Echoing the reverberating success of its previous instalments, the Day 1 of IMC 2020 started amid much fervor. The first day not only welcomed the attendees with an inaugural speech by the Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, but also witnessed a profound congregation of renowned industry leaders sharing industry insiders and deliberating on the future of Digital Technology. The day hosted five different sessions, deliberating on ‘Industry 4.0 – Smart Workspaces and Industries, the Automation Way’; ‘CTO Conclave – Networks of Tomorrow – Transforming Networks for 5G Enablement’; ‘CEO Conclave – Inclusive Innovation – Bridging the Digital Divide’; ‘Telco Cloud – Frontier for Network Transformation’ and ‘Beyond 5G : Developing EU-IN Cooperation for the Next Generation of Standards’.
The day kick started at 9:45am with an inspiring welcome by Shri Anshu Prakash, Chairman Digital Communications Commission & Secretary (T), Department of Telecommunications, which was followed by speeches from Mr. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited and Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Enterprises; Shri Sanjay Dhotre, Hon’ble Minister of State for Communications, Education and Electronics & Information Technology; Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice. The inaugural address was delivered by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi. This was followed by a thanksgiving talk by Lt Gen Dr SP Kochhar, DG, COAI.
After Hon’ble Prime Minister’s address, speeches were delivered by Mr. Nunzio Mirtillo, Sr. Vice President and Head of Market Area South East Asia, Oceania & India, Ericsson; Mr. Arun Kumar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, KPMG in India; Mr. Gopal Vittal, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel Limited; Shri Sanjay Mashruwala, Managing Director, Reliance Jio Infocomm; Shri Ravinder Takkar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited and Vote of thanks by P. Ramakrishna, Chief Executive Officer, India Mobile Congress.
The inaugural session was followed by a sitting on Industry 4.0 – Smart Workspaces and Industries, the Automation Way. The session was moderated by Sushant Rabra from KPMG India and witnessed participation from Industry giants viz. Nokia Enterprise, Cisco System Inc., Dell EMC, Ericsson, Altran Technologies, Red Hat, Trumind software systems, Ciena India, KPMG India and Bharti Airtel Limited.
This was followed by a CTO Conclave Networks of tomorrow-Transforming network for 5G enablement. The session saw participation from organizations like Dell Technologies, Ribbon Communications, Ericsson, KPMG Asia Pacific, Red Hat Inc., Nokia India, Bharti Airtel Limited, Reliance Jio Infocomm, Vodafone Idea Ltd., STL Facebook, Ityukt Digital Solutions.
Likewise, deliberating on the digital divide, the following session was around the topic – CEO Conclave – Inclusive Innovation – Bridging the Digital Divide. Along with various industry giants this session was attended by the Union Defence Secretary Dr. Ajay Kumar (IAS).
Delving deeper into network transformation, there yet another session themed on Telco Cloud – Frontier for Network Transformation, in association with Accenture. This session registered participants from industry stalwarts like Red Hat Inc.; Bharti Airtel Limited, Vi (Vodafone Idea limited), KPMG India, reliance Jio Infocomm, Ericsson, Ribbon Communications, Mavenir, Nokia, Ciena India and STL.
Laying the ground work for the future of 5G, the last session of Day 1 hinged on the premise of ‘Beyond 5G: Developing EU-IN Cooperation for the Next Generation of Standards’. Representatives from various organizations viz DG Connect, NITI Aayog, ETSI, DDG(S-R-I), TSDSI, C-DOT, COAI, 5GIA and EU Delegation.
Another major highlight of the day was the launch of Thought Leader Report – CEO Outlook – Smart, Secure and Sustainable by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice.