'Innovation & Impact' will be the theme of the 21st edition of Bengaluru Tech Summit, to be held from November 29 to December 1.
The theme assumes significance in the wake of Bengaluru emerging to be the fourth largest technology cluster in the world after Silicon Valley, Boston, and London. The IT city is also making its mark in innovation and is home to over 4,000 active technology startups. Besides, Bengaluru is the only city in India to have featured among the 20 best startup eco-systems across the world.
The three-day event is being supported by organisations such as NASSCOM, IESA, TiE, ABAI, and Data Security Council of India (DSCI). The event will see participation from different countries, including the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Korea, and Japan. The different sessions will focus on various aspects of the theme, including technology leadership, emerging and futuristic technologies, and startups.
“The focus of our government has been on emerging technologies such as data science, artificial intelligence, IoT, machine learning, blockchain and drone technologies. The tech summit is expected to bring together tech experts, policy makers, industry leaders, tech startups, mentors, and venture capitalists for knowledge sharing sessions. Our government has also been working on improving the connectivity to smaller towns of Karnataka such as Gulbarga, Mysuru, and Bellary so that the industry can develop there as well,” said K.J. George, minister for large and medium scale industries, IT & BT and science & technology.
Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys, and chairman, Vision Group on IT, government of Karnataka, felt that technology is changing rapidly and the industry has to respond quickly to this changing technology. “Changing technology requires a vibrant ecosystem and with a large number of R&D establishments in Bengaluru alone, coupled with academic institutions such as the IISC, IIIT and IIM, the city has witnessed many new innovations. The tech summit will help in developing new opportunities. The Bengaluru tech summit will also provide a platform for industry leaders and practitioners to learn, work, collaborate across technology and sectors,” he said.
The event spectrum is expected to include multi-track conference, B2B expo, thought leaders conclave, IT export awards, bio excellence awards, and Bengaluru tech exchange among others. The conference is also expected to have over 250 expert speakers and around 3,500 delegates. More than 300 exhibitors are expected to showcase their services, products and technologies to more than 11,000 visitors.
“Reinvention in the field of IT is an on going process and emerging technologies such as big data and blockchain are currently blooming in the market and a lot is expected to be leveraged around this. This year’s theme being 'Innovation & Impact', we are looking forward to further clout the R&D bit and take technology to the next level,” said Krishnakumar Natarajan, CEO and MD, Mindtree and chairman, conference committee, Bengaluru Tech Summit 2018.