The event provided a platform to examine methods and plans to maximize returns on investments. Attendees were able to source key potential partners, customers, and collaborators. Through the eight panel discussions, keynote speeches and special forums, possible answers to critical questions facing the future of business and technology, were explored. IDEAFORUM A star lineup of VCs from top tier firms: Lightspeed Venture Partners, Woodside Fund, Matrix Partners, EastWest Venture Group, Garage Technology Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, WestBridge Capital Partners and Menlo Ventures gathered at the Idea Forum to hear business plans from aspiring technology startups looking for funding. The panel was an informal, one-on-one meeting between VCs and startups. CXO ROUNDTABLE Back by popular demand after its exciting debut last year, this year's CXO roundtable was an even greater success. Moderated by Promod Haque, General Partner, Norwest venture Partners, the panel included B. V. Jagadeesh, President & CEO of Netscaler, Gordon L Stitt, President & CEO, Extreme Networks and Sanjay Dhawan, CEO of Inkra Networks. Issues of current economic scenario and survival tactics were discussed. Jorge A del Calvo, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop moderated a panel on Corporate Governance in which Subrah Iyar, Chairman & CEO of WebEx, Raman Chitkara, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Raj Jaswa, Chairman, Selectica participated. SILICONINDIA LEADERSHIP AWARDS Sam Desai, Motorola’s CIO, who steers the company’s IT strategy and technology deployment and aligns it with the company’s business strategy, received the award for Corporate Leadership. As Desai quoted from the Geeta, the audience sat up to listen to a fire-and-brimstone address by this flamboyant CIO. The highest-ranking Indian in IBM’s history, Ambuj Goyal, GM, Solutions and Strategy, IBM Software Group received the Technologist of the Year award. Norwest Venture Partner’s General Partner, Promod Haque, was presented the Venture Capitalist award of the year. Jitendra Malik, Arthur J. Chick Professor of EECS, University of California at Berkeley, received the award for Academics. Vinod Agarwal, President & CEO, LogicVision received the Entrepreneur of the Year award. A decade after leaving academia to become an entrepreneur, Vinod Agarwal took his company public successfully on Halloween day last year, and it was the first technology IPO after September 11. The man who steers the world's largest Web-conferencing company, Subrah Iyar, Chairman & CEO, WebEx, received CEO of the Year award. In his acceptance speech, Iyar reiterated how faith in one’s belief would take him forward. Tata Consultancy Servvices (TCS) was named the Company of the Year. Jim Thomas, Vice President – Marketing, TCS America delivered a humorous speech as he recalled his first visit to India in 1989. Some of the si100 companies present in the audience were also honored. The Startup of the Year Award went to Chicago based startup Sarvega that provides XML switching solutions. Lifetime achievement award recipient Umang Gupta, Chairman & CEO, Keynote Systems, who has the distinction of taking public the first Indian software company public in the U.S, gave a gracious acceptance speech followed by a Keynote.