The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized the eighth edition of the Annual Business IT Conclave on 24th May 2017 at Hyatt Regency, Kolkata.

The theme of the Conclave this year was ‘Bridging Automation and Society’. The programme was organized in association with the Information Technology and Electronics Department, Government of West Bengal.

Dr. Krishna Gupta, IAS, Principal Secretary, Information Technology and Electronics Department, Government of West Bengal addressed the Inaugural Session. Mr. Ajai Chowdhry, Founder-HCL was the Keynote Speaker who addressed on ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Future’.

The Inaugural Session was followed by the Discussion Forum: Automation – Innovations and Trends. The Session included Dr. Arun K Majumdar, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Adamas University; Mr. Caesar Chatterjee, Chief Data Strategist, IBM; Mr. C N Raghupathi, Vice President & Head – India Business Unit, Infosys Ltd and Mr. Rajat Chakravarty , Director - Enterprise Architecture, Oracle India Pvt. Ltd. The Session covered AI, IoT, RPA, Robotics and other relevant areas. Mr. R N Lahiri, Chairperson Emeritus, IT Committee, The Bengal Chamber moderated the Session. Mr. Sarit Bose, Director, Protiviti made Special Remarks on Future of Work.

There was a Special Session on IPR in the age of Industry 4.0 by Mr. Samaresh Chakraborty, Advocate.

The Conclave showcased Case Studies on Automation. The Case Studies included ‘Eastern India Load Despatch Management through Automation’ by Mr. K. Nandakumar, Chairman & Managing Director, Chemtrols Industries Limited; Case Study of Exide Industries Ltd. by Mr. Indranil Chatterjee, Chief Operations Manager, Exide Industries Ltd.; ‘Smart Transportation – Pilot Study in West Bengal’ by Mr. Sanjoy Chatterjee, Director of the Board and CTO, Ideation Technology Solutions and ‘Automation in Agriculture with special reference to ICT Based Agricultural Market Linkages’ by Mr. Kalyan Dutta and Mr. Diptendra Chakraborty, LAN-Power India Pvt. Ltd. Mr. Prabir Dasgupta, Member, IT Committee, The Bengal Chamber moderated the Session.

The Conclave concluded with the Valedictory Panel Discussion on ‘Adaptation of Automation- Turning Challenges into opportunities’. The Panel Discussion was joined by Ms. Indrani Malkani, Managing Trustee, V Citizens Action Network (VCAN); Ms. Kasturi Bhattacharjee, Senior Director, Industry & IoT Head, Ericsson India Global Services Pvt. Ltd. and Dr. Aijitava Raychaudhuri, Professor, Department of Economics, Jadavpur University. Mr. Kallol Datta, Past President, The Bengal Chamber chaired the Panel. Ms. Malkani brought in the citizens’ perspectives; Ms. Bhattacharjee showcased perspectives of the IT sector and Dr. Aijitava Raychaudhuri shared his views as an economist. It was a brainstorming session on how are we are positioned to adapt to ‘inclusive automation’ i.e., in other words – bridging automation and society.