New Delhi, Sept. 26 :
New Delhi, Sept. 26:
India's cyberkids may soon coin a new slogan: roti, kapda, makan, bijli aur bandwidth.
Nasscom president Dewang Mehta set the tone for a three-day India Internet World 2000 (IIW 2000), kicking off tomorrow, by setting his priorities right for the largest gathering of netizens in the country.
IIW 2000 begins tomorrow against the backdrop of the strike by telecom workers that showed convergence of policy and reality does not occur at the click of the mouse.
However, Mehta estimates there would be about 120 million Internet users in India by 2008 from about 4.8 million users as of now.
'While the growth in Internet would happen, the bad news is that the Net is still not being used by women and whatever growth has been there is very slow. There is no increase in their usage,' said Mehta.
Pradeep Kar, Microland chairman, said: 'It is important that ways are explored to use Internet purely for solving social issues.' The three-day exhibition-cum conference is meant to provide directions to a 'mature Internet economy'.
It will provide technology concepts, perspectives on trends and new developments into emerging business models.
Karnataka chief minister S.M. Krishna is billed to deliver the inaugural address while John Scully of Scully Brothers, Alex Lightman, co-founder of Charmed Technology and Anand Sudarshan of Planetasia.com are expected to be present.
and Lawrence Lessig of Harvard Law School are expected to be present.
'India Internet World is more than just Asia's largest Internet conference and exhibition. It serves not only as a meeting ground for Internet visionaries and key players, but also acts as a catalyst in breeding ideas and innovations while crystallising the mandate of the industry for the future,' said Kar.