Yesterday I had the privilege of attending two high-profile events in New Delhi.
Number 1, was the Microsoft and Hutch press conference announcing the signing of a Letter of Intent between the two companies to offer Windows Live Services in Hutch Mobile soon. This will be the first mobile search deal in the country. The service will offer Windows Live Services like Search through WAP & SMS, Live Messenger & Live Mail in Mobile in a phased rollout plan. The event was attended by senior leaders from both Microsoft (Steve Ballmer, Ravi Venkatesan, Jaspreet Bindra) and Hutch (Azim Ghose, Sandip Das, Naveen Gupta). Felt great to be near these industry stalwarts.
Number 2, was a panel discussion of Industry Stalwarts moderated by Dr Pranoy Roy of NDTV with the keynote being delivered by His Excellency President of India Dr Abdul Kalam. This was the first talk of President Dr Kalam that I listened – his energy and sincerity for the betterment of India is fantastic.
President of India in Microsoft’s Bridging the two Indias. (Courtesy: www.presidentofindia.nic.in)
For two minutes once he reminded you, that you can refer more on this topic on his website including the PowerPoint Slides, and if you differ on his views you can please email him and he (his team) will respond within 24 hours. I was proud that Indians have such an enthusiastic technology-savvy president. SteveB who came next on stage had to say I feel embarrassed coming after your president because I neither have a PowerPoint slide for today’s talk nor a website for myself.
Some interesting points came up during the event:
- India has One-Third of the World’s Software Engineers and it has the same number of children suffering from malnutrition (Shame on every Indian)
- President recommended his plan for Bandwidth to be set up and given free – just like how the government today do other basic infrastructures like Roads free
- The more someone is educated they will use lesser the bandwidth – Computer Experts People will do Text/Email (lowest B/W), Computer Savvy will use VoIP (Medium B/W), Illiterates will use Video Phones (Highest B/W)
Spot me in Extreme Right in front of the Lady in Cream Dress (Courtesy: presidentofindia.nic.in)