Get industry experts’ insights on how to use technology to re-think your business at IBM India Labs Engage 2016

This article is sponsored by IBM

A high-voltage tech conference, as many of you who have attended such events know, is a great platform to learn more about the business of technology and its impact on-ground. It also offers insights into how technology is enabling organisations to re-think their challenges, impact innovation and exchange unique viewpoints and experiences.

If all this learning comes from an amazing group of tech leaders, inspirational speakers, and rockstars of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, it has a far-reaching influence. The IBM India Labs Engage 2016 is one such not-to-be missed opportunity. Take a look at some of the innovators who will be sharing insights on varied subjects – from winning technology for today’s fast-moving tech marketplace, to harnessing the potential of collaboration.

Rethinking business and technology with the experts

Rob Thomas, Vice President, Product Development, IBM Analytics

In today’s business environment, cognitive and cloud technologies dictate the pace and direction of business. Cognitive businesses are able to find insights from patterns in mere minutes, and are able to operate smarter, speed up innovation and get to market quicker. Rob Thomas, Vice President, Product Development, IBM Analytics, will share insights on how businesses can accelerate innovation with these cognitive solutions and cloud platforms. He will also discuss the role of Watson and IBM Cloud in building the cognitive abilities that are transforming the industry.

Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, EkStep, Former Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India

Sharing the country’s vision for the future is Nandan Nilekani. The former chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will be talking about how as a country we make the leap from immense potential to a reality where India is truly digital, and leverage the power of a billion minds. He will also talk on why we need to find solutions that are unique to this demography as the country heads into a digital tomorrow.

Dr. Pramod K Verma, Chief Architect, Aadhaar, Chief Technical Officer, EkStep, Advisor to National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN)

A truly innovative idea transforms the landscape you operate in, and becomes a milestone that you chart progress against. Architecting this kind of innovation is based on the principles of openness, linear scalability, strong security and, most importantly, vendor neutrality. Dr. Pramod K Verma will help you understand these concepts and how one can incorporate architecture for scale and agility. The chief architect of Aadhaar will also talk about micro-services across the vast, diverse and dynamic landscape of disruptive technologies.

Vani Kola, Managing Director, Kalaari Capital

With India being ranked among the five largest startup communities in the world and among the most vibrant and fast-growing, there’s a need to keep this momentum going. But, the question that many ask is – how? Helping find the answers to this question and other such industry relevant topics is Vani Kola. She will also be speaking on how the ecosystem can support and nurture startups that will make the greatest difference, and how they could work together for a better tomorrow.

Vanitha Narayanan, Managing Director, IBM India Private Limited

Today, technology and hyper-connectedness has enabled better collaboration between consumers and organisations. Vanitha Narayanan will share how organisations can take this collaboration a level higher by delivering personalised and relevant experiences using cognitive solutions.

Ravi Gururaj, Founder & CEO of QikPod / Member of NASSCOM Executive Council

The start-up ecosystem in India has never been so exciting. With a number of strategic programmes in place, including those by Government agencies at the central and state level, corporates, the business environment is conducive than ever for start-ups. Ravi Gururaj will tell you why it is a good time to be an entrepreneur.

He will also elaborate on how effective collaboration between enterprises and start-ups could be the game changer. And, funding is a key, why those start-ups who have the scale (market) and the right technology, have an edge. This talk will throw more light on this ‘perfect formula’ that start-ups can apply repeatedly.

Apart from these interesting discussions, there’s also the 'Show & Tell' session where you will get to hear from industry practitioners, new age disruptors and research scientists on how these disruptive technologies are being (and can be) put to use to create client value, especially in areas such as financial services (fintech), healthcare (healthtech) and commerce.

Two key components of the two-day long event that you shouldn’t give a miss are -- The Bluemix Garage and Innovation Experience Zone.

The Bluemix Garage

This experiential workshop at the IBM India Labs Engage will provide an insight into one of the most successful and popular techniques that a lot of customers today are adopting to accelerate innovation and lead the race. The Garage methodology is an approach that brings together IBM Design Thinking, Lean Startup, Agile, and Extreme Programming, and will help you build innovative applications. The workshop will help you uncover user insights that drive innovation, throw light on the most glaring concerns of the users and equip you with the best practices to implement solutions quickly. At the event, the workshop will have three tracks focusing on cognitive, IoT and analytics. Since there are limited seats, you need to pre-register for the Bluemix Garage at the registration counters on the day of the event.

The Innovation Experience Zone

At IBM India Labs Engage 2016, you will get to experience how IBM technologies centred around Watson, IoT, and Blockchain, among others, are driving some fascinating use cases. You can meet tech wizards from startups and IBM who are ideating to solve real world challenges. Don’t miss the flash demos by the experts across technology areas at the Innovation Corner.

At the Innovation showcase you will get an inside-view of five growing startups that are doing some phenomenal work. Signz will show you how it is making digital regulatory processes simpler, secure and more compliant. With a goal to bring together all the healthcare eco-system players and promote various technology-driven transformational approaches, AllizHealth will showcase its centralised repository of health information which it has built with the active collaboration of users and limited dependency on healthcare providers.

While Taglys’ on-site search service for e-commerce companies will tell you how it is enabling them to streamline search, SnapShopr shows how it helps e-commerce firms to ‘read’ images better and help the end-users find out what they want at the click of a button. Also, Talview, a video interview platform, exhibits how it enables employers build a high performing workforce by reaching out to and screening more candidates in a shorter period of time and resources than traditional hiring processes.

With ubiquitous technologies like cloud and mobile creating an on-demand economy and new technologies reshaping and redefining sectors, knowledge about these digital disruptions becomes the key for business growth. IBM India Labs Engage 2016 is a platform that offers ample avenues for interaction, ideation, innovation and learning more about technologies that are changing the business landscape. In addition to these interesting talks, you will also be able to explore networking opportunities to channel relationships, interesting workshops, innovation showcases, and much more. ­­­­­­­­­

If you are interested in being a part of IBM India Labs Engage 2016, please apply here. Applications will close by 25th August 2016.