Kolkata's premier ICT gathering marked its 15th edition with a sharp focus on data privacy compliance, AI-driven cybercrime, and homegrown security innovation
The technology community gathered in Kolkata on the evening of September 11 for the 15th edition of the Eastern India Information Technology Fair (EIITF) 2026, hosted by VARINDIA. Held at Hotel The Park under the theme "Alliances for Growth in a DPDP-Ready India," the event brought together government officials, CXOs, academics, OEMs and channel partners to examine how the region's IT ecosystem must adapt as India's Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act moves from legislation to enforcement.
The evening opened with a welcome to delegates representing COMPASS, FAIITA, and the Philanthropic Technical Association (PTA), alongside value-added resellers from across Eastern India. Opening remarks noted that deepfake fraud has reportedly surged 3,000 percent, a statistic that would recur through the evening as speakers grappled with AI-driven social engineering outpacing traditional cyber defences, and underscored VARINDIA's 27-year history as a voice of India's ICT ecosystem.
Lighting the Lamp, Setting the Tone
Following floral welcomes extended by Mr. Anil Kumar Sahu, Vice President of VARINDIA, Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Editor-in-Chief of VARINDIA, was joined on stage for the ceremonial lamp lighting by Mr. Manjit Nayak (Director, STPI, MeitY, Government of India); Dr. Sandip Pradhan (VP & CIO, Century Plyboards Ltd.); Mr. Sourav Das (Group Chief of Digital & IT, Rupa & Co.); Dr. Arindam Sarkar (HoD, CS & Electronics, RKMV, Belur Math, Howrah); Mr. Sandeep Sengupta (MD, ISOAH Data Securities Pvt. Ltd.); Mr. Sandeep Jain (Secretary, COMPASS); Mr. Jagannath Patnaik (Head, Sales & Marketing Strategy, Cyber Security, Biz Secure Labs); Mr. Subhamoy Chakraborty (Group CTO, ABP Group); Dr. Pallab Ganguly (Vice Chairman, IEEE TEMS-Kolkata); Mr. Rishikesh Kumar Singh (VP, IT & Digital, Grasim Industries); Mr. Prakash Mani Tripathi (Senior Vice President IT, Shyam Steel Industries); Mr. Abhijit Chatterjee (Sr. Director, IT & CISO, TCG Lifesciences Pvt. Ltd.); Mr. Prakash Sharma (Group CIO, Kredent Group); and Ms. Gargi Bhattacharya (Head IT, ITC Ltd.).
Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu then delivered the inaugural address, framing the evening around alliances in a DPDP-ready India. He urged the channel ecosystem to move beyond co-building and co-selling toward "co-governing," with partners evolving into strategic advisors on consent management and compliance. He underscored the urgency with data showing Indians encounter roughly four deepfakes daily, and India logged over 28 lakh cyber-fraud complaints and ₹22,495 crore in losses in 2025.
Exports, Startups, and the Career Question
Mr. Manjit Nayak, Director of STPI, MeitY, opened the speaker sessions with a talk on IT exports, startups, and emerging tech growth, drawing on his experience strengthening West Bengal's position in India's evolving digital economy.
He was followed by Dr. Sandip Pradhan, CDIO of Century Plyboards, who posed a provocative question to the room: "Is Your Career Over?" His address considered how enterprise technology leaders can stay future-ready as AI reshapes both business strategy and the CIO's own role — increasingly, he suggested, evolving into that of an AI agent manager tasked with steering DPDP compliance within the MeitY regulatory framework.
DPDP in a BOX: A Homegrown Privacy Solution Unveiled
Dr. Arindam Sarkar, Head of the Department of Computer Science and Electronics at Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur Math, took the stage next with a presentation speaking directly to the event's central theme, "Alliances for Growth in a DPDP-Ready India," exploring how AI, deepfake risk, and regulatory readiness intersect.
His presentation set up a high point of the evening: the unveiling of "DPDP in a BOX," an on-premise data privacy solution from FaceOff Technologies, built on NVIDIA DGX Spark and supported by sales partner Vishal Peripherals. The product was positioned as a way to give enterprises greater data control, predictable costs, and high-performance AI capability without ceding data to external infrastructure. Notably, FaceOff Technologies was incubated at Ramakrishna Mission, Belur Math, and its unveiling was framed as a homegrown innovation emerging from West Bengal to address one of India's most pressing digital-governance priorities. Dr. Arindam Sarkar, Mr. Hari Kishore Kusumakar, Mr. Manjit Nayak, Mr. Jagannath Patnaik, Dr. Sandip Pradhan, Mr. Sourav Das, Mr. Sandeep Sengupta, and Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu — also Founder & CEO of FaceOff Technologies — joined on stage for the launch.
The Keynote: DPDP and Policing the Digital Frontier
The evening's keynote address came from Mr. Hari Kishore Kusumakar, IPS, ADG & IGP, Coastal Security, West Bengal Police, who spoke on the DPDP Act 2023 and AI. Overseeing coastal-security initiatives for the state, he brought a law-enforcement lens to rising cybercrime and West Bengal's preparedness to protect citizens as data-protection obligations tighten.
Indigenous Security and a Growing Digital Threat
Mr. Jagannath Pattnaik, Head of Sales and Marketing Strategy at Net Protector Cyber Security, followed with a presentation on Made-in-India enterprise security, reinforcing the evening's recurring theme that indigenous cybersecurity innovation is central to a resilient digital India — a point sharpened by repeated references to the steep rise in deepfake-enabled fraud.
Closing the speaker sessions, Mr. Sandeep Sengupta, Founder and Director of ISOAH Data Securities, addressed "A Growing Digital Threat," bringing 27 years of penetration-testing, compliance, and cyber-resilience experience to a sober assessment of the risk landscape enterprises now face.
PTA Marks Two Years
The evening also celebrated the second anniversary of the Philanthropic Technical Association (PTA), which the previous EIITF edition had marked at its first year. Mr. Sourav Das, Group Chief of Digital & IT at Rupa & Co. and Chairman of PTA, with over 25 years of experience driving digital transformation, presented on the association's work in building the ecosystem — uniting CIOs, CTOs, and IT leaders across Kolkata and West Bengal in pursuit of knowledge-sharing, mentorship, and technology-led social impact.
Looking Ahead
The evening closed with an informal chit-chat between Dr. Deepak Kumar Sahu and the assembled industry experts, capping the proceedings on a conversational note before delegates moved into networking over cocktails and dinner. Across its 15th edition, EIITF reaffirmed its role as a convening point for Eastern India's ICT community — one where policy readiness, indigenous innovation, and cross-sector alliances were treated not as separate conversations but as interdependent pieces of the same challenge: building a digital economy that is secure, compliant, and homegrown.
