Global Leaders of Knowledge Industry to Converge in Kochi for Digital Summit

KOCHI:
Leading lights and top business leaders of the knowledge industry from across the globe will congregate in Kochi as the Kerala government holds a two-day Global Digital Summit, #FUTURE, on March 22-23 to spark a stimulating debate on unprecedented synergy between new age technologies and development and hammer out an actionable roadmap that would position the state as a hub for digital innovation and investment and accelerate its growth across various business sectors.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the path-breaking event on March 22 at Le Meridien hotel, which is to be attended by nearly 2,000 professionals, entrepreneurs, academicians, key influencers, startups and corporate bodies. ‘Towards a Digital Future’ is the theme of the big ticket event, where over 30 stalwarts from the spheres of IT, banking, retail, health, education, and travel & transportation will share insights on the opportunities, emerging trends and ground realities that would help enterprises compete and lead in a digital world.
“#FUTURE will be the most high-profile IT event ever conducted in Kerala. It will unleash the digital achievements of the state and its potential as a consumption-ready digital market place. Envisaged as a biennial event, it seeks to create and foster a network of digital achievers and inspire them to participate in the digital ambitions of the state,” said SD Shibulal, Chairman High Power IT Committee, Govt. of Kerala.
“This would be a wonderful opportunity for Kerala-based companies, startups, aspiring entrepreneurs and individuals to understand directly from some of the brightest minds in the world about emerging trends in the digital space and what the future holds for them. Disruptive technological forces are set to revolutionize the way businesses are being done. Kerala cannot afford to be left behind,” he added.
A brainchild of Kerala’s High Power IT Committee (HPIC) headed by Infosys Co-Founder S.D. Shibulal, the two-day conclave will debate on disruptive technologies, lay down the roadmap for Kerala on the technological front and inspire and energise people towards a knowledge-driven digital future.
V K Mathews and Rajesh Nair, members of the High Power IT Committe also spoke.
A direct outcome of the event will be the formation of a ‘Digital Achievers Network of Kerala Origin’, numbering around 150. The members of this network will, on a collective and individual basis, become the brand ambassadors of Kerala. This network will also serve as an ideation platform for championing the cause of Kerala to become a hub for the knowledge industry.
The topics for panel discussions are: ‘The digital future of travel & transportation’; ‘Data: Oil of the digital future’; ‘The digital future of health & sustainability’; ‘The digital future of education & skills’; ‘Technology disruption and inclusion’; and ‘The digital future of banking finance and retail’.
Raghuram Rajan, former RBI Governor; Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder and non-Executive Chairman, Infosys; Kris Gopalakrishnan, former CEO of Infosys and member of HPIC; Gita Gopinath, Professor, Harvard University; Azad Mooppen, Founder-Chairman, Aster DM Healthcare; Ajith J Thomas, Professor, Harvard Medical School; Shibulal, Chairman, HPIC, and V K Mathews and Duleep Sahadevan, members of HPIC, are among the global leaders in technology and finance who will brainstorm on the massive technological and economic changes taking place the world over.
The other well-known speakers at the event include Byju Raveendran, founder of Byju’s educational portal; besides top executives of Cisco Systems, Volvo India, Flytxt BV, UST Global, Lufthansa Group, Emirates Group, Dell EMC, Innovation Incubator Inc, Federal Aviation Administration, Mapmygenome, INSEAD, FLYTXT, NASSCOM, E&Y and KPMG. Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft and Mr Joseph Sirosh, Head of Artificial Intelligence of the company will lend their presence at the event through video conference.
The valedictory session on March 23 will be attended by Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala, IT Secretary M Sivasankar, NASSCOM President R. Chandrashekhar, KPMG India Chairman Arun Kumar and Kris Gopalakrishnan.
A major highlight of the event is the digital experience theatre — a state of the art, virtually simulated and interactive platform — that would be set up at the venue of the event. Select global companies from different verticals undergoing digital transformation will provide a wholesome digital life-style experience to visitors. This exclusive, one of a kind experience will enable delegates to have a sneak preview of what the future in those verticals would look like.
Also, #FUTURE will be the first-ever completely digitised event in Kerala using mobile-based services for registration, entry and communication. True to its digital premise, entry for the requested delegates would be seamless during the summit. QR codes will be used for entry instead of ID cards. Delegates can get in touch with the speakers through Microsoft-based platform Kaizala, which enhances the conference experience using artificial intelligence. Major industry bodies like NASSCOM, Confederation of Indian Industry, TiE, Kerala Management Association, and GTECH are the industry partners for #FUTURE. Ernst & Young is the Knowledge Partner.
Registrations for the Summit are underway and can be done on www.towardsfuture.in