VARINDIA Showcases Technological Brilliance and Human Spirit in the 15th Edition of OITF

In a spectacular evening filled with enthusiasm and technological fervour, VARINDIA hosted the 15th edition of the Odisha Information Technology Fair (OITF) 2024. The event took place on 19th of January at the CROWN in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.  

The evening began highlighting the incredible power of technology as an enabler, emphasizing its role in propelling progress across various aspects of life, from art and science to engineering. As the 15th year of organizing the IT Fair in Bhubaneswar, VARINDIA has continually elevated the status and grandeur of the event, facilitating historic partnerships and ground-breaking thoughts for the country.

A significant highlight of the evening was the launch of the Second edition of the "Jewels of Odisha," - a coffee table book focusing on the Prominent Personalities of ODISHA who have made substantial contributions to the state, making India proud.

The theme of the event, "Digital Workplace Insights for 2024," was dedicated to the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Value-Added Resellers (VARs) of the Indian ICT Industry.  

OCAC, STPI, and ITAO, along with the presence of stalwarts from the Industry, Corporate world, and Partners at the event made the event more meaningful.  

Esteemed dignitaries including Shri. Prashanta Nanda, Member of Rajya Sabha- Govt. Of India; Padmashree Prof. Debi Prasanna Pattanayak, Chancellor- Centurion University; Surya Pattnaik, Director- STPI (Bhubaneswar); Dr. Subas Pani, Ex- Chief Secretary Odisha and Secretary to the Government of India; Prof. Arun Kumar Rath, Chairman & Prof.-Corporate Governance, CSR & Sustainability- IIM Nagpur; Manas Ranjan Panda, Special Secretary to Govt., E&IT Dept., Govt. of Odisha & M.D-OCAC ; A.K.Mohanty, MD-Tatwa Technologies; Satchi Mohanty, Lyricist; Tansen Singh, Odia Singer and T krishna Reddy, Prince Dance Group, graced the occasion.  

Setting the stage for the evening's proceedings, Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Editor-in-chief & Publisher, VARINDIA, delivered the welcome address.     

Gyana Ranjan Swain, Consulting Editor-VARINDIA, addressed the gathering, providing insights into the significance of the second edition of the "Jewels of Odisha," a coffee table book that features prominent personalities who have significantly contributed to the state.  

Sagar Rath, Associate Editor-Jewels of Odisha, provided insights into the project and how the team worked to find the Jewels in Odisha.  

The evening continued with key addresses from Dr. Subas Pani, Ex- Chief Secretary Odisha and Secretary to the Government of India, Honorable MP Shri. Prashanta Nanda, Member of Rajya Sabha- Govt. of India, Prof. Arun Kumar Rath, IAS (Retd), former Union Secretary Ministry of HRD and Adjunct Professor, IIM Nagpur, shared his insights into digital workplace trends.  

The Corporate presentations followed, featuring leaders like .Ranvijay Tiwari, Branch Manager- Aditya Infotech Pvt. Ltd. and Bhanu Uday, Co-Founder & CEO- Protelion India. 

A fireside chat session was conducted by Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu with A K Mohanty, Managing Director- Tatwa Technologies; Sandip Panda, CEO & Co-founder- Instasafe and Bhanu Uday, Co-Founder & CEO- Protelion India on how the start-ups are focussing Bhubaneswar as the destination.    

The event concluded with the much-anticipated recognition of the winners of the 14th VARINDIA IT Cup 2024. The VARINDIA IT Cup Cricket Tournament is a Corporate Cricket League with a vision to bring out the hidden talents of hardworking employees and provide them with an outlet to express themselves beyond the confines of their cubicles. The matches were held during weekends offering participants a much-needed escape from the 24x7 grind of corporate life. 

This year, 16 Corporates participated in the tournament, including BHUBANESWAR SMART CITY, BIPROS, BPO CONVERGENCE, CSM TECHNOLOGIES, E & IT Dept. Govt of Odisha, ESQUARE, ESSPL, GESIL, IBM, IN2IT TECHNOLOGIES, Incture, INOVAARE CLOUDS SOLUTIONS, TATWA TECHNOLOGIES, TCS, TECH MAHINDRA, and WIPRO.    

Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Publisher, VARINDIA and Ashok Mohapatra, Chairman Organising Committee, VARINDIA IT Cup, Manas Ranjan Panda, Special Secretary to Govt., E&IT Dept., Govt. of Odisha & M.D-OCAC; Surya Pattnaik, Director- STPI (Bhubaneswar); Haresh Mishra - Asst Director Sports & Youth Affairs Govt of Odisha; Anup Modi, Business Head Indigo Airlines; Susant Rout, Chairman LIT; Kesab Rao, Founder Green Chillies, and special guest Md Jafer Iqbal -International Visually Impaired Cricketer and President Cricket Association for the Visually Impaired Odisha, and Vice President Orissa Association for the Blind, recognized and felicitated the tournament winners.

 Bhubaneswar is counted amongst the best tier two towns for IT  

Dr. Subas Pani, Ex- Chief Secretary Odisha and Secretary to the Government of India

Recalling about the IT revolution in Odisha, it was way back in 1980, when I was with OSIC (Odisha Small Industries Corporation), the first PC was introduced to the state. It was none other than Azim Premji’s deputy, Mr Ashok Suta (the then Regional Head for Kolkata) who sold this PC to me. Thereafter I moved to OCAC (Odisha Computer Application Centre) and I stayed there for six years as Biju Patnaik thought that I was suitable for IT. During my years at OCAC, we did a lot of pioneering works in IT and IT application work in Odia in particular and other Indian languages in general in collaboration with CDAC. The first NASSCOM executive meeting was also held in Bhubaneswar in which the who’s who of the nascent IT industry like Narayana Murthy, Nandan Nilekani, were present. Narayana Murthy accompanied by his colleagues from Infosys came and saw the software work done by our young professionals and they were convinced that there is indeed a huge pool of talent in the state. While Mohandas Pai, the then CFO at Infosys was rooting for Mangalore, Mr Murthy was already eyeing Odisha to tap its potential. Today, Bhubaneswar can be counted amongst the best tier two towns for the IT industry. But to tell you frankly, I am not satisfied. My dream was to see close to 100,000 people working in software services industry, particularly in the software development operations. That has not taken off to the extent that we have potential for.   

The New Education Policy seeks to build a new India based on its rich heritage  

Prof. Arun Kumar Rath, Chairman & Prof.- Corporate Governance, CSR & Sustainability- IIM Nagpur  

I want to remind the people of two deadlines – one is 2047, when every Indian has to answer of what they have done on the completion of a century of India’s independence. So, in two decades from now, we have to be answerable of what we have done for the country and not what India has done for its people. The second deadline is even closer – 2036, this is the year when Odisha was formed. Odisha also happens to be the first state to be formed on linguistic lines, even before others came. In almost one decade, Odisha is going to complete 100 years of its gaining statehood. Every Odia has to answer then of what they have done for the state. So, to be able to answer to both these situations, we need to prepare first. I must say that we have done a lot. When I was the Secretary of Education, Govt. of India, the most satisfying work I did was to build the long-awaited fundamental right of every child – the Right to Education, which has now become the message for the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. NEP is trying to build India from two ends – the ancient heritage & ethos of India on one hand Information Technology on the other hand. The vision of NEP is to build a modern India based on the heritage and the rich culture of the country.  Yes, we are open to new thoughts and ideas but we also should not ignore our very own Upanishads, Mahabharata or the Bhagavad Gita. And that is what forms the core of this new NEP. 

The winners of the14th VARINDIA IT Cup 2024 were:  

Best Bowler of the Tournament: Mr. Kartikeswar Sethi from BPO Convergence  

The Man of the Tournament - Mr. Bikash Panda of CSM Technologies Pvt Ltd  

Tournament Officials: Sarat Sahoo & Sushant Dash  

The Best debut Teams : team GESIL and team Incture Technologies.   

The most Disciplined Team of 14th VARINDIA IT Cup 2024 was : E Square Tech. Pvt. Ltd.  

Runner Up Team: BPO Convergence 

And  The Champion of 14th VARINDIA IT Cup 2024:  CSM Technologies Pvt Ltd. 

The event concluded on a high note, with VARINDIA expressing gratitude to sponsors Intensity, CP Plus, and ESquare for their invaluable support in making the evening a grand success.