New Delhi, February 6, 2024 – The Birla Institute of Technology Old Students Association (BITOSA) marked a significant milestone with the successful conclusion of its 8th annual BITOSA Global Conclave (BGC 8) which had the theme of ‘Shaping the Next’, under the leadership of Mr. Niraj Sharan, President, BITOSA Global; Convener Mr. Ayush Agarwal; Co – Conveners Ms. Shipra Dutta, Mrs. Sheetal Pratik and Program Director Mr. Rohit Kumar. The event, held at The Ashok, New Delhi, on February 3, 2024, brought together 300+ delegates from 6 countries physically and engaged 1,00,000 members across 60 countries through live streaming and recordings.
The conclave aimed to shape the future through insightful deliberations and collaborations on emerging global trends carrying forward the idea of a ‘Shikshit Bharat’, ‘Viksit Bharat’. This is aligned to the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s vision to have the nation on a fast track to economic expansion and digital transformation, to reach a US$ 5 trillion economy by 2027. BGC8’s flagship initiative was to foster discussions within the ecosystem across key areas such as ‘Aerospace & Defence’, ‘Start-ups & Innovations’, ‘Data Security, Privacy and AI’ and ‘’NextGen in Wellness and Smart Food’.
While the conclave brought together leading academicians, scientists, researchers, and industry experts from across the world, it also received forewords from Shri Nitin Gadkari, Shri Amitabh Kant and Shri C.K. Birla.
His Excellency Freddy Svane, the Danish Ambassador to India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Maldives addressed the conclave focusing on how Digital India is making an impact globally and setting an example for other nations to follow. Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy, Former Secretary Defense R & D, GOI, and Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri, and Former Chairman of DRDO, provided a glimpse into India’s achievements in space-related fields and briefed on ‘Gaganyaan Mission’ where ISRO will be sending three humans to an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bring them back safely to Earth.
Another keynote speaker was Dr Indranil Manna, Vice Chancellor, Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi. Shri Apoorva Chandra (IAS), Secretary I & B, GOI gave a thought-provoking talk on India’s leap in the seamless payments domain providing scale and speed. Dr Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi (IAS), Chairperson, National Council for Vocational Education and Training, GOI expressed his views too.
Among other prominent keynote speakers were present, Dr. Gopalan Jagdeesh – Head of Aerospace and Defence at IISC Bangalore and spoke on the leap taken by the aerospace industry, Prof. Alok Chaturvedi- Director ISEEK at Purdue University talked about AI Dharma and Mr. Saurabh Chandra, MD Boston Consulting Group shared his insights on growth opportunities within the current macroeconomic volatility for the CEOs’ and board members.
One of the major highlights was Dr. Sanjeev Juneja, known as “The Brand Machine,” receiving “The Outstanding Business Leader” award.
In the aerospace panel Dr. Reddy and Dr. Jagadeesh were accompanied by Lt General Sudhir Sharma – PVSM, AVSM, YSM (Retd.), Chairman, Mitkat Security Services; Mr. Ashish Mishra- Group Director Senior Electronics Group, SAC ISRO; Mr. Amitabh Kumar- Operations Director, Chandrayaan-3 ISRO and Mr. Raj Kumar Pandey CEO & Executive Director, Airbornics Defence & Space.
The speakers on the innovation and start-ups panel ‘Dream, Dare, Do,’ were Mr. Gautam Sinha-Ex CEO Times Internet; Mr. Rohit Kumar-Founder Breakout; Dr. Bhakti Devi – Founder & CEO Jal Smruti and Founding President WICCI Water Resources Council; Mr. Naveen Coomar – Founder CEO IP Bazaar; Mr. Sunil Jain – Chairman Energy Council, Partner Essar Capital and Ex CEO Hero Future Energy and Mr. Pranay Mathur Founding Partner & CEO Realtime (RTAF) and Co-Founder Homemonde. This was followed by an update on the startup accelerator BIG by Rohit Kumar.
Mr. Jagdish Mitra, the Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Growth at Tech Mahindra talked about life in the era of AI. The ‘Data Security, Privacy and AI Transformation’ panel dwelled on the importance of data privacy, and security in the age of AI. The panel experts included leaders in this field like Mr. S. Chandrasekhar MD and CEO – K&S Digiprotect Services Pvt Ltd; Mr. Rakesh Maheshwari Ex Sr Director and GC (Cyber Laws and Data Governance) Ministry; Mr. Saurabh Agrawal CEO – DAIOM Technologies; Mr. Sanjay Kalra Director of Delivery, Accenture Security at ATCI, Accenture in India and Mr. Sumit Chauhan-CEO Datopic.
An engaging session on ‘NextGen in Wellness and Smart Food’ explored the importance of a ‘millet diet,’ featuring social entrepreneur, Guneet Swani and Dr. Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury, the creator of DIP Diet. Dr. Vrinder Garg, President PGIMER, also graced with his presence and shared his thoughts on health kiosks and early health checkups. Mr. Ramesh Agarwal-Founder and CEO, Food Safety Works and Wing Commander VK Kala also contributed with their professional experiences.
BGC8 is proud to have Tech Mahindra as their Digital Partner, Meta as the social media Partner and Frost and Sullivan as the knowledge partner.
BITOSA Global (Birla Institute of Technology Old Students Global Association) is an umbrella organization that brings together local alumni chapters from across the world. Birla Institute of Technology Mesra (BIT Mesra) is a 68-year-old institution with five campuses, consistently producing outstanding professionals and scholars across various disciplines.
The 9th edition of the BITOSA Global Conclave (BGC9) is planned in Silicon Valley (U.S.A) carrying forward the vision of “Shaping the Next” as announced by Mr. Aroop Zutshi, Global MD, Frost & Sullivan, U.S.A.
For more information, please visit bitosalglobal.org.
