Ker to host first Global digital Summit at Kochi

Infosys Non Executive Chairman Nandan Nilekani and Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan are among those who will be participating in the first Global digital summit being held at Kochi on March 22 and 23.

The conference aims to showcase Kerala as an Information Technology destination.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Joseph Sirosh, Head of Artificial Intelligence-Microsoft will be addressing the 2000 odd delegates through video conferencing.

'Towards a Digital Future' is the theme of the conference, '#Future', which will see the convergence of entrepreneurs, academicians and key influencers and other stakeholders in the Knowledge industry from across the globe, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, told reporters here.

World renowned IT experts will be participating in the conclave, he said.

Like the Kerala Travel Mart in the tourism sector, the IT companies are getting together to launch the new platform, he said.

S D Shibulal, Former CEO and Managing Director of Infosys and Chairman, High Power IT Committee (HPIC) Kerala Government said this platform is meant to bring together various participants, mostly Keralites, government, academia, various industries and entrepreneurs.

The conference will discuss emerging trends, ground realities and opportunities that would help individuals, enterprises and entrepreneurs to compete and lead in a digital world.

V K Mathews, CEO IBS Software Services and member HPIC, said the purpose of #FUTURE is to inspire and energise people towards a knowledge-driven digital future and prepare them to seize the emerging opportunities.

This would help facilitate the accelerated growth of the IT/ digital opportunities.

The conference will be held once in two years, he said.

Over 30 speakers will be addressing six sessions--'The Digital Future of Travel and Transportation, 'Data: Oil of the Digital Future', 'The Digital future of Health and Sustainability', 'The digital future of education and skills' and 'Technology disruption and inclusion'.

The conference will be presided by Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, on the inaugural day.

Christoph Mueller, Chief Digital and Innovation Officer- Emirates Group, Arun Kumar, Chairman and CEO KPMG India, Vindo Vasudevan, Group CEO Flytxt, Anuradha Acharya, Founder and CEO Mapmygenome, Krish Gopalakrishnan, former CEO and Co founder Infosys and member HPIC and Gita Gopinath, Harvard Professor and Financial Advisor to Chief minister, will be among those participating and addressing various sessions.

About 2000 delegates will be participating in the six sessions.

The summit will be the first-ever completely digitised event in the State using mobile-based services for registration, entry and communication during the meet, M Sivasankar, IT Secretary said.