“The mega ICT event will be held at Bhrikutimandap. We are opening booking for the stalls from Wednesday," said CAN President Binod Dhakal. [BREAK]
The event will showcase latest ICT products, aiming to raise awareness and educate the visitors about the usage of products apart from selling them, added Dhakal.
According to CAN officials, the Info-Tech will have more than 200 stalls, including 39 pavilions on different themes. Exhibitors at the stalls, whose focus is on sales, will provide attractive various products and services that they deal on. Exhibitors in pavilions, on the other hand, would use the space for branding and launch of new products.
The association is expecting more than 400,000 visitors during the six-day event. People of all age groups and in any profession have interest in ICT are the targeted visitors, according to CAN officials.
CAN is also organizing an ICT conference on the theme of ´e-Democracy´ on the sidelines of the event.
As the Info-Tech has evolved as a flagship ICT event over the years, Dhakal said the association has been receiving enquiries from the sponsors and exhibitors even before the dates for the event are finalized.
A total of 123 companies dealing on hardware and maintenance, power solutions, mobile, accessories, printing services, IT colleges and training schools, among others had showcased their products and services though 224 stalls at the Info-Tech 2011. The event had seen footfall of 421,000 last year.
Along with Kathmandu, CAN also organizes Info-Tech in various cities like Biratnagar, Hetauda, Narayanghat, Dang, Nepalgunj and Kavre.
´Info-Tech has become the identity of CAN´
Amrit Kumar Pant
General Secretary, CAN
How will be the 19th edition of Info-Tech different from the previous editions?We always try our level best to give a new taste to our visitors in every event. So far, we have been successful as we come up with new products every time. This time too we will be launching new ICT products. But it´s too early to give the details as we have just opened booking for the stalls.
CAN is often criticized for poor management of Info-Tech. Can we expect the event to be more organized this time?
If you compare the event from the beginning till last year, it has improved a lot. We do not have alternative in terms of venue; Bhrikutimandap is the only space available for us. It is a really challenging job to manage nearly half a million people. We have introduced SMS booking, online tickets and arranged many volunteers to make the event managed. We are hopeful that visitors will not have to queue up for hours to get entrance tickets.
Visitors also blame the organizers for providing stalls to companies with poor brand quality. Don´t you think it is the responsibility of the organizer to give proper space to quality products?
For the past two years, our focus has been on branding. We accept booking from only the companies that are registered under VAT. Also, we have stopped providing stalls to companies lacking proper identification and dealing on unfamiliar brands. I can assure all that there won´t be any place for substandard products at the Info-Tech
How has been the journey of Info-Tech so far?
We are very pleased with the outcomes of the event. Today, Info-Tech has become the identity of CAN. We have become successful in taking the event out of the Valley as well. Besides, the number of exhibitors, visitors and satisfied buyers is increasing ever year. In the initial years, exhibitors used to use the Info-Tech for trading purpose only. But now, exhibitors are using the event as platform for launching new products, branding and briefing potential customers about utility and use of the product.
Related story
42,826 visit CAN InfoTech on day two
