Event was an outcome of the 13 April 2016 Global Connect Stakeholders: Advancing Solutions event in Washington, DC
IEEE hosted an event in New Delhi which focused on Internet Inclusion: Advancing Solutions India involving government officials and leaders from development banks, industry, the technical community, NGOs/CSOs, and others in a day of collaborative development across industry sectors, technology domains and disciplines, generations, and cultures.
The event was planned as there was a need to continue the trend from vertical development to cross-functional collaborative development, and to bring stakeholders together to discuss synergies and overlaps, strengthen cross-sector and cross-discipline collaboration, and identify new approaches and resources to advancing solutions.
The Delhi event was an outcome of the 13 April 2016 Global Connect Stakeholders: Advancing Solutions event in Washington, DC where 150+ engineers, scientists, development professionals, industry leaders and others from an array of technology and industry domains globally gathered with global policy experts to explore real-world opportunities that exist now to extend affordable internet access in underdeveloped and underserved communities and regions. The intent of such events is to provide a platform for a deeper dive into challenges, barriers, and opportunities to hasten efforts to connect the unconnected within the local context and perspective.
A highly distinguished panel of Industry leaders from across the Indian Industry and Government officials addressed the delegates.
Richard R Verma, US Ambassador to India, US Embassy said, “Like the agriculture and industrial revolutions of previous centuries, the digital revolution will be coupled with disruptions. The challenge for the United States and India, two democracies with 1.7 billion people, is how to minimize these disruptions. The digital revolution enhances global prosperity and stability. This will require a meeting of the minds and how we manage the global … which includes rules based approach to cyber security and cyber norms, as well as greater cooperation for building cyber infrastructure – including Internet connectivity to ensure our citizens can take full advantage of the 21st century digital economy.”
J.S. Deepak, Secretary DoT, Government of India remarked, “India is the fastest growing economy in the world. We have a very young population. As far as trade is concerned, we are one of the most open economies; the trade deficit is perhaps the largest percentage of the GDP of all large economies. (We are) very open to investment, to innovation and to private enterprise. In telecom for instance, we have 100% FDI in telecom services and manufacturing. With all this and an agenda to make doing business in India simpler and easier, we still have certain challenges and one of them is the digital arena. Despite the progress in IT/ITES, in software design and in telecom growth, we are still a digital have-not in many ways.”
