The CTO Event of the year

Asia witnessed the largest IT event of the year that involved CTOs, this November at Kochi. Network Magazine and the Business Publications Division of the Indian Express Group hosted Technology Senate 2003 (TS 2003), an exclusive event for enterprise technology decision-makers and leaders.

TS 2003 was attended by around 200 CTOs from Indian enterprises. And it featured conferences, round table discussions, analysts meets, awards presentation ceremonies, theme pavillions, and a live demonstration of a futuristic network. The event was very successful in meeting its objective, which was to create a platform for enterprise CTOs to share and gather knowledge from peers, analysts, real life case studies, and technology leaders.

Hosted on November 26 and 27, 2003, TS 2003 was unique in a number of ways. It was a purely editorial team-driven initiative, which meant that there was no scope for product vendors or service providers to take up valuable time by making 'sales pitches' or 'product promotion spiels' to CTOs. Every moment spent by the CTO at TS2003 spelt 'value'.

It was the only event in Asia, which had a captive audience of around 200 CTOs and was at such a grand scale. The CTOs from different parts of the nation were flown to Kochi at night before the opening day. They were put up at the most luxurious hotels in the city during the stay and were flown back again the day after the event was over.

The event obviously turned out a grand success and was extremely well-appreciated by the invitees. All the attendees found enormous value for their time spent and look forward to the event, to be held again next year.

The CTOs speak
	"The panel discussions at TS 2003 were very helpful in terms of learning. Apart from the learnings at the sessions, which is usual at such events, TS 2003 provided a very good forum for meeting our peers. The peer-to-peer interaction during the two days provided many valuable insights" R.P. Dumasia, General Manager, Head/Information Technology, The Great Eastern Shipping Co. Ltd.
	"The sessions at TS 2003 were very helpful in bringing major IT concerns under one roof. The sessions which discussed issues like leadership in IT, and alignment of IT with business objectives were especially very relevant. These are important aspects that every organization has to look into. The event's objectives have been met in an excellent manner" M.V. Sreeram, Deputy General Manager-IT, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited.
	"In my opinion, the best thing about TS 2003 was the interaction among peers. We have been able to share a lot of learning through mutual interaction at this event. This helps a lot in getting to the root of the issues faced in real life" Murali G., Head - IT, SBI Life Insurance Co. Limited.
	"The talk given by the visionary Professor Phatak made the event a great experience for me. Other than that, the peer-to-peer interaction that occurred during the course of the event were really precious. It is a great learning experience to hear diverse views on issues from the leaders in the industry" Rajiv Gerela, AVP - Technology, Wipro Spectramind.
	"It is the people who really make the difference at any event. And this was the best part at TS 2003 since the attendees comprised the leaders among India's IT users. Apart from this, the business issues were really brought out well in the course of the panel discussions" Subrahmanya Gupta Boda, Head, Technology and IT Security, DaimlerChrysler Research and Technology India Pvt Ltd.
	“The best part about TS 2003 was the large attendance of people from different industry verticals. It is always a very helpful learning experience to pick up the best from people with such diverse experience. It was a very well organized event” Manoj Chandiramani, Asst Vice President - Networks, Refco-Sify Securities India.