Siliguri IT expo commences on March 1

The biggest IT expo of North Bengal is scheduled to commence from March 1 at the Stadium Mela Ground in Siliguri, which is being jointly organized by North Bengal IT Traders Organization (NITO) and Kaleidoscope. The event will be inaugurated by Gautam Deb, Minister, North Bengal Development, Government of West Bengal.

The sponsorships for the upcoming event are in place across 14,000 sq ft area with 120 stalls including 9 pavilions. At least 60 dealers across North Bengal are participating in the fair along with principal companies. However, this year, the sponsorship pattern is somewhat different as this year; the sponsorship is based on individual players.

"Participants are the key source of sponsorships this year. With the principal companies aligned with their partners, these companies are sponsoring individual stalls and related activities and NITO is not directly involved in these matters," said Pankaj Dutta, secretary, NITO.

Although the market momentum across the East is very slow with Kolkata reporting a sluggish 6% m-o-m market growth, Siliguri has successfully braved the situation registering a comparative 12% m-o-m growth. It is because of this factor that Dutta is expecting a successful fair in the area.

Following its focus over the end-user rather than the channels, this time too, NITO has come up with its theme to target all consumer verticals across all age groups. The association is further expecting to have a major thrust in laptop sales coupled with good response from security and surveillance portfolio.

"This year, besides IT products, we have also come up with a range of security and surveillance showcase which can be a big attraction," added Dutta. Sources in the association informed that NITO has finalized at least Rs 30 lakh for sponsorships.

According to NITO, the event will be packed with global executives from the technology, broadcasting, cable, content, engineering, electronics, educational and numerous other industries converging in Siliguri.

"The expo is scheduled to feature a broad array of exciting product and exhibitor announcements, many of which provide consumers with unprecedented control over when, where and how they watch movies, listen to music, view their digital photos and access information, education and entertainment content", said Pankaj Dutta, secretary, NITO.

However, this time, although NITO has appointed the expo committee of 9 members, it has laid down a division of duties instead of vesting all powers to a chairman. The committee includes the present key office bearers as well as past expo chairman.

The DQ Week is the Official Media Partner for the NITO Computer Fair 2012.