ODISHA IT CONCLAVE 2018- Hotel Swosti Premium, Bhubaneswar 

THE EVENT WITTNESSED PRIDE OF ODISHA & PREFERRED IT BRAND AWARDS

The recent IT Conclave event organised in Bhubaneswar, Odisha by the IT Association of Odisha (ITAO) was a daylong conference on Information Technology products and services. The focus of the event was on smarter city and better lifestyle services for the citizens of Odisha. The Conclave had the key theme as ‘Smart City Smart Link’ which is a perfect blend of technology and ease of living for all people of the state and the Smart City Bhubaneswar Authority along with various Departments of Govt. of Odisha for a joint endeavour in future days.

The event was inaugurated by Priyadarshi Mishra, MLA - Bhubaneswar, North- Govt. of Odisha; Ashok Meena, IAS, Principal Secretary, GA & PG, Government of Odisha;Omkar Rai, DG-STPI; R.N Palai, ITS, Spl. Secy. to Govt., IT department, Govt. of Odisha; Deepak Kumar Sahu,Publisher & Chief editor-VARINDIA; Dan Mishra, Chairman - CSDC Corporation; Sunil Mohapatra, Director, Sales – Adobe; Satyajit Satapathy,Director,sales – EPSON India; Chandrahas Panigrahi, CMO-ACER and Soubhagya Routray, President-ITAO.

Soubhagya Routray, President, ITAO addressed the gathering in his inaugural address on the growth of the IT industry in Odisha and enumerated the huge number of stakeholders of ITAO in Odisha. “We are trying to provide a common platform for mobilizing the IT resources and utilize the same for generating awareness and mass employment,” he said.

Ashok K. Meena, Principal Secretary, Electronics & Information Technology Department, Govt. of Odisha spoke about how using the benefits of Information Technology in everyday life is now a common phenomenon. “We want to develop a dynamic IT ecosystem for the robust use of IT solutions in public delivery and other infrastructure development in our Smart City Bhubaneswar and also across the state,” he said in his Inaugural Session. “Great changes are taking place in IT Sector covering the entire world. The Start-ups and Entrepreneurs, the local talents need to scale up their innovations with home grown solutions by embedding themselves with IT majors. To create localised solutions for public service delivery is very much necessary. Those new companies that are coming to Odisha into product and services for investments or newer opportunities, I would say one thing that is partnership, partnership and partnership with the local partners and entrepreneurs.”

“The IT and Electronic sector in Odisha is growing at a good speed. The Centre of Excellence on Virtual Reality (VR) at IIT, Bhubaneswar is a unique initiative and a model for others to boost the IT sector in the state,” said Dr Omkar Rai, Director General - STPI.

Dan Mishra, Chairman and CEO-CSDC said, “There is a saying which says that when a wave comes, either you swim or sink. This is true with the digital wave too, where the level of preparedness decides how well you would be able to adapt to digitization. When I left India in 1969, computer technology was still at a nascent stage.  There were only 4 computers in the country at that time. I remember travelling to Bombay to do our programming project. The other 2 were in Kolkata and 1 in Delhi. In computer programming, ‘Zero defect’ is very important and this determines the success of a business. The ancient computer systems however no longer exist but the heritage still remains and we have all readily accepted it.”

Priyadarshi Mishra, MLA, Bhubaneswar North and Rudra Narayan Palai Special Secretary& CEO, E&IT Dept, Govt. of Odisha were the other guests on the dais during the session. IT majors like Adobe, CSDC, Epson, Quadgen, Polycom participated in the conclave with their next level IT products and collaboration prospects in Odisha.

The Plenary session on ‘Smart City Smart Link’ was moderated by Deepak Sahu, Group Editor VARINDIA while the panel consisted of eminent stalwarts like R.N. Palei, Special Secy. E&IT GoO and CEO-OCAC; Sunil Mohapatra, Director South East Asia Region, Adobe; Dan Mishra, Chairman CSDC & Exec. Chairman ICAD Investments LLC; Satyajit Satpathy, Director Sales and Marketing, Epson;  Santosh Amnigad, Director, Projects, Quadgen Wireless Solutions Inc. and Sujit Panigrahi, Co-Founder and CTO, Convergent Technologies.

Deepak Sahu spoke about how Bhubaneswar, Odisha has emerged as the first smart city in the country. “There is a lot of technological and intellectual advancement in our people. Smart and connected products are bringing people closer. The data from various fields is helping smarten the smart city. These can be used to coordinate traffic, early warning systems for disasters among others. Bhubaneswar has lot of BPOs and KPOs. Many companies have shifted centre from Delhi to Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar needs to go smart and digital. Smart cities should help increase quality of life and last mile connectivity,” he said.

RN Palai spoke on engaging citizens in the process. “There would be tremendous pressure in the city due to urban expansion. Most of the people in the country live in cities. But India lives in the villages. Lot of migration has to happen. Influx of population to the city is going on. The urban administration has to work in a futuristic manner and catch up with the technology. An investment to the human capital and Social Capital has to be made to create sustainable development. Bhubaneswar is far better than other cities without too much technological intervention. We have natural light, water utilisation, efficient lighting and transport. A smart grid of Wi-Fi is needed to make everyone connected. The Govt. is working on making all public services online within a frame of one year. It’s a long and steady process for ease of citizens.”

Sunil Mohapatra is his speech said,“Digital era is an age of experience. We have to find ways on how to extend the IT experience to the consumer. We are making citizen friendly technology available to government. For example citizens can obtain their certificates from the government directly by using IT services and Real time data and growth - It is all about experience. We enable our partners to coordinate with the local government and take things forward.”

Dan Mishra said, “Thousands of computer programs do not make a smart city. A smart city is a liveable and lovable city. One should be happy and feel safe in the city. You cannot make anything smarter over years. Today will be far behind tomorrow. People change and times change. If you take a longer time to develop solutions, it will be obsolete by the time of completion. Innovate today and develop tomorrow’s solutions today.”

Satyajit Satpathy said, “Smart city is not about free Wi-Fi;this notion has to be eliminated. Smart city is much beyond our present thinking. By 2020 we expect 600 global smart cities which will generate 60% of global GDP. A gamete of products has to form a proper technology. Data Analytics is one of the most important things that would add value to these initiatives. A convenient lifestyle for the citizens is what is needed. Citizens have to be a part of the proceedings. There has to be a blend of technology and citizens. All departments and citizens have to collaborate. Let them be a part of the system and policies.”

Santosh Amingadsaid, “Smart City Mission is to develop core infrastructure and provide adequate facility to people. We are dedicated to install a Fibre data grid for 680 km across Bhubaneswar. We are further working on setting up an IT core around the city and data centres, smart parking, and smart traffic management services. Once it is developed, there would be enough opportunities to help the citizens in the end.The ultimate goal of technology is to make life easy for everyone.”

Panel Discussion on "Smart City Smart Link"
Moderated by: Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Publisher and Group editor, VARINDIA

Sujit Panigrahi,Co-founder& CTO-Convergent Technologies spoke on how a smart city has to provide happiness and liveability. “We need to build a generation of healthy children and healthy citizens. We should provide education to all people irrespective of their background. We need to create enough work for people to earn a living. We have to get paperless transactions and home delivery of govt. services. Simplifying life for services, amenities, jobs, happiness, and children has to be our priority.”

The conclave witnessed two unique sets of awards being given. The Pride of Odisha Awards were given to outstanding Odia contributors for the growth of the IT Industry around the world. The ITAO Preferred Brand Awards were chosen and voted among the IT community in Bhubaneswar and were given to the most reliable products, manufacturers and service providers across segments.

Pride of Odisha Awards:

WINNERS
1.    Santosh Kumar Sahoo, CEO & managing Partner, Computer Lab Pvt. Ltd.
2.    Sunil Mohapatra, Director, South Asia Region, ADOBE
3.    Deepak Kumar Sahu, Publisher & Group editor, VARINDIA
4.    Chandrahas Panigrahi, CMO & Consumer Business Head, Acer India
5.    Satyajit Satpathy, Director, Sales& Marketing, EPSON India

IATO President Soubhagya Routray while felicitating the winners said, “We feel honouredto felicitate the Pride of Odisha winners in the IT Sector. These individuals are role models and made our state proud with their brands globally.”

The event also witnessed 12 Preferred Brand Awards being voted by IATO members.

Pride of Odisha

Sunil Mohapatra Director Sales Adobe	Chandrahas Panigrahi CMO & Consumer Business Head Acer India	Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu Publisher and Group editor  VARINDIA