Convergence India 2011: Connecting Rural India!

Touted as South Asia's largest event in the ICT sector, the 19th edition of Convergence India was held in the national Capital from 24th to 26th March, 2011.  Built around the theme - “NextGen Applications & Services... Empowering a Billion Lives”, the three-day exhibition saw a strong international presence, with dedicated country pavilions from China, Taiwan and the USA. The event was organized by Exhibitions India, with the support of the Information and Broadcasting, and the Communications and Information Technology Ministries.

Shri Sachin Pilot, Hon'ble Minister of State, Ministry of Communications & IT, Government of India, inaugurated the event. In his inaugural speech, the Minister laid stress on the fact that the Government needs to adapt itself to the latest developments taking place in this area and that it is the time that ICT players and regulators of the Government made collaborative efforts to provide high-speed broadband services in rural areas at affordable prices. He also remarked that Convergence has happened much faster than anyone had expected.   

The concurrent sessions held during the three-day event stressed the growing importance and penetration of broadband in India. It highlighted the fact that India has added more than 2.5 million new lines of broadband last year, following closely behind China and the United States and is poised to become one of the top ten users of broadband in the world in the next few years. 

It was in this year's Convergence the South China Lithium-ion Battery Association in conjunction with MyMobile Infomedia and Exhibitions India Group launched the 1st India and China Lithium-ion Technology Forum. Discussions on the rechargeable lithium-ion based technology for portable power products had been the focus of the forum. Huawei Telecommunications, on its part, conducted a session to highlight strategies for successful implementation of LTE technology. Keeping in tune with its theme, 'Leading the way with Digitization & Convergence', NDS solutions demonstrated the future of TV and how it can be delivered with its solutions.

Besides setting the stage ready for an all-pervasive broadband penetration in the country, Convergence 2011 also addressed another major challenge facing the industry, Green ICT. With Green ICT as one of its focus areas, the event sought to create awareness about green practices to the IT vendors and users, who are ready to tread the “green” path and vouch for a greener society and economy.   

More than 430 exhibitors from 25 countries including companies like Agilent, Aircel, C-DoT, Conax, Duraline, Ericsson, GTL, F-Secure, Intex, Harmonic, Huawei, Microqual, NDS, Nokia Siemens, Panasonic, RAD Data, Raychem, RFS, SIS, Viom networks and many other leading names in the ICT space were a part of this year's Convergence. Like any other year, Convergence 2011 showcased and promoted innovative technologies, new applications and products and services. This year too, business networking and establishing contacts with prospective partners and customers remained the topmost priority for many of the vendors participating in the event.

For more contact:
samrita@varindia.com