EmTech Spl: 'Technology Review' launched in India

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The oldest and most prestigious technology magazine in the world made its debut in India today. Fittingly enough, the forum in which the India edition of 'Technology Review', described as a magazine of innovation, was launched was one where a large number of innovators were gathered.

The Indian edition of the 109-year-old magazine was unveiled at EmTech2009, the conference of emerging technologies. Watched by a galaxy of thought leaders, Pradeep Gupta, chairman, CyberMedia handed over the copies of the pilot issue of the blue chip magazine, which is read by over two million readers around the world, to leading policy maker Prof M.G.K. Menon and Hewlett Packard India's managing director, Neelam Dhawan.

As Gupta pointed out, "While India has many polished technology magazines in specific verticals, it so far lacks a thought-leader publication cutting across all verticals on innovation economy and breakthrough technologies. 'Technology Review' will fill this need."

Both Prof Menon and Gupta also mentioned that it was only fitting that the magazine, which traces its genesis to the cradle of technological innovation, Massachussets Institute of Technology, should be launched in a country that prides itself on being the original knowledge nation. As Prof Menon pointed out, "Knowledge is in our DNA."

As copies of the special issue were handed out - Gupta clarified that what we were seeing was the pilot issue and the first issue would only hit the stands in June 2009 -- its cover story on Top 10 Emerging Technologies for 2009, is expected to make a buzz, especially as an Indian figured on the list.

The TR 10 list is a sought after annual list of technologies that the magazine bets will change the way we live and work. Vivek Pai, a computer scientist at Princeton University with his innovative Web storage solution Hash Cache, made India proud by featuring on the list.

The India edition of Tech Review wears much the same look and feel as its parent edition. However, the magazine in India which has been licensed over to Cyber Media, will have more localized content with a good mix of stories emanating from R&D labs here.

As Tech Review editor Jason Pontin pointed out, one of the reasons for launching the edition in India was a selfish one. "India is a leading provider of emerging technology. I want to be the first person to show to the world what's coming out of Indian labs," he said.

Till 1997, most of the stories in Tech Review were seated in MIT’s large research environment and covered primarily the work of alumni, but after that, as the magazine enlarged its scope, pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy, it actively started looking at innovations around the world.

In recent years, editions have been launched in China, France, Germany and Italy.

The launch of the India edition of the magazine signals the growing influence of the country as a knowledge powerhouse. While it’s too early for the Indian edition to show a definite character and style of its own, Jason Pontin is confident that the India edition will eventually have its own quirks and obsessions.

"It's fascinating to see how the German edition has become auto engineering focused, the China edition is so personality focused – we are all waiting to see what will preoccupy the Indian edition," he said.

For Cyber Media, South Asia’s largest specialty publisher, this will be the 15th media offering, expanding its presence in the technology sector. According to Gupta, the monthly magazine priced at Rs 100 will have an initial print run of 15,000 copies.

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