“I consider this conference not only an Amrita milestone, but a national milestone. I expect that this conference will set the agenda for development of internet of things in India,” remarked Dr. Vijay Bhatkar, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Delhi.
Dr. Bhatkar was referring to the first-ever International Conference on Security of Internet of Things, SecurIT 2012, that was organized at the Amritapuri campus of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, during August 17-19, 2012.
Since the internet of things (IoT) is still relatively new in India, one of the main objectives of the conference was to provide practitioners and students an exposure to the field, especially to applications of IoT with societal benefits. Read More »
The Chief Guest, J. Satyanarayana, Secretary, Department of Electronics and IT, Government of India, inaugurated the Amrita M.Tech. program on Cyber Security Systems and Networks at the conference.
“It is quite thrilling to note that there are institutions of excellence in India such as this, driven by values,” he said, referring to the Amrita Center for Cybersecurity.
Other distinguished guests included Satyananda Mishra, Chief Information Commissioner and Jacob Ponnuse, Director General of Police, Kerala State. While the former highlighted the potential of IoT to help in the implementation of the RTI Act, the latter commended the idea of conducting a hacking contest to help train students in secure coding practices.
Delegates at the conference had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Marvin Minsky, an early pioneer of artificial intelligence, and Dr. Bob Kahn, co-founder of the Internet’s communication protocol, both Turing Award winners. In computing, the Turing Award is considered the equivalent of a Nobel Prize.
Both stalwarts spoke to conference delegates from their offices in the US, over an e-learning platform.
When Chancellor Amma was traveling in the US during summer of 2012, both had the opportunity to meet with her.
“In the future, computers and their networks may become much more powerful than human beings,” Dr. Minsky had told Amma.
“Isn’t it our mind that is creating these computers?” Amma had reminded Dr. Minsky.
“The power of the computers is a reflection of the power of the human mind. The power of the mind is only a small part of our infinite potential,” Amma had told him.
Dr. Bob Kahn had remarked that whereas the internet is a network of computers, Amma is creating a network of human hearts. “For some reason, everyone with you seems extremely happy. Some day I hope to figure out why,” Dr. Kahn had said, speaking with Amma.
Invited delegates also had the opportunity to meet with Chancellor Amma on the first afternoon of the conference. Read More »
Invited talks from professors at top universities internationally were supplemented with those led by senior executives from IBM, Intel, TCS, HCL, Texas Instruments, Daimler Benz, Ford, Robert Bosch Engineering, eBay, Fujitsu Labs, Ingersol and NetApp.
Faculty from the Amrita Center for Cybersecurity conducted a workshop titled Security for All on the final day of the conference.
Of the 180 papers that were submitted from India, United States, Switzerland, Canada, Russia, Taiwan, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Brazil, Ireland and Australia, 32 were accepted for presentation. “Our acceptance rate of 15% compares to that of some of the best international conferences,” noted Dr. Venkat Rangan, Vice-Chancellor of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
A highlight of the conference was Pitchfest, organized by Amrita’s Technology Business Incubator, where students as well as entrepreneurs had the opportunity to make a presentation about sustainable businesses based on the internet of things, for securing seed funding.
Pitchfest was charied by Ms. Esther Dyson, an internationally acclaimed philanthropist and entrepreneur. “I see very few new ideas, implementation is what is key to success,” Ms. Dyson, told the budding entrepreneurs.
The hacking contest, another conference highlight, attracted enthusiastic participation from students all over the country. Read More »
“SecurIT 2012 was tremendously successful, it attracted professionals from all over the world and inspired young students to consider pursuing a career in research and development in this very important emerging field of cyber security,” summed up Dr. Venkat Rangan.
August 23, 2012
Amritapuri Campus
SEE ALSO
Delegates Meet Chancellor Amma
Experts Speak at SecurIT 2012
Hacking Contest sCTF
Indo-US Workshop at Kochi Campus
The New Indian Express – SecurIT 2012 Concludes at Amrita Varsity
IBN Live – SecurIT 2012 Concludes at Amrita Varsity
The New Indian Express – 2.8 m Professionals Needed by 2020
The Hindu – Rs.10,000 Crore for Country’s Electronics Sector
Gulf Times – Electronics Industry Will Need 2.8mn Professionals by 2020
Deccan Herald – Transparency of Internet Data Important, Says Bob Kahn
Business Standard – Transparency, Accessibility of Internet Data Important: Kahn
ZeeNews.com – Transparency of Internet Data Important: Bob Kahn
The Economic Times – Transparency, Accessibility of Internet Data Important: Bob Kahn
The Hindu – Report on IT Meet at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
The New Indian Express – SecurIT at Amritapuri from August 17
The New Indian Express – Global Meet on Internet Security
Aaj Ki Khabar – Indian Electronic Industry Will Need 2.8mn Professionals by 2020
cloudsecurityalliance.org – Cloud Security Alliance, Esther Dyson and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Co-Chair ‘Startup Pitchfest’ at SecureIT
