Overview

The organizational genesis

So what exactly is PanIIT, and how did it come about? The PanIIT movement took root in 2002, when some like-minded alumni formed a PanIIT Board. The board organized two events in San Jose (January 2003) and Bangalore (February 2003), which were highly successful.

The 2004 event in Delhi - whose theme was Empower India - was the turning point for the movement, when it was decided that it should bring nation-building within its scope. It was decided that the PanIIT organization would take up the following tasks:

• Improve PanIIT branding and become an important lobbying forum: The branding exercise was to be achieved through regular interactions with the media by IITians. Another role was that of providing moral leadership and influencing public opinion. It also involved setting up networking/lobbying groups to influence investment panels/governments in the areas of administration (IAS), defence, NGO liaison and a US chamber lobby.
• Undertake `Empowering India' tasks: This involved setting up focus groups and writing position papers on matters of national importance, like globalization, future of computing, the automobile sector, defence, water, power, rural development, education etc.
• Interact with the IIT system to grow the IIT brand: Here, the tasks were to ensure that the IIT brand was not diluted due to political or extraneous factors, working on IIT-industry interaction to commercialise technologies, improving the research infrastructure at IITs etc.
• Setting up a PanIIT secretariat: To convert all these plans into action, a Global Secretariat was proposed to be set up. Its job was to ensure action and continuity, raise funds, coordinate worldwide etc.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who gave an inspiring talk at the 2004 event, made some suggestions on involving IITians in developing rural areas and fostering the spirit of entrepreneurship in the hinterland of the country.

Some of the initiatives that resulted from the event were the PanIIT Future of Computing Initiative (PiFOCI), the Pan-IIT Foundation for Rural Transformation (PiFort), and a seminar on `Opportunities for India in the Knowledge Economy'.

Subsequently, another event was held in May 2005 in Bethesda, Maryland (USA). Its theme was `Technology without Borders'. The aim of the conference was targeted at developing sustainable initiatives that can benefit both the IITs and its alumni. For more details of the events that followed in 2006, 2007, click here for the events section.