MIT's Technology Review to Launch an Indian Edition in 2009

MIT's Technology Review magazine will unveil a new Indian edition in Mumbai in March 2009, at the annual EmTech Conference that has always been held in Cambridge, Mass. (photo: MIT Technology Review for IndUSbusinesJournal.com)

The following article is from IndUSBusinessJournal.com.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Technology Review is headed to India.

The magazine, which was founded in 1899 and is the oldest technology publication in the world, focuses on covering emerging technologies and analyzing their impact.

Much of the stories are seated in MIT’s large research and inventive environment, but the publication has expanded its scope in recent years to encompass innovation around the world.

According to the Technology Review, India is an ideal place to be on the ground.

“We cover emerging technologies and their impact from a global perspective,” said Kathleen Kennedy, chief strategy officer of the Technology Review. “India is obviously a very important market from a technology perspective and we felt very strongly that we needed to have a local edition.”

Technology Review is published by the Cambridge-based Technology Review Inc., an independent media company owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The magazine first began as a publication that covered the work of MIT alumni, but in 1997 the publication expanded with a national edition that enlarged the scope of coverage to the broader technology industry.

The international scope of the magazine has expanded in recent years with international editions in China, France, Germany and Italy.

In the United States the Technology Review is published bi-monthly, with a daily edition on the publication’s Web site. The international editions are published monthly. The Indian edition will be published monthly.

Kathleen Kennedy, chief strategy officer of the publication, has high hopes for India.

Kennedy explained that the Indian edition of the Technology Review will have 30 percent original content from India, with the rest coming from the national edition or other international editions.

She said this may change as time goes by. “We need to see what the readers want to find out if they want more of a global vision or more of a local vision,” she said.

According to Kennedy, most of the international editions of the Technology Review are filled with 70 percent content from the U.S. edition.

Technology Review is targeting an initial circulation of 15,000 for the first year of the Indian edition, but expects to increase to 20,000 relatively quickly.

The launching of the Technology Review in India is unique from the publication’s other international ventures in that it will include an Indian-hosted version of the EmTech Conference in Mumbai in March 2009.

This conference, the first time it is being held outside of MIT’s campus in Cambridge, will serve as the official launch of the Technology Review in India.

At MIT, the conference will be held in late September for the eighth year. The event brings together renowned innovators and senior business leaders to discuss emerging technologies that are poised to make an impact on the business world.

The three-day event features keynote speakers and panels centering on “transformative technological innovations that are driving the global economy,” according the EmTech 2008 brochure.

The type of topics covered at the event will include: cloud computing, open-source hardware and predictive software.

EmTech is drawing heavy-hitters as speakers, such as Craig Mundie, Microsoft Corp.’s chief research and strategy officer, Sophie V. Vandebroek, chief technology officer of Xerox Corp., and Desh Deshpande, chairman of Sycamore Networks Inc., A123 Inc. and Tejas Networks Inc.

Approximately 1,000 people attended the EmTech event at MIT every year and Kennedy expects similar numbers for the EmTech event in India, which will be a two day event on March 9-10.

To facilitate the launch of the Technology Review in India and the EmTech Conference in Mumbai, the Technology Review has partnered with the Mumbai-based CyberMedia Group.

CyberMedia is a specialty media house that publishes 15 publications in the IT, telecom, consumer electronics and biotech areas. These include: BioSpectrum, Dare, Dataquest, PCQuest, Voice & Data and Global Services.

The company also runs 12 Web sites, including technology Web site www.ciol.com, runs over 100 events every year and produces two weekly television programs. Media services also include market research, content management and multimedia.

Kennedy said that the Technology Review believed the best bet for launching an Indian publication was to partner with a company on the ground that had the necessary local experience. “We felt CyberMedia had the depth of understanding of technology expertise to make this a success,” she said.

“We are excited about the prospect of introducing the conference and the publication to the Indian technology community,” CyberMedia chairman Pradeep Gupta, said in a statement about the deal with the Technology Review. “This will be the 16th media offering for us, expanding our existing presence in the technology sector. MIT’s Technology Review brings the best and the latest developments on emerging technologies that have the power of transforming the Indian technology sector.”

“As India continues its stride to become a knowledge powerhouse, the impact of emerging technologies will be felt far and wide,” added Pankaj Nath, CyberMedia senior vice president. “The conference will benefit not only India, but also the entire Asian corporate community.”

source:  IndUSbusinessJournal.com

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