KOZHIKODE:
Kerala’s upcoming first-ever global IT summit, #Future, will set in motion the process to locate high quality and experienced people from the knowledge sector who can contribute to the future of the state, according to M. Sivasankar, IT Secretary, Government of Kerala.
The event is slated to be held on March 22 and 23 at Le Meridien Hotel in Kochi, where over 30 speakers will share their expertise. Nandan Nilekani, Non-Executive Chairman, Infosys; Raghuram Rajan, former RBI Governor; Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder Paytm and Gita Gopinath, Professor, Harvard University; are among the key speakers at the event.
#Future will be attended by 2,000 professionals, entrepreneurs, academicians, key influencers and other stakeholders from across the globe.
“It will take time. But the High Power IT Committee (HPIC) feels that there is a very important requirement of people, who are working in key positions in the knowledge sector, to come together and collectively come to certain view points on how things are changing—whether Kerala is equipped to these changes and how to help Kerala ride the change,” Sivsankar said.
“The largest number of startups in robotics sector is in Kerala. There is a group of people, who identify the opportunities. So the event is about to present the change that is happening here now and how we are equipped to take advantage of it. It’s a forum to debate our strength and do preparations to address the change,” Sivasankar pointed out at a ramp up of the event held at Taj Gateway Hotel here on Tuesday.
“The event sets the stage for the gathering of senior level professionals from Kerala working in IT sector. Apart from discussing the imminent big-ticket changes, it will deliberate how Kerala can take advantage of the changes in each sector to attain the leadership role,” he added.
Dr. Saji Gopinath, CEO, Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), said the agency would ensure that the ideas generated by the meet would be promptly followed up.
“We believe that it’s important that if something possibly happens in this event, there should be a continuity to that. We must ensure that the follow-up is done. We have recruited a team, who will focus on this aspect,” Dr. Saji Gopinath said.
“We are trying to showcase the hidden gems of Kerala and bring global perspectives on the emerging space.”
Hrishikesh Nair, CEO of Kerala IT Parks; Duleep Sahadevan, CEO, Software Associate and Member of HPIC were also present on the occasion. Holding the summit is one of the major recommendations of the HPIC, chaired by founder member of Infosys S.D. Shibulal.
Other key speakers at #Future will include Joseph Sirosh, Head of AI, Microsoft; Ajith. J. Thomas, Professor, Harvard Medical School; Arun. M. Kumar, Chairman and CEO, KPMG India; Cristoph Meuller, Chief Digital and Innovation Officer, Emirates Group; Dr. Thomas Zacharia, Director, Oak Ridge, National Laboratory; Ankush Patel, CEO, Treeni Sustainability Solutions; BG Sreenivas, Group Managing Director and Executive Director, PCCW; Dijo Alexander, Fellow- Weatherhead School of Management and Head Technology, Callidus Cloud; Dinu John Parel, CIO, Dover Corporation; Natesh Manikoth, Chief Data Officer, Federal Aviation Administration; Anuradha Acharya, CEO, Mapmygenome; and Roland Schutz, Group CIO, Lufthansa.
