The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organized seminars in 10 Indian cities with the objective of promoting competitiveness and productivity among small and medium enterprises through the use of information and communication technologies. Over 1,000 SMEs participated in seminars that covered selecting appropriate ICT solutions, compliance management, finance management, and case studies on enhancing productivity with ICT. Speakers from the public and private sectors discussed how ICT can help SMEs scale operations, connect to global supply chains, and reduce costs.

2. 2
Seminar on Empowering SMEs through ICT Intervention
Empowering SMEs through ICT Intervention
Seminar on
C
onfederation of Indian Industry (CII) with
the guidance and support of the CII National
Committee on IT and e-Commerce and CII
National Council on MSMEs, chaired by Mr Bhaskar
Pramanik, Chairman, CII National Council on IT & ITeS
& Chairman, Microsoft India and Mr Deep Kapuria,
Chairman, CII National Council on MSMEs & Chairman,
Hi-Tech Group of companies organized the first edition
of road shows “ Seminar on Empowering SME through
ICT Intervention” across 10 Tier II Cities in India with an
objective to promote competitiveness and productivity
amongst Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through the
use of latest Information &Communication Technology
(ICT). The journey commenced from Ludhiana on
the 14th of November 2013 and further covered
Indore, Rajkot, Nagpur, Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati, Kota,
Jamshedpur, Madurai & reached its final destination Vizag
on 20th December.
The objective of these road shows was to deliberate on
technology that fits SME requirements and the important
factors that go into deciding what kind of a technology
roadmap is right for a particular cluster or segment of
micro, small and medium enterprises. Also, few of the
major IT industry players used this opportunity to reach
out to regional SME clusters in various regions, creating
awareness about their suite of products and services,
tailor-made to fit the requirements of the sector.
As SME’s are the major contributor of country’s economy
and Tier II cities are hub for SMEs from various industrial
segments, the sessions were designed to update industry
on latest global IT and communication trends. It is
estimated that if more and more Indian SMEs adopt the
latest IT tools, there is a potential for them to grow their
overall revenue by INR 3 lakh crores and create 11 lakh
new jobs. Over the past three years, revenues of the
IT-enabled SMEs grew 15 percent faster and created
twice as many jobs, when compared to the SMEs which
used less technology.
The seminar was partnered by National Internet
Exchange of India (NIXI), CERT-In, Microsoft, Intuit
Financial Software, Airtel & Lexplosion Solutions who also
shared their expertise on ICT for SME’s and conducted
myth breaking sessions highlighting the importance of
technology in the growing Indian markets.
Each program focused on two major sessions:
1. New Technology Models for SMEs and How to select
an appropriate e ICT Solution for your business ?
• Session on How to select an appropriate ICT
Solutions for your business, on New Technology
Model for SMEs and on cyber security by IMRB
• Session on Compliance Management by
Lexplosion
• Session on Finance Management by Intuit
QuickBooks
• ICT Based Membership Services from CII
2. Enhancing Productivity and Growth through Simple
ICT Interventions Best Practices & Case Study
Presentations?
• Session on How to select an appropriate ICT
Solutions for your business, on New Technology
Model for SMEs and on cyber security by IMRB
• Session on Compliance Management by
Lexplosion
To add to the above, business-to-business meetings took
place with various ICT service providers.
Retrospect

3. 3
Seminar on Empowering SMEs through ICT Intervention
The Road Shows witnessed a good participation from 1000
plus SME’s and eminent speakers from ICT industry gave
presentation on adoption of ICT for SMEs for enhancing
business. At various sessions the speakers made the
audience aware that Information and Technology (IT) is
playing a crucial role in interlining enterprises across the
internal as well as external value chains. IT is perhaps
the single most important intervention which facilitates
integration of global supply chains from villages to small
towns to big cities and enhancing their competitiveness.
They also gave case study presentation on various ICT
products and services which their companies offer. The
MSMEs can adopt various ICT products which enable
them to scale the operations; to become part of global
supply chains; to provide value added products & services;
reduce cost and bring innovation in their processes and;
to develop a new product of excellence.
Speaking on the occasion in Bhubaneswar Dr. Damodar
Rout Hon’ble Minister of Health & Family Welfare and
MSME, Government of Odisha said “Entrepreneurship is
more important than Industries highlighting the importance
of growing small businesses and the need of technology
adoption. He also said that there is a need to sensitise
the rural populace the importance of MSME ventures so
that the spirit of entrepreneurship gets’ a boost in the
villages. “Odisha’s MSME Secretary Mr. Panchanan Das
said that the MSME Department in the state will provide
web space to all SMEs that do not have a portal of their
own. Their websites will be designed for free.
Key Dignitaries attended the Road Shows
1. Dr. Damodar Rout Hon’ble Minister of Health &
Family Welfare and MSME, Government of Odisha
2. Mr. Panchanan Das, MSME Secretary, Government
of Odisha
3. Mr Govind Gupta, Inspector General of Police, Kota
4. Mr. Arvind Patwari, Director MSME – Development
Institute, Ministry of MSME Government of India
5. Dr. K R K Prasad, Director MSME – Development
Institute, Ministry of MSME Government of India
6. Shri. N N Sinha, IAS, Principal Secretary, Information
Technology Department, Government of Jharkhand
7. Mr. V Neethi Mohan Past President, TN Chamber
of Commerce & Chairman, Young Entrepreneur
School & Chairman and Managing Director Vaighai
Agro Products Ltd
8. Dr. D S Mandloi, Director, MSME - Development
Institute, Ministry of MSME, Government of India
M K Gupta, Chairman, CII Odisha State Council & Managing Director, Gupta Power Infrastructure Ltd, Sri Panchanan Dash, Secretary,
Department of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of Odisha, Dr. Damodar Rout, Hon'ble Minister of Health & Family
Welfare and MSME, Government of Odisha, D.P. Das, O.A.S, Additional Secretary, IT Department, Govt. of Odisha, B. K. Sahoo,
Convenor – IT Panel, Chairman, JSS IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd

4. 4
Seminar on Empowering SMEs through ICT Intervention
Glimpses from the Road Shows in Ten Cities

5. 5
Seminar on Empowering SMEs through ICT Intervention
Media Coverage

6. 6
Seminar on Empowering SMEs through ICT Intervention
– Testimonials –
“It was an entirely different program with awareness on new and viable technologies which
can be used by MSME’s. Though we ourselves use one or two of these applications, we came
to know so many other products and features available in the Cloud based offerings.”
Ashwin Desai
Managing Director, A & T Video Networks Pvt. Ltd, Madurai, India
“The SMEs ICT Intervention Seminar was well organized; the DVD of 15 master classes was
very useful; we expect CII to conduct these kind of seminars on regular intervals”
Mr Saravana Pandian
Managing Director, Embien Technologies India P Ltd
“It was indeed a pleasure to attend the informative session on “Empowering SMEs through
ICT intervention”. The seminar has addressed the need of SMEs of this region. It has helped
to get more clarity on ICT and cloud based tools for SME owners and professionals. Its an
urge to CII to organize more such seminars for the benefit of the industry at large”
Mr Chetan Bhojani
Founder & CEO, Add Value Consultants
“We are extremely thankful to you for inviting us during ICT seminar held during 23rd November,
2013. Seminar was extremely informative and very well managed. It helped us to understand the
IT concept better. This seminar has helped us in expanding our vision to see the business. We
appreciate CII’s efforts in this direction”
Mr Mitesh Shah
Director Atlas Software Tech Pvt Ltd, Rajkot,
“The seminar was very useful, these kind of seminars could be organised at places like
Chennai, also we would like to sponsor in future”
Mr R Senthil Nathan
Sr Business Development Officer, CRISIL Ltd, Chenna
“It was a well-balanced program addressing all vital and relevant issues of SME’s with respect
to ICT coverage. The show generated considerable interaction and hitherto unknown issues
and was a good learning experience. Even though some sponsorship issues are involved I
wish to say that it will help SME’s if session on open source softwares are included. Overall
It was well planned and executed.”
Mr Nawas Babu
Co-Convenor, MSME Panel, CII Madurai Zone & Managing Director, S A Knitwears P Ltd, Madurai

7. 7
Seminar on Empowering SMEs through ICT Intervention
Sponsors
Thank You Partners

8. Published by Confederation of Indian Industry, The Mantosh Sondhi Centre, 23, Institutional Area, Lodi Road, New Delhi - 110 003
January 2014
www.cii.in
8
About CII
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain an environment
conducive to the development of India, partnering industry, Government, and civil society,
through advisory and consultative processes.
CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organization,
playing a proactive role in India’s development process. Founded over 119 years ago,
India’s premier business association has over 7100 members, from the private as well as
public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 90,000
enterprises from around 257 national and regional sectoral industry bodies.
CII charts change by working closely with Government on policy issues, interfacing with
thought leaders, and enhancing efficiency, competitiveness and business opportunities
for industry through a range of specialized services and strategic global linkages. It also
provides a platform for consensus-building and networking on key issues.
Extending its agenda beyond business, CII assists industry to identify and execute corporate
citizenship programmes. Partnerships with civil society organizations carry forward
corporate initiatives for integrated and inclusive development across diverse domains
including affirmative action, healthcare, education, livelihood, diversity management, skill
development, empowerment of women, and water, to name a few.
The CII Theme for 2013-14 is Accelerating Economic Growth through Innovation,
Transformation, Inclusion and Governance. Towards this, CII advocacy will accord top
priority to stepping up the growth trajectory of the nation, while retaining a strong
focus on accountability, transparency and measurement in the corporate and social eco-
system, building a knowledge economy, and broad-basing development to help deliver
the fruits of progress to all.
With 63 offices, including 9 Centres of Excellence, in India, and 7 overseas offices in
Australia, China, Egypt, France, Singapore, UK, and USA, as well as institutional partnerships
with 224 counterpart organizations in 90 countries, CII serves as a reference point for
Indian industry and the international business community.