Last month , we had Connect 2004 – an annual Enterprise ICT conference & exhibition in Chennai. The event is organized by CII with the support of Government of Tamilnadu aimed at promoting IT companies of Tamilnadu. From Vishwak, we had exhibited in the event.
Mr.Jayakumar (Minister of Law & IT – Govt. Of Tamilnadu) inaugurated the event. In our stall, we were giving free mugs with our corporate branding for visitors. While Mr.Jayakumar visited our Stall along with IT Ministers of Govt. of Nepal and Govt. of Thailand, looking at the mugs he remarked that we should be giving “Mugs filled with Tea, instead of empty mugs” :-). I was surprised to find a sense of humour present with a busy minister that too just after a hectic event.
During the four-day event, adjacent to the exhibition hall was the conference centre. Many latest IT industry and business topics by eminent speakers were presented.
On Day 1, there was discussion on 3G Wireless trends, presented by Prof.Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT Chennai.
On Day 2, Mr.Azim Premji of Wipro talked about the importance of taking computers to village childrens. Here computers are more for CBT (Computer Based/Aided Training) instruments, making the learning experience richer on basic subjects like Physics, Biology, Geography; rather than for teaching computer programming. Mr.Premji also talked about giving Food Stamps to Village housewives to buy food grains instead of public distribution system.
On Day 3, Mr.Noshir Khory of Motorola USA, talked on the reason of emergence of Six Sigma. The forces/factors within Motorola that led to the implementation of Six Sigma. He mentioned on how Japanese Fusion, Innovative Manufacturing techniques helps in manufacturing. He presented his belief that “IT” is a support industry for “Manufacturing” industry and “Manufacturing” is the key to a country’s economic growth. Couple of his quotes that I enjoyed was “Good Data with Critical Thinking leads to knowledge”, “To improve customer satisfaction is based on how do you turn a mundane activity into a pleasurable experience”. To my surprise he was the only speaker who used OverHead Projector (OHP) and not a PowerPoint :-)