spectrum
of products and services in the IT hardware sector.
R Rangaraj
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