Government of Tamil Nadu
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), jointly with Government of Tamil Nadu and co-hosted by
STPI – Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), Government of India, has been organizing CONNECT over the last two decades with the objective of promoting India and Tamil Nadu, as in the forefront of Information Technology. This time we are planning this as a virtual conference along with a virtual exhibition, spanning five days from 15th to 19th September 2020, for about three hours every day.
This event over time, has resulted in various path breaking initiatives like the formation of Tech corridors, ICT Academy, Specialized Technology Parks, new developments in the Aero Park, MRO hub and IT consortium for skill development. Further, what initially commenced as an ICT industry event has morphed into a major International Technology Event, encapsulating all Technology Providers and Technology Consuming Industries, with special focus on Electronics Manufacturing and the overall Services Industry.
To deliberate upon the economic issues arising out of the current pandemic, the theme for CONNECT 2020 has been chosen as “Technology as an Enabler for Getting Growth Back”.
In a time of new-normal, we would need a complete revamp of the way we operate, re-imagine workplaces, manage skill requirements, evolve policies to support doing business beyond jurisdiction, collaborate within industries, and determine how governments can support citizens and industries.
Digital inventiveness in industrial landscape and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India), the clarion call from honorable Indian Prime Minister should open up new avenues of growth across sectors like communication, media, information, electronics, manufacturing, education, agriculture and healthcare and provide a major impetus to the start-up ecosystem.
CONNECT 2020 will cover broad areas on :
- Policy & Geo Political – Advantage India
- Innovation – Foundation for the Future Workforce
- Infrastructure– Technologies and Connectivity/Capabilities & Challenges
- Consuming Industries – Unlocking the transformative power of digital technologies
- Investment under the New Normal – Driving Growth
Who will be attending
Senior Government officials, CEOs & CXOs, Business decision makers, IT & ITES Companies, ICT specialists, VPs, Directors, Managers, Small – Medium Business Owners & Executives, Network Managers, Security Professionals, Telecommunications professionals, Infrastructure professionals, Human Resources professionals, Faculty and Students from Academia & Media.
Our Focus Areas
Schedule
Speakers

Mr Edappadi K Palaniswami
Hon’ble Chief Minister

Mr R B Udhayakumar
Hon’ble Minister for Revenue, Disaster Management
& Information Technology, Government of Tamil Nadu

Mr N Muruganandam IAS.,
Principal Secretary, Industries
Government of Tamil Nadu

Dr Rajendra Kumar IAS.,
Additional Secretary
MEITY

Mr M Vijayakumar IAS.,
Managing Director
ELCOT

Dr Neeraj Mittal IAS.,
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer
Guidance Tamil Nadu

Dr K Gopal IAS.,
Principal Secretary (MSME)
GoTN

Dr Apoorva IAS.,
Principal Secretary - Education
Government of Tamil Nadu

Mr Santosh Misra IAS.,
Chief Executive Officer
TN e-Governance Agency

Mr Md. Nasimuddin, IAS.,
Additional Chief Secretary – Labour
Government of Tamil Nadu

Mr Vishnu Venugopalan IAS.,
Managing Director
TNSDC

Mr Praveen Nair, IAS.,
Collector
Nagapattinam District

Mr Hans Raj Verma IAS.,
Additional Chief Secretary - Information Technology
Government of Tamil Nadu

Mr Saurabh Gaur, IAS.,
Joint Secretary Ministry of Electronics & IT
Government of India

Dr G Prakash, IAS.,
Commissioner
Corporation of Chennai

Dr Aneesh Sekar IAS.,
Executive Director
SIPCOT

Ms Jothi Nirmalaswamy IAS.,
Inspector General of Regn
Govt of TN

Mr C Vijayakumar
President & Chief Executive Officer
HCL Technologies

Mr Salil Parekh
Chief Executive Officer
Infosys

Mr C Velan
Chief Executive Officer
Ascendas

Mr Kunal Bahl
Founder
SnapDeal

Mr Sridhar Vembu
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Zoho Corp

Mr Dibyo Haldar
SMB Director – APAC

Mr Jean-Francois Baril
Executive Chairman
HMD Global

Mr C K Ranganathan
Deputy Chairman, CII (SR), Chairman & Managing Director
Cavin Kare

Mr Senthil
Chief Executive Officer
Real Image Digital

Dr Manish Kumar
Managing Director
NSDC

Dr K V Subramanian
Chief Economic Advisor
Government of India

Dr Sanjay Tyagi
Director
Software Technology Parks of India

Dr Omkar Rai
Director General
Software Technology Parks of India

Mr Hari Thiagarajan
Chairman, CII, Tamil Nadu
Executive Director, Thiagarajar Mills Limited

Mr Suresh Raman
Chairman, Connect 2020 & Vice President & Regional Head,
Tata Consultancy Services

Mr Josh Foulger
Co Chairman, CII Connect 2020 &
Country Head and MD- FIH India

Mr S Mahalingam
Past Chairman
CII, Southern Region

Mr R Ramaraj
Senior Advisor
Elevar Equity

Mr Zarir Langrana
Executive Director
Tata Chemicals

Mr Sanjeev
Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director
Meddiff Technologies Pvt Ltd

Mr S Rangarajan
Chief Executive Officer
Data Patterns

Dr A Sivathanu Pillai
Former Chief Executive Officer
Brahmos

Mr Regu Ayyaswamy
Sr VP, Global Head (IoT) & EIS
Tata Consultancy Services

Mr Dilip Sawhney
Managing Director
Rockwell Automation

Mr Dinanath Kholkar
Vice President, Global Head of Analytics & Insights
Tata Consultancy Services

Mr Muthu Kumaran
SVP & Global Delivery Head
Cognizant Digital Business

Mr Shantanu Jha
SVP – HR
Cognizant

Mr S K Swamy
Chairman
R K SWAMY BBDO

Mr R Srinivasan
Head - Smart Business Solutions
L & T

Dr Laxmidhar Biswal
Head - CITE, Jewellery Division
Titan

Mr Banmali Agrawala
President, Infrastructure, Defence and Aerospace
Tata Sons

Mr V Suresh
Chairman - IGBC & Former CMD
HUDCO

Mr Alan Read
VP - Technology & Business Partner - UK
Pearson

Mr Venkat Maroja
Chief Executive Officer
Source Trace

Mr Ashish Agarwal
Head - Policy
NASSCOM

Mr P Kaniappan
Managing Director
Wabco India

Mr Ramesh Anumukonda
Chief Executive Officer
Unity Technologies

Mr Sudarsan Pitty
Head - Mfg
Nokia Solution Networks

Ms N S Nappinai
Founder
Nappinai

Mr Krishnan Venkateswaran
CDIO
Titan

Mr Greg Miller
Executive Director
Faethm, Australia

Mr Manish Patel
CIO
MG Motor

Dr KK Raman
Partner
KPMG

Mr Alex Lalumiere
Head, APJ Markets
HP 3D Printing & Digital Manufacturing

Mr Sridhar
InTech
Metal 3D Printing

Mr Jitesh
CRO
Cropin

Mr N K Ranganath
Past Chairman, CII, Tamil Nadu &
Water Ambassador, Grundfos Pumps

Mr Vikas Kannongo
Senior Consultant
Digital, World Bank

Mr Guruprasad
Managing Director
Bosch Automotive Electronics

Mr Narayanan
National Leader - Education and Skill Development
KPMG

Dr Bhaskar Ramamurthi
Director
IIT Madras

H.E Mr. Oliver Ballhatchet
British Deputy High Commissioner
Chennai

H. E. Mr. Gert Heijkoop
Consul General of Netherlands

Mr Rajiv Sikka
CIO
Medanta Hospitals

Mr T Narayanan
SVP & General Counsul India & APAC
Cognizant

Mr Sujeesh
Immt Past President, AIEMA & Proprietor
Sri Hari Industries

Mr Martin Worlein
Head of India and South Asia Advisory
Head of Gurgaon Office, Make in Mittlestand

Ms Megha Tata
Managing Director - South Asia
Discovery India

Mr V Janardhanam
General Manager
Redington

Mr Raghuvir
Business Editor
Business Line

Mr Ramesh Santhanam
Former Chief Innovation Officer
IIT

Ms Priya Dar
Chief Digital Officer
Amway

Dr Arogyaswami J. Paulraj
Professor, Stanford University &
Inventor of the MIMO

Dr S Chandrakumar
Vice Chairman
CII, Tamil Nadu

Mr Gowthaman
Chief Executive Officer
Aqilliz

Mr Ramesh Mangaleswaran
Senior Partner
McKinsey & Company

Mr Tej Paul Bhatla
Vice President and Deputy Head
Tata Consultancy Services

Mr C A Krishnan
Product Head
TCS iON

Mr K S Ganesan
Global Technology Leader & Automation Head
Cognizant

Mr Sethuraman
Office Managing Partner
KPMG

Mr Jeffry A Greenbaum
Managing Partner
Frankfurt Kumit, Germany

Ms Sunhwa Lee
Principal Social Sector, Specialist-South Asia
Asian Development Bank

Mr Banshidhar Majhi
Director, Indian Institute of InformationTechnology,
Design and Manufacturing

Ms Uma Ratnam Krishnan
Co-CEO
Barclays Bank

Mr S Janardhan
Global Head – Talent Development
Tata Consultancy Services

Mr Pankaj Mohindroo
Chairman
ICEA

Mr Rahul Sharma
Co-founder
Micromax

Mr Rajen Vagadia
VP and President
Qualcomm India & SAARC

Mr Richard Hopkins
Senior Vice President Operations
Flex

Mr Akhilesh Tuteja
Partner
KPMG

Mr Prakash Balasubramanian
Vice President & Global Delivery Head
Cognizant

Mr Vetriselvan
Director – RMM
PowerFleet

Mr Kandasamy Subramanian
Director, Global Mfg. Engg
Ford Motor Pvt Ltd

Mr Karthik Padmanabhan
AVP & Delivery Leader – Global Growth Markets
Cognizant Interactive

Mr. Narasimha Jayakumar
Chief Executive Officer
Aakash Education

Mr Naryanan Sundaresan
Vice President - Technology
Strategic Education Inc

Mr Micheal Arul
Managing Director
Tecways India

Mr Mohamed El Fanichi
CIO
Landmark Group

Mr Sanjay Bahl
Director General
CERTIN

Mr Alok Mittal
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Indifi Technologies

Ms Paroma Chatterjee
Chief Business Officer
LendingKart

Dr Susanne Geri
Chief Executive Officer
Tecways, Germany

Mr Vishal Kanvaty
Chief Market Innovation
National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI)

H. E Ms Jette Jerrum
Consul General
Head of Trade Council and Innovation Centre, Denmark

Dr Sudhir
Dean, Design Innovation & Incubation
Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing

Mr Chulanga Perera
Chief Information Officer
Daimler India Commercial
Steering Committee

Mr Suresh Raman
Chairman, CII Connect
Vice President & Regional Head Tata Consultancy Services, Chennai

Mr S Mahalingam
Past Chairman, CII(SR)
Tata Consultancy Services

Mr Santosh K Misra, IAS
Chief Executive Officer & Commissioner
TN e-Governance Agency

Mr K.P.Karthikeyan IAS.,
Executive Director,
Industrial Guidance and Export Promotion Bureau, Government of Tamil Nadu

Mr Hari Thiyagarajan
Chairman, CII, Tamil Nadu
Executive Director, Thiagarajar Mills Limited

Mr M Vijayakumar, IAS
Managing Director
ELCOT

Dr Sanjay Tyagi
Director
Software Technology Parks of India, Chennai

Dr Gokula Krishnan
Joint Director
Software Technology Parks of India

Mr B Evanesan
General Manager – IT Promotion & Devt
ELCOT

Mr R Ramaraj
Senior Advisor
Elevar Advisors Pvt Ltd

Mr S Murali
Business Head
Vodafone

Mr Josh Foulger
Co Chairman, CII Connect 2020 &
Country Head and MD- FIH India

Mr Manoj Murali
Chief Executive Officer, Kerala & Tamil Nadu
Bharti Airtel Limited

Mr Muthu Kumaran
Global Delivery Head - Digital Business Practice
Cognizant Technology Solutions

Mr Karthi Chandramouli
Global Practice Head
Tech Mahindra

Mr Kumaran Mani
Chief Executive Officer
TenthPlanet Technologies

Dr K K Raman
Executive Director
KPMG

Mr C Velan
City Head – Chennai Operations
Ascendas India

Mr Prajesh Kalathil
Head - Airtel Business
Bharti Airtel Limited

Mr S Sridharan
Managing Director
S10 Technologies Ltd

Mr Rajeshkumar Sitaraman
Vice President
Vodafone Idea

Mr D Arulselvan
Group CFO, President
Cholamandalam

Mr M S Surya
Associate Vice President
Infosys Limited

Mr Kandasamy Subramanian
Director, Global Manufacturing
Engineering, Ford Motor Pvt Ltd

Mr Rajat S. Chatterjee
Regional Marketing Head-South
Tata Tele Business Services

Mr Narayanan Ramaswamy
Partner & National Head-Education
KPMG

Mr Robin Bunker
Head - Strategy
Foxconn India Limited

Mr Dilip Chari
Director – Markets & Strategy
KPMG
Awards
13th Edition CII CONNECT Awards 2020
In an effort to acknowledge the excellent contribution made by successful entrepreneurs in the ICT as well as the Technology Sector, Confederation of Indian Industry jointly with Government of Tamil Nadu proudly announces the “13th edition of CONNECT Awards” to recognise leaders in the IT,ICT and Technology sector.
CONNECT Awards recognises the hard work and applauds the true leaders of the IT & ICT & Tech Industry for their commitment and dedication.
Connect Awards Category
Entrepreneur of the year
Will be given to an entrepreneur who has leveraged technology innovative to significantly grow their organization and create impact.
Exemplary application of technology.
(in both public and private sectors)
Will be given to organizations that have pioneered the innovative use of technology for greater impact. Organizations in any sector even outside of ICT may apply.
Global influencer of the year
Will be given to an individual who has created a global impact through the use of technology and is widely recognized as a leader in the field.
Social entrepreneur award
Will be given to an individual or an organization that has demonstrated the innovative use of technology for social impact.
Inspirational role model award
Will be given to an individual or an organization that exhibits exemplary use of IT and either embraces diversity within their organization, or empowers women, the physically disabled and/or other marginalized communities through their business, or is led by an individual or a team comprising of members from these communities.
Cornerstone award
Will be given to an organization that has developed a technology, a platform or an infrastructure backbone that has accelerated the deployment and use of technology amongst a large number of organizations.
Covid champion award
Will be given to an organization that has demonstrated innovative use of technology for combating challenges that have arisen from Covid-19. These solutions can relate to health and safety, human and economic welfare, and livelihood creation and protection.
Endurance Award
Will be given to an organization that has been in business for more than two decades and has continuously demonstrated exemplary use of technology to create sustained and prolonged impact.
Mentor of the year Award
Will be given to an individual or an organization who has inspired, mentored or skilled other individuals or companies to enable them to become Nationally and Globally competitive. The individual or organization may also have played an important role in helping build the technology ecosystem in Tamil Nadu.
Jury Committee

Mr Suresh Raman
Chairman, CII Connect
Vice President & Regional Head, Tata Consultancy Services, Chennai

DR ASHWIN MAHALINGAM
Chairman, CII Connect 2020 Awards, Associate Professor
IIT Madras

MR R RAMARAJ
Senior Advisor
Elevar Advisors Pvt Ltd

MR M VIJAYAKUMAR, IAS
Managing Director
ELCOT

DR SANJAY TYAGI
Director
Software Technology Parks of India, Chennai

Ms Akhila Rajeshwar
Executive Director
TiE

Mr Kumaran Mani
Chief Executive Officer
TenthPlanet Technologies

Mr Dilip Chari
Director – Markets & Strategy
KPMG

Mr Prashanth Subramanian
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Quadra Systems