iQ

March 2011

ISA Quarterly
The quarterly newsletter from ISA
www.isaonline.org
Special Issue

This Issue - iQ Corner 02 I Vision Summit Sessions 03-06 I Technovation Awards 07 I Delegations 08-10 I Feedback 11 I ISA in the News 12

Chairman’s message President’s message

ISA Vision Summit, our flagship event that we look Dear Leader,
forward to each year, was held on February 21 and
February 2011 saw the sixth edition of Vision
22, 2011. Over 400 delegates participated in this
Summit. We had over 400 delegates, which included
year’s Vision Summit. Deliberations by experts at
global and domestic leaders from technology and
the summit further reconfirmed ISA’s core belief that
business as also overseas delegations. The two-
Electronic Systems Design Manufacturing (ESDM)
day conference offered delegates opportunities to
was poised to be the rising wave for our industry’s
listen to experts on global trends that would impact
growth in the years ahead. I thank Dr. Pradip Dutta,
the industry. Delegates networked and conducted
ISA Vice Chairman and VS Convener, and the CIG team, along with Poornima
business meetings on the sidelines of the conference.
Shenoy, ISA President, and ISA team members for an outstanding job in
putting together and executing a very successful, high quality event. This theme for this year was ‘Electronic Systems Innovation: India’s
opportunity to drive global markets’. Industry leaders from India and overseas
The summit focused on electronic systems design and electronic product
highlighted the unique differentiators that set the Indian industry and market
manufacturing that we have been driving vigorously this year. Appropriately,
apart and provided a vision for the industry for the coming year. ISA believes
the theme of the summit was: ‘Electronic Systems Innovation: India’s
the Electronic System Design Manufacturing (ESDM) industry has potential
opportunity to drive global markets’.
in India and is capable of taking the country to the next level of growth and
The summit was inaugurated by Dr. N Seshagiri, Former Special Secretary, development. Vision Summit 2011 provided the perfect platform to showcase
Department of IT and Planning Commission and Founder Director General, some of the unique success stories from various ESDM sectors in India.
National Informatics Centre, Government of India. Rt. Hon. Patricia Hewitt,
ISA has built strong relationships with the government at the centre and
Chair, UK India Business Council was the guest of honor. Dr. Ajay Kumar IAS,
in various states. We had the participation of several policy-makers and
Joint Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Government of India
influencers from the government during the conference. It demonstrates the
was the special guest of honor.
close ties that exist between ISA and the government. We are grateful to
Several global CEOs and COOs addressed focused sessions on opportunities leaders from the government who participated at Vision Summit and shared
ahead for growth. The conference offered in-depth insights into market their thoughts at this forum.
trends and policy directives, exclusive sessions with innovators, and
Vision Summit is now on the calendar of senior industry executives. It was
business networking opportunities. The conference saw participation from
our privilege to host two well-respected global leaders at the conference,
delegates across the electronics industry, global business and technology
Moshe Gavrielov, President and CEO, Xilinx Inc. and Steve Sanghi, President,
leaders, influencers, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, analysts, and the media.
CEO and Chairman of the Board, Microchip Technology Inc.
This year’s conference also had delegations from UK (country partner),
Belgium, and Japan. ISA has been promoting innovation in research institutes and companies.
This year we presented the Technovation Awards 2011 to highly respected
Ashok Kumar Manoli, then Principal Secretary, Department of IT & BT,
academicians for their seminal contribution to their chosen field of work,
Government of Karnataka inaugurated the Technovation Exhibition.
start-ups for their extraordinary products, and individual innovators. It was
Viswanathan Anand, Indian Grandmaster and World Chess Champion, gave
an honor to have Indian Chess Grandmaster and World Chess Champion
away the Technovation Awards for 2011 in the presence of Dr. Debesh Das,
Viswanathan Anand give away the awards.
Minister-in-Charge, Department of IT, Government of West Bengal, and
Richard Hyde, British Deputy High Commissioner. These awards, selected Our thanks to the ISA Executive Council, Technovation Awards Jury, the
by a jury led by Ashok Soota, Chairman, MindTree Consulting, recognized entire VS CIG and our sponsors for their advice and direction that helped
innovation in technology companies in India and honored visionaries in produce such a wonderful conference. The ISA team once again played a
research and academics. pivotal role in making the conference a highly successful event.
Warm regards, Best wishes,

Dr. Biswadip (Bobby) Mitra Poornima Shenoy

Chairman - ISA President - ISA

VS 2011 was supported by industry & the government

Platinum Gold Silver

Department of
Information
Technology

01
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‘The brand of Vision Summit lies in
the DNA of the industry itself’
• How has Vision Summit evolved over the
years? What is its relevance to industry
today?
ISA Vision Summit is a flagship event of our industry.
A few years ago, our events were primarily held with
a strong technical bias. We felt there was a need
to bring in the business element to our discussions.
India was a fast emerging market and we needed to
go beyond the obvious technological and academic
pursuits and initiate quality deliberations on
market drivers and growth vectors inherent to the
semiconductor industry. In 2011, we took it one
more step further to the end-user by sharpening
our focus on the overall electronic systems industry.
This continuous evolution has kept pace with the
changes we see in the fabric of the Indian electronics
consumption and, therefore, in many ways it is all the
more relevant today.
• Vision Summit is today a well-known
annual event for the industry. What has
helped in building its brand equity?
The brand of the summit lies in the DNA of the
industry itself. While India was making stupendous
progress in software services and business process
outsourcing sectors, a segment of the industry
remained in isolation. It is the domain of high-
tech electronics. There was a need to have an
annual thought leadership conference of industry
professionals, business leaders, academics, and
people connected with regulatory framework and
policy formulations to get together. They would
debate and discuss the inherent challenges in the
semiconductor industry and recognize the tremendous
intellectual horsepower this sector brings to the
subject of commerce and economy.
We have been able to reach out to global
architects of successful Fortune ranked companies
in semiconductors and electronics and have
them participate as keynote speakers. We have
entrepreneurs from local industry who have postulated
how to succeed in this highly price-sensitive market.
We have had multinational companies with strong
presence in India who are innovating products from
here for global delivery. The brand of ISA Vision
Summit is well-established and I am very hopeful
that it will continue to flourish with time.
• The theme is a big draw for any
conference. How did you think this year’s
theme connect with the delegates/
speakers?
If you look at our theme over the years, a common
thread has been the evolution of the domestic market
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and its contribution to the growth in the global
industry. When we began VS planning 9-10 months
ago, we had decided to bring the focus to electronic
systems. Yes, the semiconductor is our origin, but its
end use is what makes this industry so interesting.
The consensus within the VS core initiative group
iQ Corner
Dr. Pradip K Dutta
Vice Chairman, ISA
and Convenor Vision Summit CIG
Dr. Dutta talks to ISA Quarterly
on the success of
Vision Summit 2011
was to highlight innovations in electronic systems.
We coupled that with the opportunity our country
can play in driving global markets. Thus emerged
the theme: Electronic Systems Innovation: India’s
opportunity to drive global markets.
Technovation Award is a forum where we felicitate and
celebrate stalwarts from the academic world as well
as start-up companies and entrepreneurs. Each year
the event has generated considerable buzz within the
community. The TechnoVisionary and TechnoMentor
awards are held in high esteem, and we salute the
winners. This year, the product category winners
represented the different verticals ISA is focusing
on through its ESDM CIGs. The highlight of the event
was the opportunity the entrepreneurs got to receive
the awards from no less than Vishwanathan Anand, a
world champion and a true achiever of our country.
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• What has been the level of participation
from industry in VS?
Any industry conference is benchmarked against
two criteria: the quality of speakers and networking
opportunity. In those respects, Vision Summit has
always been a big favorite of our industry. This year
particularly, I was very impressed with the quality of
the keynotes, the different systems related panels,
the session on energy-efficiency, the discussion on
go-to-market strategies, and disruptive business
models have all been supported with excellent
speakers and created fervent discussions from the
delegates.
• What would be the key takeaways for
you as the committee convenor?
Ours is still a fairly young association and as a
convener for Vision Summit for the past three years,
I have been amazed at the level of commitment and
energy of the team. One has to start planning early
and execute effectively. One has to also be prepared
for last minute surprises and changes. We are trying
to bring in global leaders and cabinet ministers to
address our audience. They live by a very difficult
schedule that can change dramatically by a single
event of business or national polity. The team needs
to have multiple back-up plans to pull off an event of
this magnitude.
• How do you see the conference going in
the years ahead?
I am very confident that with the strong foundation
that has been achieved with this event, we will only
go from strength to strength. India is at the focal point
with a young workforce, huge scale of talent, fast
changing domestic-driven electronics consumption,
seat of reverse innovation, and a key player on world
economy. We will be able to tie in many of these
aspects as we focus on future summits.
• What would you like to see more of in
future Vision Summits?
I would like to build an even stronger network with
the various international delegations that we have
been able to attract to Vision Summit. Our connect
with UK, Japan, Taiwan, and Israel are very strong.
This year we added Belgium to that list. We need to
go one step deeper into these relationships and distill
how we leverage these to increase the business
potential of our industry as well as theirs. We want
to take the MoUs we sign very seriously and chart out
a course to translate it into business.
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Day 1: Vision Summit
Inaugural session
Release of ISA Member Directory 2011 at the inaugural session. Dignitaries
present are (from left) Dr. Pradip Dutta, Synopsys; Poornima Shenoy, ISA;
Dr. N. Seshagiri, NIC; Dr. Bobby Mitra, Texas Instruments; Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt,
UK India Business Council; Dr. Ajay Kumar IAS, DIT, Govt. of India
Electronics has a big role to play in taking India on the developmental route.
Electronics can provide inclusive growth in sectors like healthcare and education,
and provide solutions to the country’s current power crisis. Leaders from industry,
the government, and ISA at the Vision Summit inaugural session spoke about the
strengths of the home-grown electronics industry, and how the environment is
right to take the industry to the next league.
Delivering the inaugural address, Dr. N. Seshagiri, Former Special Secretary,
Department of IT and Planning Commission, and Founder Director General,
National Informatics Centre, Government of India said, “The gap in meeting the
local market demand throws a challenge to industry. And industry has shown time
and again how to turn a challenge into an opportunity. We have been seeing near
disruptive technologies. This decade may see many more such disruptions.”
Session 1: Market and business dynamics in
emerging markets
S. D. Shibulal, Infosys Technologies
The world today is powered by technology. Semiconductor chips make every basic
service to improve quality of life possible - be it at a bank, school, or healthcare
institute. This has led to an enormous responsibility on the semiconductor industry,
especially in emerging markets like India. “The need is to shift from an era of
information to an era of intelligence,” remarked S D Shibulal, COO and Member of
Board, Infosys Technologies, in his keynote address at Vision Summit 2011.
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Dr. Seshagiri pointed out the opportunities that lie in Nano-Technology (NT) and
urged companies to invest now in this technology for the future. “Only a few large
IT and electronics companies are investing in non-volatile NT. The high cost of raw
material is impeding its adoption. R&D is also cost-intensive. But entry level cost
to NT is relatively low, and I foresee companies from India and China entering this
area,” he added.
Guest of honor Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt, Chair, UK India Business Council termed
the Indian economy extraordinary, and the fastest and most exciting in the
world. “We understand the shift in the center of gravity from the west to the
east. Our partnership with India will grow in the coming years. There are many
areas of potential collaboration between Indian and UK companies. Our deep
friendship will translate to a lot of B2I (British to India) and I2B (India to British)
collaborations,” she said.
Special guest of honor Dr. Ajay Kumar IAS, Joint Secretary, Department of
Information Technology (DIT), Government of India released ISA Member Directory
2011 during the inaugural session. Dr. Kumar highlighted some of the key learnings
from the policy decisions that the Government of India has announced, and some
policies that are in the pipeline. “We have learnt some key lessons from the
response to the Special Incentives Package under the Semiconductor Policy of
2007. The requirements of different players in the semiconductor value chain are
different, and these have to be addressed differently. The recommendations to
modify the policy are with the government. The other recommendation that we
are working on is to set up an Electronics Development Fund,” he said.
ISA Chairman Dr. Bobby Mitra, President Poornima Shenoy, and Vice Chairman
and Vision Summit Convenor Dr. Pradip K Dutta spoke about the growth of ISA
that coincides with the growth of the domestic industry, ISA’s focus areas, and the
role they envision for the organization and industry in the years ahead.
“Emerging markets are hungry for technology, and 55 percent of chip
manufacturing is taking place in Asia. India is a classical emerging market and
has a great opportunity to become one of the leading manufacturing hubs in Asia.
But emerging markets are countries of contradiction,” he cautioned. On one hand,
India produces 70,000 engineers every year, and on the other, 140 million children
do not go to school. The manufacturing approach in India has to be different.
Unlike in developed countries where it is bigger, smarter, and faster, India needs
products that are produced locally and are leaner, cheaper, and durable.
The consumer market has grown tremendously and there is a huge demand for
products from the local market. “To meet this demand and to leverage the growth,
there has to be a shift from execution to innovation. India is great at executing. But
to sustain the growth, the country has to create products and a new engineering
process that is relevant to the Indian market. Inclusion and localization, bringing
a larger population into the growing economy, and giving them access to local
products and processes will propel the country’s development,” Shibulal said.
He added that India has the ecosystem to drive innovation and growth. “But if the
country has to emerge in manufacturing, we have to redefine the space. We have
to focus on creating products and processes that are not cheaper but relevant to
us and the rest of the world,” he maintained.
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ISA Quarterly
The quarterly newsletter from ISA
Session 2: Healthcare & education:
Next frontier in multi-disciplinary system design
A Vaideesh, Johnson & Johnson Medical India; Bart De Loore, NXP Semiconductors
Belgium; Prof. Prem Kumar Kalra, IIT Rajasthan; Satya Narayanan R, Career
Launcher India
Technology is not for the elite alone - it is a means to reach the last mile or the
last person at the bottom of the pyramid; it is a problem-solver. These were some
of the key messages that emerged out of a session on inclusive growth through
technology for education and healthcare.
Prof. Prem Kumar Kalra, Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Rajasthan, who
moderated the session, said the world is experiencing ‘design of abundance’.
“Studies show that more than 90 percent of features in a new software product
are not used. What companies should focus on is not maximizing savings but
minimizing consumption. Even today, the last person cannot afford technology,”
he remarked. He urged corporates to focus on wealth-creation and not money-
making, which is the only way to remove the asymmetries that exist in society
today. “I tell our students employment is not an end in itself, and that they should
strive to be job creators,” he added.
Session 3: Telecom & consumer products:
Driving global markets through local innovations
Dr. Ramanujan Kashi, Avaya India Private Limited; Prof. Pankaj Chandra, IIMB;
Rahul Khosla, Pace Micro Technology; Rajesh Razdan, Mcarbon Tech Innovation
What is local innovation? How can products developed for local needs get to
global markets and drive these markets? These were a few interesting thoughts
raised in the session moderated by Prof. Pankaj Chandra, Director, IIM Bangalore.
“There needs to be a bridge between local innovation and global markets. Areas
such as education, healthcare, citizen services, e-governance, transport, and
disaster relief are in great need for innovative products. India has the framework
for local innovation and can be an interesting provider for finding markets for
products developed for local needs,” said Prof. Chandra.
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A Vaideesh, Managing Director, Johnson & Johnson Healthcare spoke about some
disruptive technologies in healthcare that have made a big impact in the country.
With the shift from communicable diseases to lifestyle-related diseases, there is
huge pressure on the country. “The move to provide a smart card to people below
the poverty line to access healthcare centers has been a disruptive innovation. On
an average, a person spends Rs. 30,000 at the time of a disease occurrence. This
can make a big change in the life of an ordinary person,” said Vaideesh. Some
of the other positive changes due to disruptive technology have been mobile
consultation services, like that of Apollo Hospitals, and glucose level monitoring
device through an iPhone app. “What we need now is better connectivity that will
connect patients to the provider. Today, 46 percent of patients travel more than
100 km for tertiary healthcare,” he added.
R Satya Narayanan, Founder and Chairman, Career Launcher India, spoke of
the need to introduce innovative technology solutions to make education more
inclusive. “It is exciting to see what technology allows us as teachers to do.
Career Launcher is able to offer courses with a price differential but similar
content for urban and rural students because of technology. A course that costs
Rs. 5,000 in cities, costs Rs. 125 in a rural area,” he said. What he wants to see in
the future is technology enabling teachers to move away from pedantic work and
get more into mentoring students.
Bart De Loore, Vice President-New Business and Managing Director, NXP
Semiconductors Belgium, spoke of the need to strengthen education-industry
links to improve the effectiveness of education initiatives. “India needs ‘jugaad’
approaches to provide educational tools to the last person. India should use its
indigenous genius to develop solutions that are low-cost, multi-purpose, and
mass deployable. In healthcare, we need innovation to reach the masses in
primary healthcare centers. Technology should link people to experts,”said De
Loore. These solutions need to be battery-operated and offer local processing
abilities. Semiconductors can fill in these gaps and offer the country inclusive
technologies.
Rajesh Razdan, Founder and Director, Mcarbon Tech Innovation, highlighted the
role of telecom in India and said, “India is a voice-centric market. With a 700
million subscriber base, we have the second largest user base in the world.”
According to him, local innovation in telecom is happening at various levels:
operations, technology, cost models, design, and so on. For an emerging market
like India, the focus needs to be on mobile commerce, mobile healthcare, mobile
education, and mobile agriculture. Innovations in these key areas will move the
country into the next generation.
Dr. Ramanujan Kashi, Senior Research Scientist, Avaya India, spoke on the need
to put people at the center of communication. Innovation in communication is
driven by market trends. Over the years, the communication trends have evolved
from person-to-person, person-to-machine, and finally, machine-to-machine.
Enhancing user experience by making communication collaborative, user-friendly,
and cost-effective is driving the market and will bring in a wider group of people
into the fold.
Rahul Khosla, Regional Director - Sales & Marketing, Pace Micro Technology
remarked that India is as much a cost-sensitive market as it is not. With a
purchasing power of the fourth largest in the world, India is a dual economy.
A large section of the population uses the latest technology and is not price-
sensitive. But there is an even larger rural section that has been unable to tap
into technology resources. Khosla observed, “The only way to bridge the gap is
through local innovation. To grow as a manufacturing powerhouse and drive it
as a leader, India needs to grow a local ecosystem. Right price, right ecosystem,
and right time-to-market are the three areas of support required by the Indian
semiconductor industry.”
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Session 4: Energy efficiency:
Energy saved is energy produced
Dr. Satish Kumar, Schneider Electric India; Kapil Mohan IAS, BEE, Govt. of India;
James Thomson, Deloitte Consulting; Dr. Anurag Srivastava, Wipro EcoEnergy
Energy loss during transmission and distribution continue to trouble the energy
industry around the world. Experts today stress about plugging these gaps with
efficient and intelligent grid management. ISA Vision Summit panelists spoke
about the need to control loss and introduce dynamic energy management.
Kapil Mohan IAS, Deputy Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency,
Government of India, who moderated the session, said that India uses one-fifth
of the world’s energy consumption. With a steady economic growth, the energy
requirement of the country has also grown. Mohan said, “The Bureau of Energy
Efficiency has to ensure that industries in India are reducing their energy usage.
Energy-efficient appliances that enable to and fro communication between the
appliance and the supplier have to be developed. These appliances have to be
impregnated with intelligence at the manufacturing stage. Smart energy-efficient
appliances are the way to the future and will contribute towards the growth of
the nation.”
Dr. Anurag Srivastava, Senior Vice President, Energy & Sustainability Services,
Day 2: Vision Summit
Keynote address: Fueling the next wave of
innovation & growth
Moshe Gavrielov, Xilinx Inc.
Innovation in technology is the way to the future. According to Moshe Gavrielov,
President and CEO, Xilinx Inc., the Indian semiconductor industry is well poised to
lead the next wave of innovation.
The Indian market is growing at a rapid pace and its imperative need for
local products is fueling industry growth. An insatiable need for bandwidth,
programmable imperative, and broadening markets are the three main factors
powering the country’s growth.
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Wipro EcoEnergy said energy will be the most important element to achieve
economic growth in the next 30-40 years. “There are many dimensions to the
present energy crisis. Energy constitutes 80-85 percent of the problem of
sustainability worldwide. For every one unit of energy generated, only 0.3 unit
is consumed within the utility. In India, the problem is acute; transmission and
distribution loss constitutes 27 percent of the overall energy loss,” Dr.Srivastava
explained. In effect, for every one unit saved, three units are generated.
The emphasis is now on intelligent and dynamic generation, distribution and
consumption to control the loss and save energy. James Thomson, Principal,
Deloitte Consulting USA and Deloitte Global Leader, Smart Grid Practice said,
“Awareness about energy efficiency is growing; we would not have had a panel
like this 4-5 years ago. There are smart grids and energy-efficient products today
but unless consumers are educated, we will not be able to bring value to our
core constituent, i.e. the consumer. Utilities are now engaging customers. AMI
Smart Meter, a two-way, cost-effective meter reading device, allows consumers
to communicate with utilities and vice versa.” Grids can now offer consumers
tiered pricing and consumers can alter their energy consumption pattern to take
advantage of it.
Dr. Satish Kumar, Energy Efficiency Ambassador VP, Schneider Electric India
stressed on the need for benchmarking of buildings and systems. “Energy needs
are growing phenomenally. In India, the commercial building sector is growing at
5-6 percent annually; from 659 million sq. mt. today, it is estimated to touch 1,900
sq. mt. in 2030. China is adding 2 billion sq. mt. of building space every year. To
cater to this growth, China is adding 60 percent of India’s total power capacity
every year. If India has to reach its projected power capacity of 800,000 MW by
2030, it has to add 600 MW capacity every week,” he said. One way to understand
and control consumption levels is to introduce benchmarks of energy consumption
in offices, hospitals, and hotels; in systems such as lighting, equipment, and
HVAC; and in cleanroom facilities. Monitoring building performance, labelling of
buildings and facilities, automation and controls innovation, and next generation
energy management systems are global trends in this area.
Insatiable bandwidth is pervasive across end markets. Communication, wireless,
defense, aerospace, and medical are the top applications areas in need for
bandwidth and Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). “FPGAs are becoming
highly popular as they are configured by the customer, giving him more flexibility
and lower costs. They are the perfect vehicle to support products in emerging
markets. In the coming years, Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and
Application-Specific Standard Product (ASSP) would see a decline. And riding on
the capabilities of 28 nanometers, the industry would see huge adoption of FPGA.
In the next few years, while FPGA will be four times faster than ASIC, it will be
two times faster than ASSPs,” said Gavrielov.
The rising middle class all over the world has contributed tremendously towards
industry growth. In an emerging market like India, the need for products for the
middle class is the driving force for the country’s growth. “Indian infrastructure is
not well developed and this enables nimble adoption of leapfrogging technologies.
We see a huge scope in India. It has got all the basic ingredients ready to grow,
but needs a little encouragement from the government. India needs to focus on
differentiating technology to drive its growth. This would enable reverse target
design platforms enabling low cost innovations, such as the Tata Nano,” he
remarked. Semiconductors and low cost platforms for innovation are the key
to success. Targeted design platforms, designed locally in India for areas such
as automotive infotainment, cloud computing, green IT, smart grid, and security
infrastructure will provide great opportunities for the country in the road ahead.
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ISA Quarterly
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Session 5: Idea to product to markets:
Entrepreneur’s journey. Two sides of the same coin
Steve Sanghi, Microchip Technology Inc.
An entrepreneur’s journey starts from an innovative idea that is translated
into a product. The product needs to find its way to the market and build a
lasting enterprise. In this session moderated by Vani Kola, Managing Director,
IndoUS Venture Partners, she raised a question to the panelists: “How does
an entrepreneur know whether an idea is worth going to the market with?”
Identifying the right market to sell in is the biggest challenge that an entrepreneur
faces, she explained.
Session 6: Innovation for masses:
Disruptive technologies, a key market driver
Phanindra Sama, redBus; Sudhir Sethi, IDG Ventures India Advisors; Ashok B
Ramaswamy, Delphi; and Nandakumar S, Perfint Healthcare
India has proved its mettle in software, and now is the time to make a mark in
the hardware market. Slowly but surely, home-grown companies are developing
innovative products, some of which are designed for the local market.
Sudhir K Sethi, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director, IDG Ventures India
highlighted some of the myths about the Indian industry. “Here are some myths
- there is no technology innovation happening in Indian start-ups, there is no
product company in India, nobody wants to fund in high risk areas, investors
have not made their money, technology is IT, and that this is the bad time to
start a company. We have seen tremendous amount of innovation in Indian
start-ups. There are 70 medical devices companies and 84 aerospace companies
developing products. Sixty percent of our investments have gone into Indian
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Chetan Maini, Chief of Technology & Strategy Officer and Deputy Chairman
of Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicle Co. Ltd., the entrepreneur behind the Reva
car, said, “For an entrepreneur, the objectives have to be clearly defined. It is
important to look at challenges as opportunities to innovate.” Citing from his
own experience, Maini remarked on the numerous HR, technological, financial,
regulatory, and country-specific challenges that his team faced while developing
the Reva. “Electric cars were very expensive, and to be competitive the need was
to be highly creative in the areas of technology, energy-efficiency, and cost. A key
driver in overcoming all these challenges was innovation. Innovation in licensing,
product development, energy-efficiency, distribution, and process innovation
were some of the ground breaking techniques we adopted while designing and
producing the car.” Today, Reva has the largest fleet of electric cars worldwide
and 40 percent of its workforce is in research and development.
Steve Sanghi, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board, Microchip Technology
Inc., discussed the intelligence inside a machine. “Every small machine today
is driven by microcontrollers. There is convergence happening between the
computer, communication, and the consumer,” he said. The center of all activities
is the PC and information can be gathered from a single access point. Today,
end markets are hardware based and every product has in-built intelligence to
make the technology work for the consumer. “Over the years, the intelligence
has become more and more sophisticated and today around 10 billion units of
microcontroller driven applications are sold in a year,” he added.
product companies. There is money for the investor. The portfolio is beyond IT
and comprises energy, telecom, medical, transportation etc. And this is a great
time to start out,” elaborated Sethi.
Ashok B Ramaswamy, Global Director-Software Development, Delphi spoke
about several disruptive and innovative technologies in the Indian industry in
India. “Some of the disruptive innovations in the Indian market have been the
Tata Nano that created a new market segment, the ultra-low cost car; Bajaj Pulsar
that created a new category of motorbikes termed performance motorcycles;
the Nokia $25 handset that has created an ultra-low cost handset market; and
marketing and pricing strategies in the telecom industry that have made the
mobile phone a widely used product in the country,” said Ramaswamy. Some
of the global drivers that will create new markets are environmental pollution,
transportation needs, safety, and the seamless integration of information and
entertainment. Ramaswamy elaborated on some of the cutting-edge work that is
going in to make cars greener, safer, and connected.
S. Nandakumar, Co-founder and CEO, Perfint Healthcare said innovation in medical
devices has been towards making diagnosis more accurate and investigation
more comfortable for the patient. “Companies in India are making products that
follow the clinical safety standards of the west, tailored to Indian condition, and
at price points attractive for Indian buyers. We are taking our products made for
the Indian market to other markets as well,” said Nandakumar.
Phanindra Sama, Founder and CEO, redbus.in said that the solutions created by his
company converted the bus ticketing sector into a level-playing field. His company
has designed innovative ticketing solutions suited to the needs of bus operators
with minimal infrastructure. “We aggregate and distribute bus seats, thus making
the inventory open for any buyer and making it easier for bus operators to bring in
more operational efficiency into the system,” said Sama.
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ISA Quarterly
The quarterly newsletter from ISA
Technovation Awards presentation
Viswanathan Anand, Indian Chess Grandmaster and World Chess Champion
This year ISA gave away 13 awards to visionaries, mentors, and start-ups during
the Technovation Awards 2011 presentation ceremony. The awards recognized
and honored individual achievements and company success stories.
The dignitaries present during the ceremony were Dr. Debesh Das, Minister in
Charge, Department of IT, Government of West Bengal; Richard Hyde, British
Deputy High Commissioner, Bangalore; and Viswanathan Anand, Indian Chess
Grandmaster and World Chess Champion, besides industry leaders.
Richard Hyde said UK was keen to be a part of this journey with ISA. “We are
great admirers of Indian companies. The scale of operations in Indian companies
is unprecedented. UK can be a partner in this by offering cutting-edge UK
technology,” he said.
Dr. Debesh Das said, “Anand is a good choice to give away the awards. It is an
honor for tonight’s winners to receive the award from such a winner.”
Chief guest for the program, Viswanathan Anand, used examples from his life
as a world chess player to highlight how each game involves new challenges
and needs innovative ways to tackle them. “As long as you’re winning, you think
Technovation exhibition
Ashok Kumar Manoli IAS, then Principal Secretary, Department of IT & BT, Govt.
of Karnataka (left) receiving a memento from Dr. Pradip Dutta, VS Convenor
One of the highlights at Vision Summit 2011 was Technovation exhibition.
Inaugurated by Ashok Kumar Manoli IAS, then Principal Secretary, Department
of IT & BT, Government of Karnataka, the exhibition was an excellent platform for
the Technovation Award winners to showcase their winning products.
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Prof. Rao Tummala receiving the TechnoVisionary Award from Viswananthan
Anand. The other dignitaries present are (L-R) Anil Gupta, Technovation Awards
Convener; Dr. Debesh Das, Minister of IT, Government of West Bengal; and
Richard Hyde, British Deputy High Commissioner, Bangalore
you’re doing something right. This is also the time when you’re not taking your
mistakes seriously,” Anand cautioned.
The complete test of a chess player is in a match, when the player has to beat the
opponent to get past him/her. Even a winning strategy cannot be repeated. “In my
match against Kramnik in 2007, I redefined my goal after six games and a 3-point
lead. I then redefined my strategy. One would like to repeat the success formula
but then the opposition will take that strategy,” he remarked.
The five times world number one says there is no blueprint for success. The only
way to succeed is to keep experimenting and through self-appraisal.
Award winners spoke of their experiences and life’s lessons. ISA-UKTI
TechnoVisionary winner Prof. Rao R. Tummala said hardwork and self-motivation
play a big role in success. ISA-WebelTechnoMentor winner Prof. Vikram Kumar
said gaps between the scientific community and industry still remain and more
cooperation from industry will go a long way to help academic societies.
Technovation convenor, Dr. Anil Gupta, MD and CEO, Metalogic Circuits said, “It’s
a great opportunity to showcase innovation happening in India.These products
have the potential to make a difference to society if deployed in future.” The
exhibition at Technovation Lounge saw a steady flow of visitors through the two
days of the conference.
The student category award winner Vikas Singh from IIT Madras said, “I’m truly
honoured and thankful to ISA for this award. ISA has given me a wonderful
platform to showcase my innovation. I also got an opportunity to interact with the
leading minds of the semiconductor industry at the conference.”
M K Narang, an electric repairman and innovator from Jabalpur, who was
felicitated as a serial innovator said, “ISA has provided a wonderful dais for
people to display their innovations. I thank the association for recognizing my
efforts and hope it continues to bring forth many more local innovators.”
Srinivas B. Vijayaraghavan, Director Marketing, Tejas Networks Ltd., the Best
Product of the Year winner under telecommunication, said, “ISA Vision Summit
is an excellent platform for showcasing electronics innovations across different
verticals in India. Tejas Networks has been a proud participant in this summit,
two years in a row. We have found the agenda, speakers and content to be of
the highest order. We cherish the two Best Electronic Product awards we have
received from ISA.”
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ISA Quarterly
The quarterly newsletter from ISA
Delegations
Belgium delegation
Ralph Moreau, Embassy of Belgium
The delegation from Belgium, Flanders region brought a range of companies to ISA
Vision Summit 2011. The primary goal of the mission was to stimulate innovation
by enabling and supporting co-operation with potential Indian partners. The
secondary goal was to promote the DSP Valley network and the region of Flanders/
Belgium for its unique expertise in the domain of wireless communication, DSP,
and embedded systems design.
DSP Valley is a business network and technology cluster organization that focuses
on the design of hardware and embedded software technology for digital signal
processing systems. Headquartered in Leuven of Belgium, DSP Valley is committed
to stimulating innovation and supporting the growth of these companies by
exploring synergy and cross-cluster fertilizing partnerships.
The local antenna of Belgium/Flanders region in India is the Flanders Investment
and Trade agency with offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. This
government agency promotes sustainable international business in the interest
of both Belgium/Flanders-based and overseas’ companies.
The companies that visited India during Vision Summit 2011 are:
• AnSem NV - a fabless IC design house;
• DSP Valley - business network and technology cluster organization, focusing on
design of hardware & embedded software technology;
• Flanders Investment and Trade, Embassy of Belgium - a government agency
that promotes sustainable international business in the interest of Belgium/
Flanders based overseas companies;
• Imec - performs world-leading research in nano-electronics and nano-
technology;
• NXP Semiconductors - provides high performance mixed signal and standard
product solutions;
• Target Compiler Technologies N.V - provider of retargetable software tools for
the design, programming, and verification of application-specific processors
(ASIPs);
• Televic - a group of companies that develops, manufactures, and installs top-
end high-tech communication systems for specific niche markets.
Delegates from these companies shared their presentations at a breakfast
session on February 22. It was a networking opportunity with Indian companies
for the delegates. About 60 participants from companies in the semiconductor and
electronics space attended the session.
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March 2011
Delegates at the Belgium networking breakfast session
We spoke to Ralph Moreau, First Secretary (Science and
Technology), Technology Attache, Embassy of Belgium after the
breakfast session.
• How has your experience been at ISA Vision Summit?
This is the first time that we have brought a delegation to Vision Summit. The
response from our delegates has been very positive. We had done our homework
before we arrived here; our delegates knew what they were looking for. We
have delegates looking for customers, sourcing partners, and joint R&D work,
meet existing partners, or just get a sense of what the Indian electronics/
semiconductor scene is all about. ISA has been helpful in establishing contact
with Indian companies for our delegation. Our delegates were keen on meeting
some mature companies in India, and ISA has helped us set up meetings with a
couple of established players in Bangalore and New Delhi.
• How did you identify ISA as a partner to collaborate
with in India?
We identified ISA two years ago as a potential partner, though this is the first
delegation to the conference. We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
ISA this year to further the interests of each other’s member companies. Vision
Summit offers the right platform for our delegates to learn about the industry
in India. We have seen some good and relevant speakers, and networking
opportunities. We are now talking to ISA for a delegation to Belgium.
• What have been the key learnings about India for your
delegates during this trip?
There are several misconceptions about Indian industry in Belgium. Companies
there think there is no IP generation in India; companies here are only into
services; and India only has captives with no decision-making power. This has
been a good forum to bust those myths, particularly with the participation of so
many home-grown companies in the conference.
08

ISA Quarterly
The quarterly newsletter from ISA
UKTI delegation
UK panel discussion: Hiroo Chotia, Insight Business Development; Vinod Deshmukh,
MindTree; Giriprakash, Hindu Business Line; Was Rehman, UKTI; Pradeep Vajram,
Smartplay Technologies
A business delegation from the United Kingdom visited India during ISA Vision
Summit to explore business opportunities and partnerships with Indian technology
companies. The delegation comprised representatives of UK technology companies
with domain expertise in telecommunications, electronic systems testing and
training, and device ecosystem management.
The delegation was organized by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), an organization
under the UK Government that supports companies in the UK to do business
internationally and oversee enterprises to set up or expand in the UK. The
companies that were part of the delegation were:
• Artevea Digital Limited: a Cambridge, UK-based designer, manufacturer, and
turnkey supplier of TETRA digital radio communication infrastructure and
associated systems.
• Device Management Forum: It brings together major stakeholders in the device
ecosystem to share knowledge, promote best practices, and facilitate the
efficient and effective use of devices and services delivered via devices.
• Doulos: The company has been developing and delivering corporate training
solutions for over 20 years for engineers developing the world’s electronic
products.
• Insight Business Development: The company offers business consultants
and leadership trainers, focussing on three core areas: strategy & business
planning, market & customer strategy, and organizational development. Over
the past four years, the company has worked with a wide range of public and
private sector companies.
• TestPlant: A UK-based, venture capital-backed international software company
and maker of eggplant, a product used by leading technology businesses,
defence and security organizations, and media and on-line entertainment
enterprises.
ISA Annual Member Meet 2011
Date Monday March 28, 2011
Time 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm (including networking dinner)
Venue Royal Ballroom, Hotel Leela Palace Bangalore
Event supported by
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March 2011
• TVS: It provides a full range of products and services in hardware verification,
including verification IP development, consultancy services, training services,
and execution services.
The UKTI representatives were Anthony Cooper, Head of Strategy & Networks,
UKTI, UK and Sunish Jauhari, Senior Trade & Investment Adviser, UKTI,
Bangalore.
UKTI hosted a panel discussion on ‘Collaborative innovation: trends and global
competitiveness’ which was moderated by K. Giriprakash, Chief of Bureau, Hindu
Business Line. The speakers at the panel were Vinod Deshmukh, President &
CEO, R&D Services, MindTree Ltd.; Pradeep Vajram, President & CEO, Smartplay
Technologies Ltd. from India and from the UK, Hiroo Chothia, Senior Partner
and Co-Founder, Insight Business Development, Cambridge; and Was Rahman,
ICT Sector Specialist, UKTI. One-to-one meetings with ISA member companies
followed the session.
We spoke to Sunish Jauhari on the delegation’s experience of
participating at Vision Summit 2011.
• Your delegation represents a wide variety in expertise and
interests. What brought them together?
There is no common denominator among the participating companies, except that
they all want to sell into India. The USP of UK companies is that they provide the
vital component that goes into devices. This vital component makes the biggest
impact into the functioning of a product. UK companies have the expertise and
are looking for scale. On the other hand, large Indian system integrators have the
scale but are looking for this vital component. UKTI is providing these potential
business partners a bridge.
• How does Vision Summit fit into your activities?
This is our third year at Vision Summit as a sponsor and the second year as a
country partner. When we launched our program Enabling Innovation, we identified
semiconductor as a focus area. UK has a pedigree in semiconductors and the
Vision Summit provides our companies the right forum to showcase their work
and meet potential customers and business partners. Here we can meet mobile/
telecom, healthcare, and automotive companies.
• What are the companies looking for?
At a basic level, they want to get an understanding of India. Our companies are
looking for joint-venture partners, business partners, meet existing partners and
customers, and to showcase their capabilities to potential customers. They are
happy to have made some great connections and meet potential contacts.
Agenda
• Thank outgoing Executive Council 2010 members
• Welcome incoming Executive Council 2011 members
• Felicitate outgoing CIG members
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ISA Quarterly
Special Issue

March 2011
The quarterly newsletter from ISA

Japan delegation
We spoke to Hajime Tomokage, President, Asia Semiconductor
Trading Support Association (ASTSA), Kyushu, Japan.

• How did you identify Vision Summit as a destination for your

Japanese delegation at the ISA Vision Summit 2011
A delegation of seven companies from Kyushu in Japan participated in Vision
Summit 2011.
delegation?
Three years ago we realized the potential in a Japan-to-India and India-to-Japan
relationship. ASTSA and ISA signed a memorandum of understanding in 2008.
This year we decided to bring our first delegation to ISA Vision Summit. We have
brought seven materials and trading companies specific to the LED industry. The
companies are keen to sell into the Indian market and Vision Summit provides us
access to a wide, business-oriented network.
• How has your experience been?
We have been successful in our objectives. Kyushu island has 850 semiconductor
companies, and this is a good opportunity for our companies to seek business in
India. We will come again.

Snapshots of Vision Summit 2011

ISA EC meeting with Steve Sanghi, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board, ISA Technovation Award winners with Viswanathan Anand & other dignitaries
Microchip Technology Inc.

A section of the delegates at Vision Summit 2011 ISA team with Viswanathan Anand, Indian Chess Grandmaster and World Chess
Champion

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ISA Quarterly
The quarterly newsletter from ISA
Feedback from a cross section of participants
Speakers
Rt. Hon. Patricia Hewitt, Chair, UK
India Business Council
I was honored to be at the conference
that had such distinguished speakers
at the opening session. This is a great
way for our relationships to grow. There
is enormous potential to collaborate
between our two countries, and
transform people’s lives, particularly
in energy where low carbon devices
can make a big positive impact on our
environment.
Dr. Ajay Kumar IAS, Joint
Secretary, Department of Information
Technology, Government of India
Wonderfully organized. Global
participation has helped generate
interest, thereby helping the sector
grow. This is a huge platform to interact
with people from the industry and
share the thinking of the government
with them.
Prof. Prem Kumar Kalra, Director,
Indian Institute of Technology,
Rajasthan
Good conference. It showed the
industry’s commitment to India. What
I would like to see in Vision Summit in
the future is a session from students.
A Vaidheesh, Managing Director,
Johnson & Johnson Healthcare
Very good. Keen interest in
understanding of the healthcare &
education space will impress to work
with ecosystem. Well done.
R Satya Narayanan, Founder &
Chairman, Career Launcher India
Valuable and invigorating in my view.
Bart De Loore, Vice President
& Managing Director, NXP
Semiconductors Belgium
I am impressed with the quality of
the organization of the ISA Vision
Summit 2011 as well as with the
level and relevance of the speakers.
Congratulations!
Dr. Anurag Srivastava, Senior Vice
President, Energy and Sustainability
Services, Wipro EcoEnergy
The session was a great forum to bring
different industries, government and
semiconductor companies to create
a new economic opportunity for this
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country. There was great alignment
across on what needs to be done.
James Thomson, Principal, Deloitte
Consulting, USA & Deloitte Global
Leader of Smart Grid Practice
This was a wonderful session and
it is very exciting to see the interest
in energy-efficiency within the ISA
community.
Dr Satish Kumar, Energy Efficiency
Ambassador VP, Schneider Electric
India
This is a very good initiative to integrate
the energy-efficiency industry with the
semiconductor ecosystem. People from
the industry were genuinely interested
in knowing more about the energy-
efficiency. Thanks for the invite.
Rajesh Razdan, Founder & Director,
Mcarbon Tech Innovation
Enjoyed the panelists. Good mix of
people. Would like to participate in
future. Thanks.
Rahul Khosla, Regional Director
- Sales & Marketing, PaceMicro
Technology
Great show from ISA. Industry players
are very active & hope initiatives from
ISA will reach out to benefit the larger
community.
Prof. Pankaj Chandra, Director,
Indian Institute of Management
Bangalore
The session was informative and
showcased multiple innovations being
done by firms in India. The challenge of
process-driven innovations, especially
for rural and semi-urban markets came
out clearly. Great effort by ISA.
Dr. Ramanujan Kashi, Senior
Research Scientist, Avaya India
Private Limited
The ISA Summit was very educational
and interesting. Great audience and an
excellent choice of topics. Extremely
relevant.
Dr. Debesh Das, Minister in Charge,
Department of IT Government of West
Bengal
ISA Vision Summit 2011 was a
successful event.
iQ
Moshe Gavrielov, President and
CEO, Xilinx Inc.
Enjoyed the event immensely. Thanks
for the opportunity to address this
prestigious event.
Vani Kola, Managing Director, IndoUS
Venture Partners
Good content and well organized.
Ashok B Ramaswamy, Global
Director for Software Development,
Delphi
Good session, good participation. Can
use bigger audience.
Phanindra Sama, Co-founder and
CEO, redBus
It was fantastic! After a long time I
felt at home among the semiconductor
fraternity that I was a part of four years
back. Look forward to the event next
year.
Pradeep Vajram, President & CEO,
Smartplay Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Good discussion, especially for start-
ups. Several start-up companies talked
to me to discuss more on collaborative
innovation.
Technovation award
winners
TechnoVisionary Award winner
Prof. Rao R Tummala, Georgia
Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech):
I enjoyed participating in the ISA
conference immensely. Of course, I
enjoyed receiving the award. What
is great about ISA is the collection
and networking with all the Indian
electronics companies.
TechnoMentor Award winner
Prof. Vikram Kumar, Indian Institute of
Technology, Delhi: A very interesting
event with people from a wide
spectrum. Glad to see some real
innovations being recognized. Wishing
a great future for ISA.
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Special Issue
March 2011
Sponsors
Neeraj Varma, Country Manager
– Sales (India, Australia & New
Zealand), Xilinx India Technology
Services Pvt. Ltd.
ISA Vision Summit is the premier event
for the semiconductor industry and
this year, it provided an opportunity
to explore ideas, and hear and discuss
emerging developments in the ESDM
eco-systems both globally and in India.
Xilinx CEO, Moshe Gavrielov shared
his views on how India is well placed
to fuel the next wave of innovation
and growth. We enjoyed the excellent
opportunities to network with industry
leaders and key stakeholders.
Ravi Pagar, Director, element14
We have been a part of ISA Vision
Summit in the past. We used the
platform provided by ISA to showcase
our re-emerged brand, forge new
partnerships, and to share and
reconnect with current business
associates through the event. The
event was mutually beneficial for all
participants. It was a key element in
creating awareness about our new
brand proposition and build synergies
between our customers, suppliers
and other stakeholders. The summit
was interactive and helped us gather
a lot of inputs that will go a long
way in establishing ourselves as a
leader in the electronics components
distribution space.
Vilas Bhade, Head - Hardware
Practice, Infosys Technology Ltd.
Vision Summit was a good platform to
reach our audience, and as a turnkey
engineering & technology solutions
provider, exchange perspectives on the
market with leaders in the industry.
K S Narahari
Director - Communications
Texas Instruments India
Texas Instruments has been associated
with Vision Summit for several
years. Vision Summit attracts all the
industry leaders, and now with the
new ESDM agenda, the scope has
increased further. As a sponsor, the
conference gives us visibility in the
right audience.
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ISA Quarterly
Special Issue

March 2011
The quarterly newsletter from ISA

ISA in the News

Core Initiative Group

Vision Summit 2011
Convener
Pradip K Dutta
Corporate Vice President Synopsys Inc &
Managing Director Synopsys (India) Pvt Ltd
and Vice Chairman, ISA
Co-convener
Rahul Arya
Director - Marketing and Technnology Sales
Cadence Design Systems India
Members
• Raju Pudota
Group Director - Flash IP Engineering
Cadence Design Systems India
• Dr. Satya Narayan Gupta
CEO and President
Concept2Silicon Systems
• Jitendra Chaddah
Director - Strategic Development and
Operations, Intel India
• Veeresh Shetty
Marketing Manager
Mentor Graphics India
• Raja Subramaniam
Director - Sales
Synopsys India

For feedback and advertising opportunities

please contact us at:
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Editor and Publisher : Gaurav K Punjabi
Editorial coordination: Purple Iris Media
Design : Cocoon Creative Concepts

India Semiconductor Association

Head office:
UNI Building, Millers Tank Bund Road
Bangalore - 560 052 India
Phone: +91 80 4147 3250
Facsimile: +91 80 4122 1866
New Delhi office:
DBS Business Centre, First Floor
World Trade Tower, Barakhamba Lane
Connaught Place, New Delhi - 110 001 India
Phone: +91 11 4050 9200
Facsimile: +91 11 2341 4740

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