4-Oct-2022: 6th edition of Asia’s largest telecom festival India Mobile Congress draws to end with grand success in Delhi
Marking the historic launch of 5G services in India by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the 6th edition of Asia’s largest telecom festival, India Mobile Congress 2022 today concluded with grand success here at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. Buoyed by popularity, interests and huge footfall, the grand annual event which was earlier scheduled for 3 days was extended for one more day. The 4th day welcomed visitors who got a glimpse of cutting-edge technology and India’s transition to a 5G future. Shri Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Shri PK Mishra, and Advisor to the Prime Minister Shri Amit Khare graced the last day of IMC 2022 with their presence.
The festival is now posed to be launched on a global scale, said Hon’ble Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. He also urged to set up a committee to come up with a roadmap and format in the next 30 days. Jointly organised by the Department of Telecommunications and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), IMC 2022 hosted 362 speakers, 13,500 participants in 80 sessions and over 1.07 lakh visitors including 7000 government officials from 150 PSUs and various other departments, 10 union ministers, 17 state ministers, 30 thousand students, and others. 239 stalls, and 1811 exhibitors registered their presence here from 1-4 October.
The 4-day long grand event this year was graced by the presence of dignitaries including Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Communication, Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Pralhad Joshi, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines, Shri Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for Communications, Shri Mukesh Ambani, CMD, Reliance Industries, Shri Sunil Bharti Mittal, CEO, Bharti Enterprises, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairperson, Aditya Birla Group, among others.
IMC 2022 showcased developments and efforts around 5G technology in India and how they can contribute in the digital transformation by making communication, connection and commerce seamless. During the event, PM Modi virtually spoke with the students of Ropad Primary School in Ahmedabad on benefits of 5G technology in education. He interacted with workers at Vodafone Idea Dwarka Tunnel with 5G technology on current challenges and how 5G technology is going to transform their lives. He also interacted with a hologram avatar of a girl student from a Varanasi school about the advantages of 5G and her experience of studying in augmented reality.
During his address to a session held here, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, announced Indian Government is going to set up 100 5G labs across the country. He added the Indian Government is working significantly towards simplifying the license regime for all telecom players and urged the telecom industry to convert a minimum 12 of these labs into incubators to train students, promote innovation, research and experiment. Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal also visited the exhibition and lauded efforts of researchers, private organisations, startups and others in their contribution towards India’s digital transformation.
The 6th edition of IMC 2022 hosted top leaders of telecom and tech companies, policymakers, thought-leaders, academicians, and others. The speakers shared their views on the future of 5G development and its large-scale implementation in the country. It also witnessed discussion on challenges, efforts and opportunities in the 5G arena which can contribute in creating a robust technology ecosystem in India.
IMC 2022 organised insightful and thought-provoking sessions titled ‘New Digital Universe’, ‘Decoding the potential of Digital Bharat’, ‘Skilling India for new 5G paradigm, Towards 5G and Advanced 6G- an international conference, ‘Global CEO Conclave: Steering India to the new digital universe,’ ‘Global CTO Conclave: Building a connected ecosystem for next Techade’ and many others.
The endeavors of IMC are aligned with the vision of Digital India and promoting Made-in-India technology to address the challenges in areas of commerce, healthcare, education, communication and financial inclusion. Since its inception, IMC has been actively promoting India’s strength and position as a global hub for manufacturing technology products. It is further highlighting the role of startups, small-scale industries in the new digital universe to deliver best in class service, equipment, and applications. PM Modi lauded the efforts of IMC for bringing the digital ecosystem together and providing a great platform for dialogues and endeavors on digitalization, technology, nation building, industrial revolution and taking government services to doorsteps.
8-Dec-2020: PM addresses India Mobile Congress 2020
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi delivered inaugural address at the virtual India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2020 today through video conference. The theme for IMC 2020 is "Inclusive Innovation - Smart, Secure, Sustainable”. It aims to align to the Prime Minister’s vision to promote ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, ‘Digital Inclusivity’, and ‘Sustainable development, entrepreneurship & innovation’. It also aims to drive foreign and local investments, encourage R&D in the telecom and emerging technology sectors.
Addressing the event, the Prime Minister gave a call to work together to make India a global hub for telecom equipment, design, development and manufacturing. He cautioned, due to technological upgradation, we have a culture of replacing handsets and gadgets frequently. He asked the delegates to ponder whether the industry can form a task-force to think of a better way of handling the electronic waste and create a circular economy. He urged to work together to ensure a timely roll-out of 5G to leapfrog into the future and empower millions of Indians.
The Prime Minister said it is important to think and plan how to improve lives with the upcoming technology revolution. He added that Better healthcare, Better education, Better information and opportunities for our farmers, Better market access for small businesses are some of the goals that can be worked on.
The Prime Minister lauded the delegates from the telecom sector that the world was functional despite the pandemic due to their innovation and efforts. He added that due to their efforts that a son was connected with his mother in a different city, a student learnt from his teacher without being in the classroom, a patient consulted his doctor from his home and a trader connected with a consumer/ from a different geography.
The Prime Minister said for a lot of young techies it is the Code which makes a product special, for some entrepreneurs it is Concept which matters more, investors suggest that Capital is more important to scale a product. He stressed that often what matters the most is the Conviction the youngsters have on their product. Sometimes conviction is all that stands between just a profitable exit and making of a unicorn.
The Prime Minister stressed that it is because of mobile technology that we are able to provide benefits worth billions of dollars to millions of Indians, we were able to help the poor and vulnerable quickly during the pandemic and we are seeing billions of cashless transactions which boost formalisation and transparency and we will also enable a smooth contactless interface on toll booths.
The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction on achieving success in mobile manufacturing in India. He said India is emerging as one of the most preferred destinations for mobile manufacturing. He added the Production Linked Incentive scheme was introduced to promote telecom equipment manufacturing in India. He said that the Government aims to bring high speed fibre-optic connectivity in every village over the next three years. He said that towards this end, focus is made exclusively on places which can make the best out of such connectivity – Aspirational Districts, Left wing extremism affected districts, North Eastern states, Lakshadweep Islands etc. He added that greater spread of fixed line broadband connectivity and public Wi-Fi hotspots will be ensured.
9-Nov-2020: Shri Sanjay Dhotre announces the fourth edition of India Mobile Congress 2020 through a video message
Minister of State for Communications, Education and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Sanjay Dhotre today announced the fourth edition of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2020, through a video message. The IMC 2020 is scheduled for 8th -10th December, and will be held virtually this year given the ongoing pandemic.
This prestigious event, jointly organized by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAT), will see 50+ participating countries, 110 + Global Speakers , Start-ups, 30 plus hrs. of content, with over 15000 expected visitors over the three day programme.
This year IMC's theme is going to be - "Inclusive Innovation - Smart I Secure I Sustainable". IMC 2020 would aim to align to the Hon'ble Prime Minister's Vision to promote Aatmanirbhar Bharat (Make In India - local manufacturing and to push for 'Make for World') , foster international regional cooperation, inspire Satat Bharat — Sanatan Bharat (Digital inclusivity in connecting nearly 6 lakh villages with optical fiber and sustainable development), promote Samagra Bharat - Saksham Bharat (entrepreneurship & innovation), drive foreign and local investments, encourage R&D in the Telecom and Emerging Technology sectors and to facilitate supportive regulatory & policy frameworks.
This year prime Partners include Dell Technologies, Ribbon Communications and Red Hat. India's largest technology event this year will witness the coming together of some of the top industry stalwarts, Regulators and Policy Makers from across the globe. It also includes participation from various Ministries, the Telco CEO's, Global CEO's and Experts in SG Broadcasting, SG Enterprise solutions, OTT, and Sustainable Futurists, virtual in the light of pandemic to discuss and deliberate upon industry issues, challenges, future trends and opportunities.
Considered the largest Digital Technology Forum in Asia, IMC has established itself as a leading platform for bringing together the industry, Government, academia, and other ecosystem players to discuss, deliberate and display the latest industry technology trends around major themes such as SG, Artificial Intelligence (Al), Internet of things (loT), Data Analytics, Cloud and Edge Computing, Open source tech, data privacy and cyber security, Smart Cities and automation.
Speaking at the curtain raiser, the Hon'ble Minister of State for Communications, Education and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Sanjay Dhotre, said, "We firmly believe that the India Mobile Congress 2020 will be a key showcase for technology driven initiatives as it brings together all stakeholders in the Telecommunications ecosystem and provides the right forum for valuable discussion on key topics relevant to policymakers, regulators and the industry. India Mobile Congress is one such platform, where the efforts of the Indian Government and the Telecom Industry are given an apt showcase to not just our nation, but to the world at large." Shri Anshu Prakash, Chairman, DCC and Secretary (T), DoT, Ministry of Communications, Government of India and Smt Anita Praveen, Additional Secretary (T), DoT, Ministry of Communications, Government of India and Shri Ajai Puri Chairman COAT , COO Bharti Airtel also graced the occasion as Guests of Honour.
Lt. Gen. Dr. SP Kochhar, Director General, COAT said, "We are thankful to our Hon'ble Minister of State Shri Sanjay Dhotre, for his immense support and guidance in successfully reaching the fourth year of this grand event. We are also grateful to the Government of India for the huge effort put into this and for providing a facilitative environment to the entire industry. With all this help, India Mobile Congress has established itself as the biggest technology event in South Asia and the biggest networking event in India in the digital technology space. We are sure that all stakeholders will look forward to this platform for launches and releases of new technologies. Officials and senior decision makers from both the Government as well as the industry will be present and tech companies will be displaying the best that this ecosystem has to offer at this marquee event of the country."
About COAI: COAI was constituted in 1995 as a registered, non-governmental society. COAI's vision is to establish India as the global leader of mobile communications infrastructure, products and services and achieving a national tele density of 100 per cent, including broadband. The association is also dedicated to the advancement of modern communication and towards delivering the benefits of innovative and affordable mobile communication services to the people of India.