SmartTech Asia: WriteCanvas Sets the Stage for Digital Security

The WriteCanvas-curated two-day SmartTech Asia conference at the Jio World Convention Center in Mumbai was a resounding success. Organized by Messe Muenchen India, the theme of the conference: Redefining Business Process Management with Identificon, Authentication and Cybersecurity for a Secure Digital Future, resonated with the current trends and developments.

The power-packed conference was a one-stop shop for IT industry professionals, policy/regulatory officials, channel partners, innovators, thought leaders and visionaries, nodal agencies, associations, and the entire value chain.

The event offered a single platform to understand current and new trends, share challenges and find solutions, and get a bird’s eye view of the industry transition from policy to customer engagement.

Dr. Sumit D. Chowdhury, CEO of GreenEarthX, discussed the benefits of secure BPM in driving value chain, enhancing customer experience, and impacting business, using real-life examples, during his special address.

In his keynote, Mr Sumnesh Joshi, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Communications, India, highlighted the significance of identity and access management (IAM) and cybersecurity in a rapidly evolving cyberattack-prone world.

Dr Brijesh Singh highlighted global cyber criminals’ advanced capabilities, emphasizing the need for IAM and cybersecurity practices to secure corporates and government entities.

Sessions:

Advocate Puneet Bhasin, Cyber Law Expert, moderated the first session on Regulation the magic wand, and the driving force in BPM. She was ably supported by industry stalwarts like Mr Satish Mahajan, Transformation Leader, Mentor, Coach, Counselor, Technologist, Dr Sumit Chowdhury, Founder & CEO, GreenEarthX, Mr Shankar Jadhav, Director, Bluerock Strategic Investments, Mr Chaitanya Kunthe, CEO, Pentacube Cyber Technologies. The panel emphasized the significance of compliances and regulations, particularly the DPDP Act of 2023, in a data-centric era of increasing privacy concerns.

The second panel on CPS and Industry 4.0, moderated by Mr Santosh Desai, Partner, Cyber Security and Services, BSC Advisors, had participation from Mr Anup Purohit, Executive Council Member & Global CIO, Wipro, Dr. Jagannath Kallakurchi (Ph.D), MD & CEO, Choice Solutions Limited, Dr Nilesh Purey, CTO, Gift City, Mr Rabindra Sah, CTO, Indian Registrar of Shipping and Mr Mohan Bhat, Co-founder & Chief Customer Success Officer, Accops. The panel developed a narrative of the IT industry’s journey from Industry 3.0 to the hi-tech 4.0, and the human-centric 5.0 on the horizon.

The panel on Business to-Business Payments in the Age of Cyberattacks, moderated by Mr Ravikiran Mankikar, Principal Advisor, RKM Consultants had participation from Mr Sunil Mehta, CIO & Partner, Ex-BDO India, Mr V S Vadivelan, CTO, Meta Infotech, Mr Romil Sheth, Founder & Director, Eden Infosol Pvt. Ltd., and Mr Dushyant Bhatt, Chief Technology & Product Officer, The Hosteller. The panelists threw light on the importance of IAM and cybersecurity not just on the large corporates and multinationals but also on the emerging SMB and MSME sector in India.

Mr. Rahul Patil, Associate Partner, Grant Thornton led an intriguing discussion with panelists Mr Shreesha Nagar, Director, Digital Solutions, Eaton, Mr Pankit Desai, Co founder and CEO, Sequretek, Mr Madhusudan Kohli, CIO, ACPL Systems Mr Gunjan Shah, CMO, Insight Business MachineS, and Dr SK Meher, IT Head, AIIMS, on Integrating cybersecurity and IAM for data center infrastructure management (DCIM). With increased use of AI, ML and IOT, the panel focused on the significance of secure data centers.

For the panel on BPMN and DSL, Mr Uday Sanghani, Global Digital Leader and speaker, Ex Partner BDO, KPMG, EY, Accenture and Dell moderated Dr Sandiip Kothaari, CTO, Speciality Group, Mr Ajay Singh, Chief Supply Chain officer & Vice President, Hindustan Platinum, Mr Bikash Joshi, Chief Product Officer, dMCAQ, and Mr Pravir Kumar Sinha, Vice President, Pune Chapter ISACA. The discussion provided insights into domain-specific language and also factored in the TCO-ROI calculator while integrating the supply chain into the value system.

The last panel on The Future of IAM-Driven BPM moderated by Mr TR Rajesh, Director,Security Consulting, Kyndryl, had participation from Mr Nilesh Dhande, CEO, Fortytwo42 Technology Innovations, Mr Angira Agrawal, Business Head, India – Exotel, Mr Prasanna Lohar, President, India Blockchain Forum, Mr Ashaya Kantawala, Chief Underwriting Officer, Berkley Insurance Corporation(IFSC India Branch), and Mr Devendra Pratap Singh, Chief Data Center Manager, NSE India. The panel highlight the importance of business strategy, IAM and cybersecurity sector in industries from BFSI to healthcare who are actively exploring IAM, AI, IoT, and blockchain for a secure, connected future.

Masterclass:

In his masterclass on Redefining the IT Role Business Dynamic Process BITSS Management with Unique IT Identification and Authentication for secure cyber security for corporates, Dr. Suresh A Shan, an Independent Core Consultant, bird’s eye view of the industry transition from policy to customer engagement.

Mr Kshitij Kotak, CIO advisor, Former CIO, CEO, Blackbox Data Safe, engaged the audience in some leadership lessons in his engaging Masterclass on Swear by the Deep Sea: The Art and Science of Un-common Sense Leadership.

Overall, the event provided participants an opportunity to network, learn from industry experts, and address issues related to strategy, cyber security, IAM and business processes amidst technologies such as AI, machine learning, blockchain, IoT, and big data analytics.

Quotes:

i. “We wanted to bring all the stakeholders from various industries and business organizations, and provide them a platform to discuss business processes, develop a peer-to-peer benchmarking and generally start a conversation around how technologies and processes necessitate a change in the business process. I would like to believe that with this conference, we have made a small beginning”
Sonal Desai, Director, Strategy, WriteCanvas and Managing Editor, ESGnews.earth

ii. The two day SmartTech Asia Conference provided ground breaking and thought provoking sessions on the importance to integrate IAM and cybersecurity, Ms Vijayavanitha S, President, Bengaluru Chapter, ISACA.

iii. “Perfect combination of compliance, Technology and talent. The Topic of our panel discussion aligned with the current corporate environment. The team members were talented enough to discuss such relevant and sensitive topic,” Mr Satish Mahajan, Transformation Leader, Mentor, Coach, Counselor, Technologist

iv. “The SmartTech Asia Conference was a great gathering of practitioners of the art of managing innovation across government and industry. At GreenEarthX, we are focused on solving planet-scale issues of decarbonization using Made-in-India digital platforms acting as digital public infrastructure. This was good opportunity to discuss the same” Dr Sumit D Chowdhury, CEO, GreenEarthX

v. “ A fabulous event , got chance to meet stalwarts of industry. Thanks a lot STA for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts with ten participants. A great event resulting in setting up a platform to collaborate and innovate to solve societal issues , exchange of ideas , pushing efforts of the team toward Viksit Bharat@2047” Sumnesh Joshi, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Communications, India

vi. “ What matters to a speaker is experience of audience that responds. How the attendees engage reveals the quality of organizers. It is not the numbers but the class of audience. Top notch” Kshitij Kotak

vii. Cyberattacks–ransomware and man-in-the-middle attacks—are creating havoc globally. These not only impact the lives of common people but are sabotaging businesses and governments–in some cases, they have penetrated the defense systems of highly secure establishments. Conferences such as SmartTech Asia offer like-minded professionals a platform, a stage to collectively discuss the problems from the global canvas, contextualize those with the geopolitics and cyberattacks back home, and find preventive measures to thwart those: Brijesh Singh, Additional DGP, Maharashtra.

viii. “The conference had lively discussions expressing diverse thoughts working out likely solutions to the issues and achieving the goals such as cyber security, reducing the carbon footprints and to reorient and guide the professionals” Shankar Jadhav, Director, Bluerock Strategic Investments

ix. “Reflecting on the tremendous success of SmartTech Asia in Mumbai, it was incredible to witness the event push the boundaries of innovation in AI, IoT, RFID, biometrics, BPMN, DSL, and other smart technologies. The conference not only showcased the future of intelligent solutions but also provided unmatched networking opportunities. Bringing together industry experts to discuss emerging trends in identity, accessibility, traceability management, and the growing security risks of AI, the event unlocked new business potential and solidified itself as a key platform for innovation. A truly pioneering experience!” Uday Sanghani, Global Digital Leader and speaker,Ex Partner BDO, KPMG, EY, Accenture and Dell.