8th OITF sees a resounding success with industry support

[Inaugural Ceremony( From L-R) Mr. Praveen Kalugotla, Dir.-Product Sales- NetApp India, Mr. Dinkar Adlakha, V.P-Govt. & PSU- EMC India, Mr. Mohit Puri – Head Pre Sales, India & SAARC – Sophos Technologies, Shri Deepak K. Sahu, Chief editor, VARINDIA, Mr. Sudipta Datta, Zonal Head – East, Bus. Dev.-Tally Solutions, Dr. Y.V.S. Lakshmi, Head-Marketing, C-DOT Bangalore, Shri. Priyadarshi Mishra, MLA, Bhubaneswar, Mr. Aishyakant Mohanty, M.D.- Tatwa Infotech, Mr. R.N Palai, ITS, Spl. Secy. to Govt., IT Department, GoO, Mr. Aashish Sharma, National Sales Manager, NVS&BIS-CANON India, Mr. Prashant Gupta, Sr. Consultant- Deloitte, Mr. Santosh Abraham, AVP-NASSCOM Foundation]

Following the trail of the recently announced 20 Smart Cities in India, the 8th Odisha Information Technology Fair – 2016 (OITF) dwelled upon the success by discussing on how Bhubaneshwar has geared to emerge as a Smart City. The event saw participation from across verticals – government dignitaries, IT heads, corporate honchos, distributors and the business partners from the state of Odisha.

Shri. Priyadarshi Mishra, MLA, Bhubaneshwar, who graced the occasion as a Special Guest, marked the beginning of the event by lighting the ceremonial lamp and he was joined by other dignitaries included Mr. R. N. Palai, ITS, Special Secretary to the Government, IT Department, GoO; Dr. Y. V. S. Lakshmi, Head – Marketing, C-DoT, Bangalore; Mr. Dinkar Adlakha, Vice-President – Government & PSUs, EMC India; Mr. Praveen Kalugotla, Director – Product Sales, NetApp India; Mr. Mohit Puri, Head – Pre-Sales, India & SAARC, Sophos Technologies; Mr. Sudipta Datta, Zonal Head – East, Business Development,Tally Solutions; Mr. Aishyakant Mohanty, Managing Director, Tatwa Infotech; Mr. Aashish Sharma, National Sales Manager, NVS & BIS, Canon India; Mr. Prashant Gupta, Director- Deloitte; Mr. Santosh Abraham, AVP, NASSCOM Foundation and Mr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Chief Editor, VARINDIA.

Deepak Sahu, Chief Editor, VARINDIA while addressing the august audience, remarked at the fabulous digital story that India is seeing. “Digital transformation is now a primary agenda for C-suite executives in India. It has been found that 74% companies surveyed in India are already on their way to digitally transforming their businesses, while 26% plan to embark on the transformation journey over the next 12-24 months. They are already experiencing an average of 8% revenue growth as a direct result of their digital transformation efforts, and they expect to reach nearly 14% by 2017.”
Shri. Priyadarshi Mishra, MLA, Bhubaneswar, in his speech expressed happiness at the fact that Bhubaneshwar has been identified as the first smart city in the country. “To be included in the first 20 cities is, indeed, a great honour for us. A potential Smart City should have assured water and electricity supply, sanitation and solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transport, affordable housing, robust IT connectivity, e-governance, safety and security of citizens and health, education and economic activities. And we will ensure that we will spend around Rs.200 crore every year to make these facilities available in Bhubaneswar.”

Mr. R. N. Pillai, Spl. Secretary-IT, Government of Odisha spoke about the opportunitities for the Bhubaneshwar and readiness for the smart city in terms of Infrastructure and other key factors to be implemented in the city soon.

In the corporate presentations section, Canon, Cyberoam, Sophos, NetApp, EMC and Tally shared their vision of their respective companies with the audience.

Towards the end of the event, a panel discussion entitled “Readiness of Bhubaneshwar to be the Smart City”, was conducted that was chaired by Mr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Chief Editor, VARINDIA. VARINDIA in the past 8 years has been using this platform to aggressively talk on various subjects related to Cloud, Security, Technology Orchestration and taking industry’s perspective on it. The discussion with the insights of the panellists threw light on how innovative technologies can be used to make the city smart and liveable. The panellists who participated in this discussion included Mr. Santosh Abraham, AVP, NASSCOM Foundation; Mr. Dinkar Adlakha, VP – Government & PSUs, EMC India; Mr. Prashant Gupta, Director, Deloitte; Mr. R. N. Palai, ITS, Special Secretary to the Government, IT Department, GoO; Dr. Y. V. S. Lakshmi, Head – Marketing, C-DoT, Bangalore and Mr. Afroz Khan, Regional Sales Manager, NetApp – India.

[Panel Discussion( From L to R):Panel members : Mr. Santosh Abraham, AVP-NASSCOM Foundation, Mr. Dinkar Adlakha,V.P-Govt. & PSU- EMC India, Mr. Prashant Gupta,Sr. consultant- Deloitte, Mr. R.N Palai, ITS, Spl. secy. to Govt., IT department,GoO, Dr. Y.V.S. Lakshmi, Head-Marketing, C-DOT Bangalore and Mr. Afroz Khan – Regional Sales Manager, NetApp-India]

The forum also took the opportunity to honour the real heroes who have shaped the IT landscape in the state of Odisha. Companies like Ashirbad Computer & Services, Tristar Software and Solutions Private Ltd, Tatwa Technologies Ltd, E Square Systems & Technologies Private Ltd, Printlink Computer and Communication Private Ltd, Info Care Solutions Private Ltd and CSM Technologies won the awards in the segments of Best VAR -Odisha, Best Software Services – Odisha, Best Technology Services, Best System Integrator, Best Distributor, Best Reseller – Odisha and Best IT Consulting Services – Odisha respectively.

The event also saw the winners of the 6th VARINDIA Cup 2016 getting felicitated amidst loud cheers and applause. Infosys won the 6th VARINDIA Cup Champion Trophy, while MindTree was announced as the runners-up. Mr Sujaya Moukhapadhaya of Infosys was adjudged the Man of the Match for the final match and Man of the Tournament award went to Mr Bikashraj Swain of MindTree.