Positions itself as a hot, happening, progressive and tech-savvy conference

Every year, the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum gets more and more sophisticated in its use of technology. Clearly, the organisation, which is committed to entrenching the Indian IT-BPO sector overseas and in India, is keen to walk the talk and ensure that charity does indeed begin at home.

The NILF 2010 meet therefore, reiterated NASSCOM’s intent to move with the times and join the future-loving, Facebook-Twitter generation. Social media in fact ruled the roost at NILF 2010, with participants enjoying the benefits that the NASSCOM blogs, timely tweets and the delegate portal brought them before and during the conclave.

Even before the event rolled out, members and non-members were informed about it through online newsletters and direct mailers. Regular text message updates on the conference and its agenda, created a buzz about the event. Apart from registering online, delegates could also use the Connect 2010 portal to check out who else was attending, network with other delegates, plan their sessions and ‘join in conversations.’ Additionally, they could post their profiles, browse through the profiles of their peers and fix meetings with them online.

It is truly an honour to accept the Business Leader Award from NASSCOM. The award is a reflection of the positive role played by Deutsche Bank in the global financial industry during the recent financial crisis.

Anshu Jain

Besides this, a deluge of blogs by speakers, industry watchers and the NASSCOM brigade, kept participants at the forum abreast of the ongoings at the NILF and allowed them to catch up with what they may have missed.
At the same time, many attendees followed the NILF 2010 conference on Twitter, using the ‘@nasscom’ id, and the #NILF hash tag. Tweets on the event began a month and half prior to the event, building awareness as well as excitement about the conference.

In this way, delegates received tweets on the programme sessions, speakers, other industry updates and news bytes. Twitter offered participants an interactive platform as well, where they could voice their own views on the conclave. There was even a ‘Tweetup,’ where those on Twitter, who followed each other could meet up.

NILF 2010 was also available on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NASSCOM2010. This year, the proceedings at the conclave were streamed live at http://m.nasscom.in for those who couldn’t be a part of the big gathering.

Interestingly, NILF 2010 not only led the way in terms of social media adoption, it also spotlighted the benefits of this growing trend in special sessions at the conference. The Tweetup with Beth Kanter, a US-based social media strategist and the Master Class on the ‘New rules of marketing and PR’ by David Meerman Scott were efforts to highlight the growing importance of social media in the corporate landscape.

The session with Kanter was especially insightful, as it focused on how the CEOs of organisations could use social media to better connect with employees and other stakeholders.

Kanter discussed whether CEOs needed to write blogs or tweet about what they thought. There were benefits of having CEOs present on social media channels, she said, as they provided a human face to the organisation’s work. Kanter raised an interesting point about how CEOs could use social media channels to handle a public relations crisis and spread the correct information. It was also possible for CEOs to pick up ideas from the people following their blogs and tweets. At the same time, Kanter said that in order for social media to have full impact, it needed to scale within an organisation.

Strengthening Cross Country Collaboration

22 delegations participated in NILF 2010, indicating the interest nations have in deepening trade relations with India.

NILF 2010, besides bringing together the Who’s Who of the technology industry from India and overseas, alongside government decision makers, analysts and thought leaders, also focused on showcasing the country’s strengths as an IT-BPO destination. For organisations from different nations looking to set up base in India, the forum was the perfect place to know about doing business in the country, finding partners and gaining an overview of the IT-BPO landscape.

At the same time, NILF also provided several nations with an opportunity to talk about their own IT industries and invite Indian IT-BPOs to participate in their ecosystems.

The 2009 Forum drew participation from as many as 25 countries, who sent delegations to share their ideas, discuss emerging business opportunities and network with other NILF attendees.

I am humbled at this recognition of our performance, which goes to P&G people, who everyday with great passion and commitment created transformational capabilities for our business. This is particularly important for us because effective use of IT is what we want to drive for our organisation.

Filippo Passerini

As in the past years, this time around too, we had healthy representation from overseas. Around 22 countries participated in the conference, and showcased their strengths at the country sessions.

Needless to say, the sessions attracted a global audience and generated a lot of interest among delegates. They also presented attendees with a perfect platform to collaborate and further the cause of business and trade with peer countries.

Here’s a quick look at some of the big guns that made it to NILF and the benefits they promised investors:

Egypt: NILF featured a session on ‘Egypt – the global service delivery leader of the EMEA region’, which spotlighted the country’s potential as an offshoring and outsourcing location. The session indicated that an abundance of technically skilled and uniquely multilingual talent pool, low cost of operation, a reliable and scalable infrastructure, and supportive and substantial ongoing government investment, were enabling Egypt to position itself as the Number One outsourcing and offshoring player based out of the EMEA region.

In the latest A T Kearney Global Services Location Index, Egypt was ranked number six, ahead of the Philippines, Morocco and Poland. The fact that it offered investors some of the world’s lowest telecom rates with ready access to VoIP, was paving its way to become an attractive location for investment, speakers at the session pointed out.

Columbia: Colombia, the fourth strongest IT market, with the highest growth projection in Latin America for 2009, also demonstrated its global differentiators at the NASSCOM country sessions. It was here that its representatives spoke about how the ongoing Productive Transformation Policy, supported by the Government in Columbia had significantly catalysed the growth of its IT-BPO industry. Some of the factors that were working for Columbia were its quality and availability of human resources, infrastructure, competitive operating costs, strategic location and regulatory framework that were creating an environment conducive for the growth of the IT-BPO industry.

I am especially honoured to receive the Vision Award in that it underscores the benefits of my greatest passion – active and vigorous engagement in the thought leadership debate.

Stephen Roach

UK: UK, one of the largest markets for the Indian IT-BPO industry, showcased its investment potential at a special session titled : ‘UK Technology Masterclass – making your mark in Europe’s leading digital market.’ While several Indian companies are present in the UK, not all are making the most out of their UK operations. The session talked about how UK Trade and Investment could help entrepreneurs grow their business in that country and beyond.

Delegates from the UK discussed the specific opportunities on the horizon, and how Indian companies could leverage these, becoming a part of UK’s new vision for Digital Britain.

Brazil: Brazil, a country that’s technologically sophisticated, globally savvy, culturally aware and geographically close to the European and American markets, created a stir at NILF 2010. The eighth largest economy in the world with a strong domestic market used the forum to focus on its expertise in areas such as banking and financial services, healthcare, aviation, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, transportation and oil & gas.

The session focused on how the Brazilian Government was seeking strong strategic alliances and creating new ideas together with the Indian Government and NASSCOM member companies, to build mutually beneficial relationships.

Germany: At its country session, Germany spoke about how several Indian IT-BPO companies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Mahindra Satyam, MindTree, among others had set up shop on its turf and were working successfully for large and medium German clients. These companies had also acquired businesses and parts of businesses in Germany, over the last few years.

At the same time, German IT companies such as SAP, T-Systems, SQS AG, ABAS AG and others had discovered India and set up their operations in the country. The country session highlighted the fact that there was a lot of opportunity for Indian and German companies to collaborate. German technology companies could bring their existing clients in Europe to the relationship, while Indian IT companies could leverage existing projects with an offshore element.

Australia: It became clear at this country session that Australia and India had much to gain through trade and cooperation at all levels. Australia’s ICT industry had a high international focus through global sales, investment and partnerships. It was a regional centre for the delivery of ICT products and services into American, European and Asian markets, with home-grown capability complemented by the presence of transnational ICT and consultancy firms. The ICT industry was estimated to be around USD 65 billion, the fifth largest ICT market in the Asia Pacific region after Japan, China, India and Korea. According to IDC, Australia was projected to gain 23 per cent share of the Asia Pacific IT services market by 2010.

Eastern Poland: The country session on Poland indicated that this region of Central and Eastern Europe had enormous potential in the business services sector. Poland’s main advantage lay in its favourable investment climate.
Currently Poland had 12 large academic centres and over 2 million students speaking many European and
Non-European languages.

Japan: The session on Japan spotlighted the fact that the Japanese IT services market at USD 108 billion was the world’s second largest after the US. It indicated that demand was primarily driven by the BFSI and manufacturing industries, which together consumed close to 42 per cent of IT services. Other large consuming industry segments were system integrators (16.3 per cent), the public sector (8.6 per cent) and ICT (7.9 per cent).

Celebrating Business Excellence and Life

NILF keeps ennui away with two magical evenings

It was clearly not a case of all work and no play at the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum. The conference in fact, was a perfect blend of serious thought and some unbridled action of the networking-entertainment kind.
Day 1 of the NILF conference ended with a power-packed gala evening, sponsored by KPMG, which showcased India through Melange, a special musical journey, that traced the path from Broadway to Bollywood.

The big party featured performances that celebrated India — its culture, vibrancy, history and modernity. It whisked together the old with the contemporary and the past with the present, showcasing the country in its full glory.
A mix of Broadway musicals and Bollywood beats, the evening left an indelible impression on the delegates. They were mesmerised by the glitz, the glamour, the stars, the dazzling lights and the spectacular dance routines.

This is a great recognition for the hard work, commitment and skills – of both the BP team and our able partners. To me, innovation is not just about developing a new, cutting-edge technology, but also being able to quickly adapt to a changing environment or working an old process more efficiently – and that’s what our IT transformation programme at BP has successfully delivered.

Dana S Deasy

On Day 2, NASSCOM rolled out its flagship awards ceremony, the sixth Global Leadership Awards 2010, which recognised the outstanding work of individuals in the area of business and technology.

2009, it was felt, gave business captains the chance to showcase their grit, determination and ability to steer the ship, when the waters were turbulent. It was a time when true visionaries won the day for their companies, keeping them from going under during the downturn. By remaining resilient and embracing the path of innovation, these CEOs and CIOs ensured that their organisations were not only prepared for the challenging phase, but also geared up for the next cycle of growth as the world exited from the economic downturn.

NASSCOM saluted these stalwarts, presenting them with trophies at the gala event. This year’s winners were felicitated by Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology.

Apart from the awards, the high point of the evening was the performance by the Prince Dance Group, an amazing troupe from Orissa, that simply took everyone’s breath away.

The Prince Dance Group, based in Berhampur, Orissa became a household name when it won the reality show, ‘India’s Got Talent’ on TV channel, Colors. Led by Krishna Mohan Reddy, the group has been mesmerising audiences with its incredible act, choreography, versatility, and sheer energy. The group is unique since most of its members are from remote and disadvantaged sections of the Ganjam district. Despite the difficulties it has faced, the group has managed to come out on the top owing to the unmatched talent of its members and their ability to take dance to new, hitherto untouched heights.

The group has touched a chord with India not just for its superlative dance and innovative choreography, but because the story of these performers is the story of India. It is a story, where talent can overcome every obstacle and create opportunity even in adversity.

The group, which unleashed its magic right across the awards ceremony, ensured that NILF 2010 delegates took back a unique memory with them.

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