"India is at the forefront of change in the technology and business process outsourcing space. Today our industry operates out of 75 countries and we have hundreds of development centers across the world. Onshore, right shore, near shore-global sourcing has come a long way"
-Som Mittal
president, Nasscom
"When we look at this year's theme-'Imagineering the Future'-people would wonder on it given that the entire world is talking about recession, recovery etc. It is in that context that this theme is all the more relevant. Moreover, the adoption of various key technologies is happening at a rapid pace"
-N Chandrasekaran
chairman, Nasscom, and CEO of TCS
"We have seen how the world has been redefined and in the last few years the discourse has been totally different. Earlier tablets were administered to cure ailments but today tablets have become the friend of every child"
-Anand Sharma
union minister of commerce and industry
"IT is redefining lives. Consider the population of a state that touches an approximate figure of 100 mn (a figure that is almost the size of Mexico). In such a scenario, the projection of a growth of 12-14% offers huge opportunities"
-Prithviraj Chavan
chief minister of Maharashtra
"Companies of the 21st century will compete on their networks, not on devices or distribution, but on connected platforms that allow their people and partners to collaborate and create value"
-Mike Walsh
futurist and author
"There is a clear move towards creating manufacturing jobs in the US. Innovation is kicking in and there are some good signs. There is a big opportunity to maximize impact and quality in the service sectors like energy and higher education, with the use of technology"
-Patrick T Harker
president, University of Delaware
"The most vexing issue is the slew of taxes that the government wants to extract in advance. These taxes are enough to nip the entrepreneurial spirit in the bud. This would require a special consideration or an out-of-the-box solution similar to what N Vittal came up with when he set up the STP scheme with 64 kbps link to promote software exports"
-Harish Mehta
chairman, Onward Technologies
"I foresee the BPO sector growing at a steady pace. Outsourcing represents one of the highest potential for India's economic growth and I believe that it will continue to grow further to become larger than the IT business itself"
-Keshav R Murugesh
group CEO, WNS
"Understanding market transitions and your company's past achievements are never a guarantee for future success; hence there is a need to change business models and maximize the involvement of your people. Motivation and participation are critical to maintaining the majority of people from acquisitions for at least 3-5 years"
-Jaime Vallés
president, Cisco Asia Pacific, Japan and Greater China