[TechSparks 2020] From FM Nirmala Sitharaman and Qualcomm’s Varsha Tagare to author Tahira Kashyap and more – woman power in focus

Beyonce’s chartbuster, Who Run The World, wouldn’t have been more apt to celebrate woman power evident through the five days of TechSparks 2020, YourStory’s annual flagship event, that was presented in a virtual immersive avatar this year.

The icing on the cake, was of course, a keynote speech by India’s first full-time woman Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, who acknowledged the efforts put in by businesses to revive the economy during these unprecedented times.

In an emotionally charged speech and later, in a Q&A session with YourStory Founder & CEO, Shradha Sharma, she acknowledged the efforts of businesses to revive the economy during these unprecedented times and reiterated the government’s commitment to aatmanirbhar bharat (a self-reliant India).

She also urged the young people of India to speak up and ask for what they wanted.

"As young people of the country, tell us (the government) what is not happening. I, for one, will take this seriously. Do ask questions; we are here to answer. What is not happening is certainly something that I want you all to speak about," she said.

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The first day of TechSparks tickled the funny bone of the audience with a frank conversation with Tahira Kashyap Khurrana on her new book, The 12 Commandments of Being a Woman.

“I have been a goofball in every group I have been in. My father has an amazing sense of humour and I believe I inherited mine from him. I underwent all that I have written in the book. I guess, being a goofball leads to humour in retrospect,” she quipped.

Tahira also spoke about the need to find solidarity in sisterhood as “no one can live in self-isolation and when other women give you a pat on the back and have some good things to say about you, it gives you more courage”.

With the implementation of the 5G network giving a further fillip to the Indian digital economy, Varsha Tagare, Managing Director at Qualcomm Ventures, said that the new technology is about very high throughput and low latency communication.

“It implies that all sorts of communication which require SLA (service-level agreement), including critical communications such as 911 or emergency services, which initially ran on dedicated networks, can now be run worldwide on a spectrum that will be available in any corner of the world,” she added. And the good news is networks will soon be launched and that telecom giants such as Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone will launch their 5G network plans.

Learning is a continuous process, and techies need to constantly update themselves with what’s happening in their field. This was the essence of a fireside chat between Aaksha Meghawat, an AI/ML engineer at Apple, and Shradha Sharma.

Speaking about the future of work, she highlighted that one should think about how we deliver value to some business or to some problem that exists. 

“It doesn't have to be wildly different from what you are doing, but you just have to spend 20 percent of your time thinking about what the next important problem is,” she said.

With diversity and inclusion becoming the inherent focus of every organisation, Ritu Anand, Chief Diversity Officer at TCS also spoke about the importance of inculcating a diversity of the mind. She listed them as “petals” – behaviours like empathy, humility, passion, energy, and gratitude.

Ritu said diversity as a value will be sustainable at organisations only when there is diversity of the mind, which entails behaviours like empathy, humility, passion, energy, gratitude, what she calls “petals”.

She also shared what she calls the “PILL” solution that expands to Positive partnership, Intentional inclusion - where one must be conscious of the bias – and lasting leadership.

With millions of small and medium businesses using the Facebook family of apps, Facebook is all set to play a huge role in the recovery of businesses affected by the pandemic. Its role in the digital transformation is huge, said Archana Vohra, Director, Small and Medium Business, Facebook India, in a fireside chat at TechSparks 2020.

"Through the Facebook family of apps, the offline-to-online journey for SMBs happens easily. Businesses are transacting directly with consumers through Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc. A lot of brands on Facebook are getting 80 percent of their business online," she said, adding that up to 80 percent of millennials spending during the current festive season is triggered through Facebook and Instagram.

Insight and perspective. Direction and commitment. Attitude and resolve. This best describes the conversation between Anu Hariharan, a partner with YC Continuity Fund and Shradha Sharma. In a no-holds-barred discussion, Anu spoke about building India for the world, and asked some imperative questions, “What is your product? What is your unique insight? Do you have at least a 100 users who love you versus a million users who merely like you?” she said.

She also predicted that 10 years from now, Silicon Valley and Bengaluru will become the most important components of the global tech ecosystem.

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Other notable speakers included Sapna Chadha, Senior Marketing Director, Google India and Southeast Asia. She remarked, "For us, entrepreneurship is a space that needs attention first and foremost, it is only when we can focus on entrepreneurship then we can go to women.”

MAKERS India, the digital media platform building a community that empowers women to succeed in the workforce, unveiled its first-ever State of Women in Tech Entrepreneurship in India report at TechSparks 2020. The report offers insights and trends that track the rise, opportunities and challenges for women entrepreneurs in India’s startup ecosystem. 

A number of other women speakers also brought their own unique insights to TechSparks 2020 – the dreamers and the doers who have proved that the best way to tackle problems is to be part of the solution.

For more information on TechSparks 2020, check out our TechSparks 2020 website. Sign up here to join the event. 

TechSparks - YourStory's annual flagship event - has been India's largest and most important technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship summit for over a decade, bringing together entrepreneurs, policymakers, technologists, investors, mentors, and business leaders for stories, conversations, collaborations, and connections that matter. As TechSparks 2020 goes all virtual and global in its 11th edition, we want to thank you for the tremendous support we've received from all of you throughout our journey and give a huge houtout to our sponsors of TechSparks 2020.