ETV

ETV on Air Dialogue on “Unlocking India’s Digital Potential” was organized by ETV with support from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on 9th December, 2016 at Hotel Lalit, Barakhamba Avenue, Connaught Place, New Delhi. Purpose of this dialogue was to create the awareness of the Digital Potential of India and bridging the digital divide between urban and rural India. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Govt. of India was the Chief Guest. Eminent personalities of telecom sectors along with government officials and about 100 delegates from different educational institutes participated in this dialogue.

Prof. Vinod Kumar, HOD - Electronics & Communication Engineering Department from Dronacharya Group of Institutions, Greater Noida attended the session.

The session was inaugurated at 04:30 PM with the welcome of Guest of Honor Shri P. P. Choudhary, Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Electronics and IT, Govt. of India and dignitaries on the dais by ETV news network representatives with bouquets followed by lighting of lamp. Session started with introductory remarks by Shri Jagdeesh Chandra, Channel Head, ETV news network. In his address, he spoke about the initiative taken by BSNL and budget allocated by Govt. of India for Digital India Program. Shri Chandra strongly pronounced to popularize the Digital India Program through his channel for the benefit of common man of India.

Shri P. P. Choudhary addressed the audience and highlighted the advantages of Digital India Program, an initiative taken by his govt. He shared his experience on how he resolved the problems of the people of his constituency (PALI in Rajasthan) through e-Darbar while sitting in Delhi (Power of Digital India Initiative). Shri Choudhary said that if we want to become Digital, we have to focus on train ourselves in Digital Infrastructure, Digital Services and Digital Empowerment. After his keynote address, two panel discussions were held on the following topics:

1. Government and Industry Perspective – Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities ahead.

2. Regulatory roadmap and key priorities for realizing a ‘Digital India’.

3. Unlocking India’s Digital Potential by bridging the digital divide: Why flagship initiatives such as Digital India must take Bharat along.

First Panel Discussion started at 04:55 PM with the opening remarks by the moderator of the panel Shri Hemant Joshi, Partner, Deloitte. The other distinguished panelists were as follows:

1. Shri Neeraj Kataria - Director - Smart Cities, Telecom and Digital Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

2. Shri Prashanto K Roy - Vice President & Head, Internet, Mobile & E-Commerce Council, NASSCOM.

3. Shri Sandeep Arora - Director - Marketing and Market Development, Intel India.

4. Shri Sandeep Bhargava - Executive Vice President - Corporate Affairs & Public Policy, Vodafone India Limited.

5. Shri Sanjay Kumar - GM-Sales & Marketing - Corporate, BSNL.

6. Shri Umang Das - Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on e-Governance & Digital India.

In his opening remarks, Shri Hemant Joshi categorized the Digital India Program in two parts. First being the one is before Demonetization and the second after Demonetization. Highlights of the discussion were:

1. Different ways and means by which population of villages is to be trained.

2. Definition of Infrastructure to be clarified.

3. Clarity of mindset.

4. To resolve the inter-operability issues by using Aadhar Enabled POS.

Shri Jaideep Dhagat, National Business Head - Govt. & Event (PAN India), ETV news network rendered vote of thanks to the eminent panelists of the session.

Second Panel Discussion started at 05:50 PM with the opening remarks by the moderator of the panel Shri Shyamal Ghosh, 1965 Batch IAS officer, Former Secretary, Department of Telecom, Govt. of India and Former Administrator, USO Fund and Former Chairman, Telecom Commission; Chairman, IPTV Society. The other distinguished panelists of this panel discussion were as follows:

1. Shri Shehzad Azad - Chief Business Officer, Spice Digital having 20 years of experience.

2. Shri Subrata Kumar Mitra - Director - Public & Govt. Affairs, Huawei Telecommunications India.

3. Shri Tanmoy Chakrabarty - Vice President & Head, Govt. Industry Solution Unit - ISU, Tata Consultancy Services.

4. Shri Tilak Raj Dua - Director General, Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association.

5. Shri Udai Singh - Chief Strategy Office, NIIT Limited.

Shri Tanmoy Chakrabarty said that India is holding prestigious position in the world in IT sector but is lacking badly in use IT Infrastructure. He emphasized on redefining the role of NIC in the country. He said that people have to learn to create the situation (MAHAUL), we have to change our mind to walk along with the changing technology.

Other highlights of the panel discussion are as follows:

1. Need to secure the data from threats.

2. Focus on creating strong digital infrastructure.

3. How to promote cashless economy.

After the panel discussion, Chanel Head Shri Jagdeesh Chandra welcomed the Chief Guest Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Govt. of India.

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad addressed the audience and laid emphasis on the power of Digital World. He cited several examples of some poor families living in small villages who have no idea how to operate smart phones but they have learnt the technology by their will power and are serving for others too.

He said that demonetization will make India a powerful country within a couple of years and that the government is taking a lot of initiatives to make India a cashless country but it would only be possible when everyone of us will work together in this direction.

The event ended at 7:45 PM with vote of thanks by Shri Asheet Kunal, Editor (National), ETV News Network to all the dignitaries.