India should move fast on WAP: expert

BANGALORE: "Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is the technology of the future. India should not be left behind and should take the leadership position," said Prof. N. Balakrishnan of Indian Institute of Science in his Keynote address at WAPCON 2000, which got underway here on Wednesday. Professor Balakrishnan added that India had missed the first generation Internet revolution in spite of abundance of talent. "But, through IWIN (India’s WAP Initiative), we have to catch up with other countries," he said.

Inaugurating the two-day conference on Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna said that wireless provides an opportunity to reach leadership position in the world. "I am very happy that Bangalore has got an opportunity to witness this conference and I wish all the success to IWIN", he added. Inaugurating the IWIN, Government of Karnataka IT Secretary Vivek Kulkarni said, "IWIN is not a forum. It is only an initiative by India to represent her interest in the International WAP forum to further its enhancement."

The event will feature a panel of eminent speakers from around the globe, technical workshops and an exhibition of WAP enabled products will form part of conference on WAP Technology. Around 1000 people attending the conference and Telecommunication companies, Portals, Mobile service providers, software houses taking part in the conference. Manufacturer’s Association for Information Technology, Consortium of Electronic Industries of Karnataka, Indian Institute of Science, Department of IT-Government of Karnataka have organized the two-day conference.