A footfall of 300,000 expected at India Mobile Congress 2017

By Nandita Singh

BENGALURU: India gets sets for the mother-of-all digital conferences in the country. India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2017, the three-day global digital technology event, is scheduled for its first edition next month (September 27-29, 2017) at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

Department of Telecom (DoT) is organizing India Mobile Congress 2017 along with Cellular Operator Association of India (COAI) and K AND D Communication Limited, as event partners.

Designed on the lines of Mobile World Congress by GSMA in Barcelona, India Mobile Congress 2017 will be one-of-its-kind marquee event for South East Asia geography. “It will have both B2B and B2C components,” informed COAI Director General Rajan Mathews.

Mathews was in Bengaluru last week for India Mobile Congress 2017 Roadshow. The city known as the "silicon valley of India" is home to a large number of technology startsups, IT companies and R&D centers.

IMC 2017 in New Delhi spread across an area of 22,000 sq mt is expected to see more than 300 exhibitors, along with participation from more than 12 public sector units of India, seven government ministries, 8 Indian states, and several international companies. “There are at least eight international embassies involved,” said Mathews adding that IMC, as an event showcase, will evolve year-on-year and will be a hub of thought leadership in South East Asia, a vibrant mix of the ethos of Mobile World Congress - Barcelona and the World Economic Forum - Davos. The IMC event location will be rotated across Indian states over the years, subject to infrastructure availability.

A footfall of over 3 lakh is expected at IMC2017. “India, the second largest telecom market after China is being looked at as ‘the big opportunity’ and its countrywide digitization program via citizen database Aadhar has caught global attention, as a first and one-of-its-kind project,” said Mathews.

IT giant Google and Indian telecom company RJio, have already confirmed their participation as principal title partners. MNCs such as Qualcomm are set to make a host of announcements at the event. Deloitte is the event knowledge partner.

The conference line-up includes 28 sessions on various topics ranging from emerging technologies such as blockchain to smart cities, to women in technology business and policy & regulatory .

IMC 2017 will also institute Awards to recognize innovations and initiatives that have helped transform the ICT ecosystem in India.

Ramakrishna Ramki of COAI is officiating as the CEO of IMC 2017.