bhavITva 2008: Where disruptors discussed the bhavitva (future) of innovation

bhavITva 2008, the annual Information Management conclave of S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai was held on 1st March 2008 at the SPJIMR Auditorium. bhavITva '08 is a forum for presentations and panel discussions with industry experts on topics related to Information management as part of business strategy. This year, the event was held in partnership with NASSCOM and IAMAI, SPJIMR's strategic partners and BizTech2.0, SPJIMR's media partners. The event was covered by BizTech2.0. The proceedings are expected to be web cast on the BizTech2.0 website soon.

The theme of bhavITva '08 was "Disruptive Innovations and their role in redefining the technology and business landscape". On this theme, bhavITva presented the eNNOVATION summit, which saw theme presentations by eminent industry opinion leaders and a panel discussion on the topic "The move towards disruptive innovations in IT: Are technology companies ready?"

The keynote speaker of eNNOVATION was Mr. Ninad Karpe (MD, Computer Associates, India & SAARC). This was followed by guest presentations from Mr. Abhay Gupte (President, ITO, EDS India), Mr. Ravi Trivedy (Executive Director, KPMG) and Mr. Rajdeep Sahrawat (VP and Head of Innovation Initiative, NASSCOM). The guest speakers spoke on a variety of innovation related issues ranging from future of innovation, current business model for innovation, economic feasibility and return on investment for innovation initiatives. Interesting examples of innovative technologies like Google, Apple iPod, Tata Nano were highlighted by the speakers. The guest speakers were later joined by Mr.Vishwa Kiran (VP, R&D, Accenture India) and Prof. Oscar D'Souza (Faculty, SPJIMR) for the panel discussion. The panel discussion was moderated by Mr. Ivor Soans (Managing Editor, Enterprise Technology, BizTech2.0). The panel discussion focused on the strategies for disruptive innovation. In the panel discussion, participation from the informed audience comprising of industry experts and students of various programmes of SPJIMR was one of the highlights of the discussion.
The day started with Dr. Sesha Iyer, Director, SPJIMR welcoming the audience of the event with his humorous speech that highlighted the importance of innovation for the times ahead. He talked about High End Innovation and Low End Innovation and how both of them had the potential to satisfy needs of different customer segments. Prof. Sunil Rai, Joint Director, SPJIMR introduced the events of bhavITva '08 and set the tone of the event by throwing open the questions posed by the theme of bhavITva '08.

The keynote speaker, Mr. Ninad Karpe, MD, Computer Associates, India & SAARC threw open key thoughts on innovation like the role of reverse planning in innovation, the importance of destructive creation, the paradigm shift to supply creating demand and the art of keeping differentiation intact in the face of disruptive forces.
This was followed by three theme presentations. Mr. Abhay Gupte, President, ITO, EDS, India presented his views about the process of disruptive innovation and the importance of proper governance required for it to be effective. He talked about the role of differentiation and competition in the current world of innovation.

Mr. Ravi Trivedy, ED, KPMG talked about the importance of innovation and continuous development of the business model for disruptive innovation rather than the lone technology. Technology is just the aid whereas the business model defines the crux of your innovation by considering social and demographic factors with technology. Using interest-based companies as a case, Mr. Trivedy talked about Extenders (selling on the web), Leveragers (web based processes), Disruptors (change in the business model by going to web) and Destroyers (builders of new business). He emphasised the importance of IT planning along with the execution for companies who want to be the Disruptors and Destroyers.
Mr. Rajdeep Sahrawat, VP, Innovation initiative, NASSCOM talked about the historical phases in the Indian IT industry and highlighted that the future of the IT industry is towards using innovation to take technology to the bottom of the pyramid. He also stressed the importance of innovation as part of the organisational culture for big firms to be able to reap the benefits of this phase of the IT Industry. He also highlighted the threats from other countries like Philippines, china, Latin America. As he rightly pointed out "Smart firms look beyond current trends and spot the discontinuities".
Apart from eNNOVATION summit, bhavITva 2008 saw the launch of IMZine, the annual IM magazine published by SPJIMR. The theme for IMZine '08 was in line with bhavITva '08 - disruptive innovations. IMZine '08 had papers authored by senior experts from industry and the student participants of the various programs at SPJIMR. The magazine was launched by Prof. Sunil Rai, Joint Director, SPJIMR and the first copy was presented to Mr. Abhay Gupte, President, ITO, EDS, India.

bhavITva 2008 also saw the launch of a unique initiative at SPJIMR - IM , The Guiding Spirit mentorship program for its PGDM Information Management participants. This programme is an ongoing mentorship activity with the SPJIMR Alumni as mentors.

bhavITva 2008 was conceptualized, planned, managed and executed by the Strategic Business Unit for Information Management (SBU-IM) team at SPJIMR. SBU-IM team has been constituted under the ADMAP administrative learning module of SPJIMR and comprises of participants of the PGDM program of SPJIMR. This committee works towards the strategic goal of identifying newer areas and trends in IT and technology management and to spread IT awareness.