INFOCOM 2019 organises state forums to showcase their potential

Mystic Meghalaya showcase

The three-day conference INFOCOM in its 18th edition has adopted the theme of facing the challenges of VUCA world and winning. VUCA is an acronym that stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, a combination of qualities that, taken together, characterise the nature of some difficult conditions and situations.

A three-day conference, INFOCOM 2019, an ABP initiative in its 18th edition brought together a best of the global minds in technology, business, corporate leaders, academics, visionaries and policymakers to the business-technology-leadership conclave at ITC Sonar in Kolkata. The event with the focal theme of ‘Winning in this VUCA World’ for this edition was inaugurated by Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal on December 5.

The third and ultimate day of the event conference held the state forums where the various participating states showcased their products in technology and tourism sectors. The day also held the INFOCOM Hackstars Forum 2019. The partner state of the event, Bihar presented its potential in IT and technology through a showcase titled ‘Unleashing the potential of Bihar’ where Sunil Kalra, head-state e-governance mission team, department of IT, government of Bihar, presented that how Bihar is emerging as investment destination in east India. The state has new IT infrastructures coming up across the state along with a renewed focus on startup outreach and skill development programmes. Another government-private panel discussed that how both of government and the private sector can collaborate to ease the way processes and help more people with the solutions.

Visions for tourism in state

Breathtaking Bengal presentation

The partner states West Bengal, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir held tourism showcases to present the potential of tourism in the states. Nandini Chakravorty, principal secretary, department of tourism, government of West Bengal who has taken the responsibility for one month presented the showcase titled ‘Breathtaking Bengal’ where she spoke about the focus areas they want to work on like responsible tourism, skill development in the hospitality sector and such along with discussing the theme-based circuit tourism West Bengal can offer.

The tourism showcase ‘Mystic Meghalaya’ addressed by Tathagata Roy, governor of Meghalaya and Cyril V Darlong Diengdoh, director of tourism, government of Meghalaya presented the experiential tourism possibilities in the state. While the governor spoke about how he had spent his childhood in Meghalaya, came back to West Bengal and then again returned to the beautiful place as the governor, Diengdoh presented the scopes of tourism in the state known for its living root bridges.

“The real USP of Meghalaya is its natural beauty and its pleasant climate. The place is very picturesque, totally green. The combination of hills, valleys, plains, waterfalls, lakes and all these make the place very beautiful. I invite all of you to come to Meghalaya,” said Roy to Media India Group.

“There are many places in Meghalaya which are unexplored, like Kongthong in Khasi hills which is known as the ‘Whistling Village’ as each person has a song attached to their name; we have places like Mawphanlur and Mawthadraishan in west Khasi hills which are unique beautiful landscapes. In Garo hills we have the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve, Balphakram National Park, Chandigre- so there are many unexplored destinations which people are not aware of and now with better road connectivity, many tourists can explore these places,” Diengdoh said while talking to Media India Group about Meghalaya beyond Shillong and Cherrapunji.

“Adventure tourism is another aspect we are looking into- caving, trekking, mountaineering, mountain biking. We also have lot of marathons at Mawkyrwat which is being promoted as an ultra-trail marathon. So these are some of the experiences we’re trying to promote and as I mentioned the focus is on promoting experiential tourism- be it the living root bridges, the cuisine, the culture, living in villages in the environment- Meghalaya is famous for its natural beauty and each place has its unique charm,” he added.

Jammu & Kashmir showcase

The Meghalaya showcase was followed by the tourism showcase of Jammu & Kashmir presented by Sarfaraz Mohammad, deputy director, tourism directorate, government of Jammu & Kashmir. “Jammu & Kashmir is all-season tourist destinations where you have varied options — you have pilgrim tourism, leisure tourism, adventure tourism where everybody can enjoy. Be it Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Patnitop or Bhaderwah, or the number of new destinations like Yusmarg, Kistwar, you will have a new feel because we are improving it day-by-day. At Srinagar, you can stay in houseboats, in Gulmarg you can ski in snow, in Patnitop you can enjoy the cable-car- wherever you go, you will find hospitable people and it is on record that there has been zero crime against tourists as recorded by national crime bureau record,” said Sarfaraz while talking to Media India Group.

The conference ended with a valedictory session presented by the finance and industries minister of West Bengal, Amit Mitra who talked about what Bengal has to offer next in digitization sector.