Manoramaonline Techspectations 2020 | Day 1 as it happened

Techspectations 2020, the much-anticipated biennial summit powered by Manorama Online in association with First Shows, begins. Unlike the previous two editions, 2020's summit has taken a virtual avatar in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic but does not for the slightest lag behind on the big ideas it intends to illuminate the way ahead. Techspectations is also an assembly of people who have made a mark in the technology sector, heads of prominent brands, startups and industry leaders, technologists, business spokespersons and digital enthusiasts. Their unquenchable thirst to learn what envelops the morrow too would add to the splendour of the summit. Based on the core philosophy of 'moving forward by overcoming the challenges,' the theme of the virtual summit is 'Digital-led 2021 - Define the new normal'.

DAY ONE

10.15 am - Welcome

Welcome address and host introduction by Mariam Mathew, CEO, ManoramaOnline.

10.30 am - Keynote Address On Digital-Led 2021 | Define The New Normal

Sanjay Gupta, country manager and vice-president of Google India, will deliver the keynote address on the same at 10.30 am on November 27, 2020.

11:30 am - Panel Discussion - Way forward for startups & new benchmarks for angel investors

The second session of ‘Techspectations’ will feature discussions that will be useful for startups and new ventures. It will discuss ways to find new investors and accept investments.

Dipanjan Basu of Fireside Ventures; Anand Prasanna, Managing Partner of Iron Pillar Fund; Arun Chandran, Founder of Trycle; Rashmi Poduval, Co-Founder of Seamstress; and Charles Vijay Varghese, CEO of Nava Design and Innovation Pvt Ltd are the experts who will be a part of the discussion.

3:00 pm - Panel Discussion - Changing perspective of Marketing for brands & business

Most brands are looking for new marketing strategies every day. Firms ranging from small enterprises to large tech companies are doing a lot of experimentation in this field to keep businesses afloat. Leading experts in this area will be participating in the discussions.

The panel members will be Vishal Kapil - CTO, Fashion and Lifestyle Retailer; Unny Radhakrishnan - CEO, Digitas India; Damandeep Singh Soni - Vice-President - Growth, boAt; Jose Leon - Chief Operating Officer, Indigo Consulting and Publicity Group.

4:15 pm - Lead Talk - Digital Marketing 2021, The What and How for Brands

In the final session of the first day of the digital summit, Ashok Lalla, Business Advisor, will talk on how business and marketing will evolve next year.

DAY TWO

10:00 am - Fireside Chat - Streaming Content Ecosystem

The first session of the second day of the Digital Meet will discuss the streaming content ecosystem. Experts will talk about all the new possibilities in this area. The panel members are Vijay Subramaniam - Director and Head, Content, Amazon Prime Video India, and film director Mahesh Narayanan.

11:00 am - Panel Discussion - Defining the new normal for Education & Transformation to Digital Learning

The outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic has resulted in major changes in education. Discussions now are focussed on making learning easier using the possibilities offered by digital technologies. Leading figures working in the field of education will be participating in this session. Dr Ajay Shah, Raghav Gupta and Dr Shashankan Ramanathan will be the key members of the panel for this discussion.

2:30 pm - Panel Discussion - How brands should approach mobiles & mobile advertising

A discussion about the new possibilities in the field of mobile advertising will greatly benefit new startups and brands. Discussions on the potential of mobile advertising assume importance in view of the increasing use of smartphones.

Vishal Rupani - Digital Thinker; Anvesha Poswalia - Digital Marketing Lead, L’Oreal; Navin Madhavan - Vice-President and General Manager, InMobi; and Rishi Verma - Product Manager, Akamai Technologies, will speak.

3:45 pm - Panel Discussion - Creators & new age video platforms

This session will provide more information on and discuss the possibilities of vlogging and product reviewing through YouTube, Facebook and other video platforms. Ebbin Jose of Food N Travel; Mrinal Das Vengalat, Management Consultant; Kyle Fernandes, CEO and Co-Founder of Meme Chat; and Sabareesh Narayanan, stand-up comedian will take part in this session.

Besides these, the meet will also have presentations by the CEOs and CXOs of enterprises with global presence, digital gurus and tech entrepreneurs. The digital meet will also feature special sections where the success stories of those who have excelled in the fields of online learning, OTT platforms, incorporating technology’s influence in the film industry, mobile advertising, YouTube vlogging, fashion trending, etc, will be discussed.

First Shows, the soon to be launched OTT platform, is the title sponsor of the summit. 'Amrita Ahead' the Amrita University's online degree programme, is the knowledge partner. For more information, visit www.techspectations.com