PM to inaugurate Nasscom annual event on tech for 'better normal'

IT industry body Nasscom on Friday said its annual NTLF event this year will focus on the road ahead for a hyper-digital future and the importance of responsible tech, and will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The 29th edition of NTLF (Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum)- which will be held online for the first time in its history - is scheduled for February 17-19.

The Prime Minister will be addressing the inaugural session at the forum this year.

Speaking to PTI, Nasscom Senior Vice-President and Chief Strategy Officer Sangeeta Gupta said 2020 - with the pandemic - has been a disruptive year across industries and sectors alike.

"However, it also brought technology to the forefront of business like never before. Adoption of digital technologies has accelerated at a rapid pace and technology is playing a critical role in how we live, work, and communicate in this new normal," she said.

Gupta noted that this shift has also made organisations re-write the playbooks on aspects like trust and ethics, privacy, culture, future of work, and responsible use and build of tech.

"NTLF 2021's overarching theme is 'shaping the future towards a better normal'. It aims to achieve three key objectives celebrating technology that has served as a backbone for businesses during the crisis, draw a roadmap for the way ahead towards building a hyper-digital future, and bring out the importance of trust and responsible tech in this hyper virtual world," she added.

Gupta said the event will create a collaborative learning experience where industry leaders will discuss some of the pressing topics such as the role of leadership in the new normal; opportunities that lie ahead; embedding the values of organisational culture; and will discuss trends in emerging areas like healthcare, energy, cybersecurity, among others.

The three-day event will have stalwarts from the Indian and global technology industry, C-level executives and expert academics, including Arvind Krishna (IBM Chairman and CEO), Chuck Robbins (Cisco Chairman and CEO), Eric S Yuan (Zoom founder and CEO), Julie Sweet (Accenture CEO) and Steve Brown (Futurist, Author and Motivational Speaker).

Aiman Ezzat (Capgemini Group CEO), Anant Maheshwari (Microsoft India President), Salil Parekh (Infosys CEO and MD), Thierry Delaporte (Wipro CEO and MD), C Vijayakumar (HCL Technologies President and CEO), Keshav R Murugesh (WNS Group CEO) and Tiger Tyagarajan (Genpact CEO) and other renowned dignitaries will also attend the event.

The virtual forum is expected to witness over 16,000 attendees across over 50 sessions and will host more than 65 practitioners, subject matter experts and leaders.