India has emerged as the country with the fastest 5G rollout and we must work towards positioning us as a technology powerhouse, and the Indian Mobile Congress (IMC) can play a major role in this vision, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.

Announcing the seventh edition of IMC 2023, set to take place from October 27-29, the minister said that it has emerged as the major technology event in the country.

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the 5G technology. “There are almost 2.75 lakh 5G base stations in a short period of time. We want to position India as a technology developer, telecom manufacturer and exporter. The theme for IMC 2023 is Global Digital Innovation and many more industries will be associated with IMC including drone, satcom, mobile manufacturing, cybersecurity startups etc,” Vaishnaw said here.

IMC2023 will explore having five international partner countries and will have consultation with the Ministry of External Affairs.

The seventh edition of IMC, co-hosted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), will be held at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. The event is expected to witness more than 1 lakh participants, 5,000 Plus CXO-level delegates, over 350 speakers and more than 400 exhibitors.

This year, the key programmes will put spotlight on 6G, advancements in 5G networks, the increasing use of AI in telecommunications and other domains, Edge Computing, Industry 4.0, and the emergence of India Stack.

“This year, we are expecting a lot of international footfalls and trying to involve other related industries as well. This year, we are trying to give a lot of importance to what our country is doing on the 5G front including the use cases and also will ensure larger involvement of different states and ministries,” Additional Secretary, Department of Telecommunication (DoT), V.L. Kantha Rao, said.

Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan said that the telecom industry in India has transformed a lot over the last few years.

“This year at IMC, we expect the use cases should come that will be useful in agriculture, education, logistics, transportation, etc. to showcase how 5G is transforming the country,” he noted.

The IMC 2023 is introducing ‘Aspire’, a startup event that will put emphasis on igniting the future of entrepreneurship growth among young innovators.