Sabeer Bhatia, founder and CEO of Hotmail, a 1996 start-up that offers free web-based e-mail services, will be in India this August to attend the New Delhi Internetworld show.
According to the list of world Internetworld shows on www.internetworld.com, he is one of the keynote speakers at the Indian show. Bhatia sold his company earlier in the year to Microsoft.
The Internetworld show is the first service from Micromedia, an offshoot of the Bangalore-based Rs 181-crore Microland. Micromedia tied up with Mecklermedia to bring this show to India in November 1997.
The show is credited to be one of the largest contributors to the growth of the Internet market. There are 25 such shows held in 27 countries.
The Chicago show, which is expected to start next week, is expected to bring in 60,000 business visitors. Mecklermedia, a publishing company, started these shows in 1993.
Kalpana Kar, director, Microland, is reluctant to reveal details of the show. "We will bring in the creators of technology. For instance, we could have the guys who implemented Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) for General Electric and Ford to talk about web-based EDI. We could have a talk on Active X (Microsoft's technology for a common web language) versus Java (Sun Microsystems Technology)," she, however, said.
Micromedia has been set up to boost the Internet market.
In addition to this show, which is to be an annual event, the company will get into publishing about the Internet market, market research and create an online community.
The online community will showcase new web technology in India and feature new uses of the web. It will also carry market research on the industry in the country.
"It is an online forum for creators, facilitators, investors and users. It will be backed by advertisements from net-based services and products," said Kar.
The online service seems to be modelled on the lines of Mecklermedia's www.internetworld.com.
But this online service will be provided entirely by Micromedia in India.
Microland was set up in 1989 to offer networking services to enterprise customers.
The privately held company was founded by Pradeep Kar who holds a large equity stake in addition to other venture capital funds.
The funds that have invested in the company include Technology Investment and Development Corporation, GE Caps, Housing Development Finance Corporation and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services.
