CSI 2000 - SOCIETY AND THE DIGITAL MILLENIUM

The CSI 2000 - XXXV Annual & National Convention, was organised by the Computer Society of India's Chennai Chapter, at TIDEL Park, Chennai.

For the first time, both the convention and exhibition were held at the same venue.

The convention included technical sessions, tutorials, plenary sessions and panel discussions. The convention boasted of some prominent speakers from the industry, Government and the academic faculty.

The exhibition showcased a host of IT products and services, which included stalls of Computer Hardware, Software, Services, Telecommunication products, Training services, Multi-media solutions, Computer Accessories and Books.

The exhibition which was held inside a 40,000 sq.ft Geodesic pillar-less dome, at the landscape area of TIDEL park. The exhibition had 172 stalls and several majors like Tata Consultancy Services, SRA Systems, Zenith, Xerox Corporation, Kashyap Radiant, CISCO Microsense, Maars Software, Hexaware, HCL Peripherals, Accel and Tata Liebert, to name just a few.

Keeping in sync with the theme 'Society and the Digital Millennium', there are various theme pavilion set up by The Central Leather Research Institute, National Institute of Fashion Technology, M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation, Structural Engineering Research Centre, Vidya Vrikshah, Institute for Ocean Management and the Institute for Remote Sensing.

S. Mahalingam (TCS) Chairman - Organising Committee speaks to www.chennaibest.com in retrospect.

The purpose of the CSI convention was to bring technical updates to people, to showcase a lot of new products for the public and for networking the whole IT industry as such. We have got good feedback from the participants, with regard to the high calibre of speakers who participated in the convention. The fact that the convention and the exhibition were held at one place has been a major plus, in the sense that it has brought in more participation. The partipants were satisfied with the facilities offered. The exhibition has seen some major players, covering the whole gamut of the industry. Though, one does wish that there were some more participation from Chennai, overall it has been a satisfying experience.

The convention has thrown up a lot of new issues and ideas to work upon, and the participants have to do an evaluation. As far as CSI is concerned, we need to involve more new organisations in the future. And as the CSI is viewed more as a professionally oriented organisation, we need to see how student members can be converted into permanent members.

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