BANGALORE: In keeping with its primary mission of increasing knowledge & awareness levels and helping Indian industry leverage cutting edge automation technologies, the Automation Industry Association (AIA) organized a one-day symposium on the theme "Integrated Industrial Automation Technologies for Global Competitiveness".

Kapil Sibal, Minister for Science and Technology, Government of India was the keynote speaker. He stressed the role of the manufacturing sector in India's economic growth, underlining the need for Indian industry to adopt best-in-class automation technologies, as India integrates into the world economy and becomes a global force to reckon with.

Speakers at the symposium, represented market leaders from 'user industries' across key sectors including power, metals, paper, pharma & life sciences and automobiles. They shared their experiences on how automation technologies are currently being deployed in their premier organizations and also outlined their vision for the future and the role of industrial automation in achieving it.

Speakers from leading international consulting organizations provided a global market perspective and useful technology insights. The eminent speakers included Dr.JJ Irani from Tata Sons, HS Kohli of Reliance, Pradeep Dhobale of ITC Ltd., T Shankarlingam of NTPC , Arun Chandavarkar - Biocon, Dr S Rama Iyer of Kvaerner Powergas, AM Uplenchwar - Indian Oil, Rakesh Verma - Nestle, Andy Chatha, ARC Advisory Group (Boston)and Ajit Kumar – Accenture.

The forum provided a common cross-industry platform for information and knowledge sharing on the development and deployment of automation technologies, showcasing the latest trends and global best practices across the spectrum of process, manufacturing and consumer industries . Automation Tech 2004 was attended by around 300 invited delegates representing a cross section of India's industrial and corporate sectors.

"The focus on optimization and integration of operations and processes is on the rise, as manufacturers increasingly leverage automation technologies for enhanced productivity, efficiency, quality and business performance. Automation solution providers are constantly developing innovative technologies to help user industries in this quest," said Ravi Uppal, President of AIA. "Leading automation companies today, are combining their engineering strengths, domain expertise and global experience towards developing technologies for seamless integration of manufacturing and business processes, enabling real-time information and speed of decision making" he added.