Connect-2006 to be held from Sept 8-10

CHENNAI: The sixth edition of Connect 2006, an annual Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) event, will be held here between September 8 and 10.

The three-day conference-cum-exposition will be inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. Union IT and Communication Minister Dayanidhi Maran will deliver the keynote address. The theme of the conference is "Creating a knowledge-driven ecosystem".

Anil Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Communications, will take part in the deliberations on September 9, Gopal Srinivasan, Director, TVS Electronics said today while announcing the conference.

Srinivasan said international participants from the Netherlands, Japan, Korea and Australia will take part in the conference. Many of the sessions of the seminar will have the theme of social inclusiveness.

He said the conference will be a platform for defining "Vision 2011". He said currently Tamil Nadu has 14 per cent of the IT-ITES industry share in the country. "Tamil Nadu has the opportunity to create over four lakh jobs by 2011, just in the state."

Lakshmi Narayanan, President and CEO, Cognizant, said Tamil Nadu could learn from the mistakes of other states and create a long term plan for growth. He said the conference will come up with a vision for the state to focus on. He also said there was a gap in demand and supply of talent and this forum will help discuss steps on how to address the gap.

Dr C Chandramouli, Secretary- Information Technology, Tamil Nadu Government, said a blueprint to set up an organisation to improve the quality of manpower has been planned.