More than 200 senior level business leaders and investors attended the summit.
U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) concluded its annual summit in Silicon Valley on Tuesday calling for greater collaboration in deepening US-India Technology partnership.
The annual summit that was attended by top industry and government officials from India and the US, discussed in details about scaling the power of digital transformation in accelerating economic growth, creating jobs and encouraging the start-up and entrepreneurial environment.
This year’s summit saw USIBC bringing together who’s who of the industry including leaders in fintech, digital payment service providers, IT, sharing economy, e-commerce, and venture capitalists; and government officials from India who found a need to renew key linkages and advance the convergent interests of the two countries.
Senior policy makers and heads of global organizations held discussions on dynamic aspects of the US-India commercial relationship that included panel discussions on:
(1) Enabling Entrepreneurship and Corporate Responsibility
(2) Make in India
(3) Digital Payments, Internet of Things and Smart Planning
(4) Future of US-India Technology Partnership featuring the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu and IT Secretary Aruna Sundararajan, alongside tech innovators Dheeraj Pandey, CEO of Nutanix, and USIBC Chairman and Cisco Executive Chairman, John Chambers. The panel was moderated by CNBC’s senior technology reporter, Ari Levy.
This year’s summit was attended by more than 200 senior level business leaders and investors who shared the venue with companies such as Amazon, PayPal, Deloitte, Facebook, iCreate, Nuveen, Mastercard, Mobility Infrastructure Group, Varian Medical, and Visa.
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandrababu Naidu was awarded the Transformative Chief Minister Award, an honor that has been instituted by the Council to acknowledge excellence in public service and recognize the honoree’s achievement in championing U.S.-India ties in the areas of trade, politics and culture.
Recognized alongside Chief Minister Naidu, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and IT, Aruna Sundararajan was honored with the USIBC Transformative Leadership Award for distinguished public service and her commitment to advancing U.S.-India cooperation and Digital India.
USIBC Chairman and Cisco Executive Chairman John Chambers said, “At a time of global uncertainty, the only constant element that businesses and markets across the world will continue to face is technological disruption. From my perspective, the United States and India have incredible opportunities to come closer through digitization; creating jobs, driving citizen engagement and transforming the lives of 1.3 billion people in India and over 300 million in the U.S. We have strong partners in the Government of India. Leaders like Prime Minister Modi, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, and Secretary Sundararajan understand the urgency to bring about digital transformation of India. That is why Cisco and so many other American companies continue to bet big on India.”
“Maintaining a strong and healthy relationship between the U.S. and India is critical, and the U.S.-India Business Council facilitates closer collaboration as both nations look to harness the power of digital transformation to accelerate economic growth and social progress,” said Punit Renjen, Deloitte Global CEO and USIBC Board member. “The actions we take have profound implications not only on our respective economies but have ramifications around the world. As someone who grew up in India and lived all of my adult life in the U.S., I have experienced first-hand the opportunities that can result from deep ties between our countries. Simply put, we are two of the largest democratic forces on the globe and can set the standard for how nations work together toward transformative results.”
“Visa appreciates the opportunity to join members of the U.S.-India Business Counsel and mark the tremendous progress India has since demonetization. Visa applauds India’s bold move toward a less cash society and we remain committed to supporting India’s continued economic growth,” said Demetrios Marantis, Senior Vice President of Global Government Relations, Visa Inc.
“With India’s move towards a cashless society, plans to build smart cities and the explosive growth of e-commerce, it is imperative that there are deliberations on what the challenges are towards creating a digitally driven economy and how American companies can help in this endeavor. USIBC’s annual West Coast Summit explored solutions to building an efficient digital infrastructure for India. India’s digitization journey has opened the market to new growth opportunities and transformed the way Indian consumers access information and services. I believe that through collaborative efforts, the U.S.-India technology partnership can only expand over the next few years and contribute to our growing bilateral trade,” said Dr. Mukesh Aghi, USIBC President.
“India is the first country in the world where it will be possible for an individual to do a digital transaction without a debit card or a phone or a smart phone, just using his thumb,” said Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT of the Government of India Aruna Sundararajan in her opening remarks. “The scale of innovation is huge, the opportunities are huge, and the opportunities for partnership between U.S. companies and Indian companies are unprecedented. I look forward to working very closely with USIBC and all the pioneering companies here to make sure we’re able to unlock the value of a billion Indians.”
“The companies that are here – you are at the global level, with global knowledge. You are all doing well. I invite you to take technology & best practices, and together we can take it to India to transform India,” Naidu said. “I am with you. We are prepared to implement; we will produce a pilot project, then produce on a larger scale for overall benefit of the country.”
“India is on an unprecedented growth path, boosted by PM Modi led Indian Government’s Digital India, Startup India and Make in India initiatives. The progress made is visible across sectors. The vision of the Government to make India a less cash, digitally empowered society and leading digital economy is commendable. India continues to be a strategic market for PayPal,” said Sri Shivananda, PayPal’s Chief Technology Officer.
“There is an interesting wave of experienced, mid-career professionals who are entering the start-up space in India using advanced technology components to deliver innovative, low cost solutions. What excites me about the potential of iCreate-USIBC collaboration is that top-notch vision, technology and capital can enable innovators to bring disruptive solutions into our world,” said Anupam Jalote, CEO of iCreate.
Other prominent speakers at the summit included: Ash Lilani, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Saama Capital; Ambassador Venkatesan Ashok, Consul General of India in San Francisco; Varsha Rao, Board member, NextGen; Ravi Aurora, SVP, Group Head Global Community Relations, MasterCard; John Kern, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Operations, Cisco; Arshad Khan, Executive Director, Khaitan & Co.; Sam Balaji, Global Risk Advisory Business Leader, Deloitte; Sri Shivananda, CTO, PayPal; and Kapil Raval, Global Solution Sales Lead, Hewlett Packard Enterprise.