The Hindu Business Line : Bangalore IT.biz starts today

The Union Minister of State for Information Technology and Communications, Mr Gurudas Kamat, would inaugurate the three-day event that will be presided over by the Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr B.S.Yeddyurappa.

The Chairman of Wipro, Mr Azim Premji, and the Chief Technology Officer of Cisco Systems, Ms Padmashree Warrior, are among the key dignitaries participating in the event, which would be a low-key affair with the State Government embarking on an austerity drive in view of the recent floods in the northern parts of the State.

The organisers expect to attract about 800 delegates and some 100 companies to the event that would focus on business networking and entrepreneurship while creating opportunities in emerging sectors.

“ICT for a billion people” is the theme of the event, where the State would showcase the developing IT sector in tier-II and tier-III cities. The conferences at the event will focus on energy, healthcare, telecom, embedded electronics, governance, GIS, education and women in IT.

A new initiative this year is the inclusion of a track and exhibition on Embedded Electronics – E3 – conceptualised by The Indian Semiconductor Association.

New companies

The Young Entrepreneurs’ Start-ups in Soaring Spirits programmes, which was launched last year, will this year provide opportunities to 10 start-ups to present technologies and business ideas to venture capitalists and industries followed by one-to-one meetings.

Delegations from Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Assam and Tamil Nadu are participating in the event. Also, Chile, the partner country for the event, has brought in a high-profile delegation to woo Indian companies to help establish the Latin American country as an outsourcing hub in the southern hemisphere.

A team of officials of the Chilean Economic Development Agency, the Chilean investment promotion agency, is in the city to explore investment opportunities for Indian IT companies in Chile.