The recently held eINDIA 2012 at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), Hyderabad, witnessed key decision makers & experts, administrators & policy makers, leaders & stakeholders, service providers & IT-telecom vendors, consulting firms, ICT entrepreneurs & development agencies – all converging on one platform
Technology is of no use unless it comes to the reach and affordabil- ity of the common man, said Sri N Kiran Kumar Reddy, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and chief guest,during the inauguration of the eighth edition of eINDIA 2012. India’s largest ICT event comprising conferences, expo and awards was held at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre on 15- 16 November, 2012. Jointly organised by Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd; Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS); and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and hosted by the Andhra Pradesh Government and Mee Seva, the two-day event witnessed 30 panel discussions on ICT usage in governance, health and education. The conference had three parallel tracks on eGovernance, Education, and Healthcare. The three summits convened concurrently offered a unique platform for in-depth knowledge exchange and networking for key decision makers and experts; administrators and policy makers; leaders and stakeholders; service providers and IT-telecom vendors; consulting firms; ICT entrepreneurs and development agencies. Apart from the seminal tracks, eINDIA Awards turned out to be the real showstopper of the event. Fifty-four awards were given for ICT initiatives across governance, health and education under 24 separate categories. Moreover, the ICT expo with 110 exhibitors was a major attraction of eINDIA 2012. The event coincided with the first anniversary of Mee Seva – the flag- ship scheme for electronic delivery of services by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Speaking about Mee Seva services, the Chief Minister said that by issuing certificates and other documents through digital signatures, the state government had reduced dependence on the middlemen, thus introducing transparency in the system, timely delivery of services, and reducing wastage of public money.
The eGovernance summit witnessed eight sessions over two days. The topics of panel discussions
ranged from the Roadmap of e-Governance in India; ICT Deployment in Public Safety & Security; Smart Cities; ICT in Energy & Transportation; Aadhaar based Service Delivery; From eSeva to Mee Seva: State Leadership Summit; ICT Usage by Public Sector Units; and ICT Usage in Financial Inclusion.
L to R: Sanjay Sahay, IGP, Karnataka; Bipul Pathak, IT Secretary, J&K; M Chaya Ratan, Special Chief Secretary, Home Dept, Andhra Pradesh; Satyendra Garg, Joint Commissioner, Delhi Traffic Police; N S N Murty, IBM during a governance session on ICT Deployment in Public Safety and Security
In the two days, eINDIA witnessed eight sessions on health and telemedicine. Panel discussions took place around the Emerging Paradigms in Healthcare; eHealth and mHealth; Point-of-Care Technologies and Chronic Disease Management; Emerging Trends in Health Insurance; Patient Safety; Rural Health and the like. While aiming to provide a platform for dialogue on the health systems in India and beyond, the eINDIA Health Summit track was able to associate with various departments and representatives of state government departments, bodies like the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) and others. The event speakers and attendees were from reputed hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, doctors, policy makers, researchers, health experts and industry members from Andhra Pradesh, across India and abroad. Among the key speakers were Girdhar J Gyani, Member, Governing Board, NABH and Member, Govern- ing Board, ISQua; P K Taneja, Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Gujarat; Balaji Utla, CEO, Health Management and Research Institute (HMRI) and N Veerabhadraiah, Chief Information Officer & Deputy Director, Commissioner of Health & Family Welfare, Andhra Pradesh.
L to R: Sanjeev Gupta, Marketing Head, Accenture; Veerabhadraiah Narumanchi CIO, Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Andhra Pradesh; Srikant Nagulapalli CEO, Arogyasri Health Care Trust; and Dr B K Murli Founder & Director, Dr Hope Hospital during a health session on Emerging Paradigms in Healthcare
The education seminal track was divided in two parts – School Education and Higher Education. Overall, 14 panel discussions were held in the two days. The topics for Higher Education included Challenges and Opportunities in Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions; Investment in Education; Vision 2020; Transformatory Practices in Technical Education; Creating Innovative Models in Education; and Best Practices in Higher Education. Under the School Education Track, discussions were held on topics such as Essentials for Building Visionary Schools in a Globalised World; Learning Practices in the 21st Century; Alternative Assessment Strategies; STEM Education and Tech Assisted Tools for Student Comprehension; Progressive Learning Environment through Connected Classrooms; Blended Learning Curriculum & Supportive Teaching; and Training of Educators: Coping with Rapidly Changing Education Technologies. 
Prof S S Mantha, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE); K Sunitha, Commissioner, Directorate of Collegiate Education; Prof Parvin Sinclair, Director, National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT); Prof U B Desai, Director, IIT Hyderabad; Prof V S Rao, Director, BITS Hyderabad Campus; Sanjay Singh, Principal Secretary, Department of School Education, Madhya Pradesh; Dr Pascal Chazot, Head of School, Mahatma Gandhi International School; N Siva Sankar, Commissioner & Director of School Education, Andhra Pradesh; Son Kuswadi, Education Attache, The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia; Andrey Shelukhin, Counselor (Science & Technology), Embassy of the Russian Federation in India; and K Gopal, Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Textbook Corporation were among the key speakers who included state education secrearies, vice-chancellors of universities, directors and faculty members of higher education institutes, and principals and chairmen of schools.
The speakers focused on how institutions and academicians have an important role to play in the development of employability skills of the students and how ICT can be uti lised as an integral tool in this direction.
Igniting Young Minds
Interestingly, eINDIA 2012 witnessed a welcome initiative in involving the youth and teenagers in its movement to promote innovations in the usage of ICT in governance, health and education. It’s a step towards igniting the young minds and creating a platform to share their perspective with industry players.
As the first step in this direction, eINDIA 2012 had organised an online national essay contest for teenagers and the youth. The objective was to assess the vision and understanding that today’s youth posses in the fields of governance, health and education. Essays were invited around topics on future of technology vis-à-vis governance, health and eduation.
