ICT Academy organized “Global Technology Forum 2020” a mega 5 days technology conference between 14-18 October 2020. The virtual conference aimed to promote research activities on Innovation and Technology, which hosted Paper Presentations, Keynote Sessions and Tutorial Sessions featuring various global experts across multiple industries.
The 4 conferences, namely “International Conference on AI, Robotics and Automation (ICARA 2020), International Conference on Signals, Communication and Embedded Systems (ICSCES 2020), International Conference on Advances in Sensors, Energy and Hybrid Vehicles (ICSEHV 2020) and International Conference on Advances in IoT, High Performance and Edge Computing (ICIHPE 2020)” featured researchers, scientists and scholars presenting their research works, out of which the best ones were featured in the ICTACT Journals (Listed in Group 1 of UGC-CARE list).
GTF2020 hosted 4 International Technology Conferences for 5 days comprising 51 Keynote Speakers, 21 International Speakers, 10 Deep Dive Technical Tutorials, Power panel discussion and 300+ technical research paper presentations in Emerging Technologies including AI, Automation, IOT, Sensors, Communication system and Hybrid Vehicles. More than 5000 Intellects, practitioners, researchers, academicians, technology experts and industry gurus from all across the globe exchanged ideas and advances in these emerging technologies.
Thiru R. B. Udhayakumar, Minister for Revenue, Disaster Management & Information Technology, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, inaugurated the International Conference Global Technology Forum 2020 (GTF 2020) and released the conference proceedings booklet. Dr. T G Vinay IAS District Collector of Madurai received the first copy of the conference proceedings booklet. Thiru. Hans Raj Verma IAS, Additional Chief Secretary – IT Department of Tamil Nadu delivered the special address, Thiru. Lakshmi Narayanan, Chairman, ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu delivered the opening address and Thiru M Sivakumar, CEO, ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu delivered closing address.
Thiru R. B. Udhayakumar, the Hon’ble Minister for Information Technology, in the inaugural Address, mentioned that the state of Tamil Nadu has been a leader in India, in terms of e-Governance, IT & BPM exports, the number of SAAS companies recognized at world level are attracting investments at global level and creating employment opportunities. Further, he elaborated on the various initiatives of the Government of Tamil Nadu in realizing the vision of the Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Policy to establish, support infrastructure and strengthen the existing mechanism in the thrust areas like IOT and Artificial Intelligence. The Hon’ble Minister of Information Technology expressed his pleasure in taking part in this Global Forum and appreciated ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu for making a path-breaking initiative to minimize the industry-academia gap through technology even during the pandemic times.
Thiru Hans Raj Verma IAS, Additional Chief Secretary – IT, Government of Tamil Nadu, in his Special Address mentioned that the future belongs to the brave, the visionaries and the thought leaders. He said, “GTF2020 is a perfect platform for raising the vision for the nation. Honorable Prime Minister of India has given a clarion call of making India Atmanirbhar. Honorable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has given a mandate to the IT Department that the youth of Tamil Nadu are equipped with the future skills today. With this background GTF2020 assumes tremendous significance. We need to create more of such ecosystems that ensure that the aspirations of the youth are met. We have to think ahead to make the skills in demand available for every youth of the country.”
Thiru Lakshmi Narayanan, Chairman, ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu & Emeritus Vice Chairman, Cognizant in his opening remarks stated that the state of Tamil Nadu and India has played a vital role in the growth of Information Technology industry in the country. India is recognized as one of the leading nations in technology. The software services industry of India is well-known world over, and there are members from the educated community of Tamil Nadu who have spread their wings across the globe and are contributing to the impact of technology on industry and society. ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu since the inception 12 years ago, has transitioned from beginning with capacity building, developing and training teachers in engineering colleges, and now morphing into capability building at a higher end; capability building not in terms of teaching, training and learning, but also in the areas of research. He said that under the guidance of the IT Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu, ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu is also embarking on a major initiative in supporting electronic manufacturing.
Sivakumar, CEO, ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu while thanking the speakers and delegates said that this event will give great technological insights to the participants and expressed his gratitude to the researchers for submitting their technical papers which would impact on the global transformation.
The conference featured technical keynote sessions on advanced technologies such as 6G, IoT, Edge Computing, AI, Blockchain and Neural Networks delivered by global tech experts from Stanford University, United States, Lawrence Technological University, United States, Nottingham Trent University, UK, Imperial College London, UK, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia, University of Melbourne, Australia, The University of New South Wales, Australia, University of Brescia, Italy, Anna University, India, and Visvesvaraya Technological University, India.
On the opening of day-2 keynote, Prof KK Aggarwal said that the combination of advanced technologies such as AI, IoT, Blockchain etc., are going to create great wonders in the world we live. By 2024, we may not be speaking about AI, because that would have been part of the things that we use in our day to day life. On Day 3, Dr. Rajendra Kumar IAS, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), Government of India, explained that how the Aadhar platform has enabled all major government departments across India to deliver services to the citizens without papers and books, and reiterated that Aadhar is a major step towards the Digital India Initiative. The Managing Director of ELCOT, Thiru M Vijayakumar IAS, proudly said that Tamil Nadu has an inherent culture of creating thought leaders for the world.
On Day-4, Mr. R Ramanan, Mission Director – Atal Innovation Mission explained on the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in India, quoting the speech by Hon’ble Prime Minister at Atmanirbhar Bharat on the self-sustainable India. Whereas, Ms. Sunita Sanghi from Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Government of India expressed her views that the governments across the world are evolving their policies to make maximum out of the technologies of Industry 4.0. Finally, the day ended with a keynote by Tmt. P Ramana Saraswathi IAS, Joint Director of e-Governance and Joint CEO, TNEGA, Government of Tamil Nadu expressing how Government of Tamil Nadu leads as a front runner on the technology based initiatives through TNeGA.
The last day of the conference featured Power Panel Discussion on the Role of Academia in Future of Research. This exclusive power panel brought the perspectives in the areas of Changing Role of Academia in Research, The Future of Research, Academia Collaboration in Industrial Research. The speakers of the panel were Prof M K Surappa, Vice Chancellor, Anna University, India, Dr. Karisiddappa, Vice Chancellor, Visvesvaraya Technological University, India, Haridas Menon U, Head – HR, TCS Research & Org. Infra., Dr. Anbu Rathinavel, Chief Design Officer, Intellect Design Arena Ltd., Dr. G Sainarayanan, General Manager, HCL Technologies Ltd.
Dr. Anbuthambi Bhojarajan, President, ICT Academy delivered the closing address and presented the Best Technical Paper Presentation Awards to the researchers. He thanked the stakeholders in making this program a grand success with more than 5000 participants attending from across the globe.
