IIT-Madras holds 54th convocation, Nandan Nilekani among guests in attendence

FP Staff • July 22, 2017, 16:24:22 IST

IIT Madras celebrated its 54th Convocation on Friday with Nandan Nilekani as its chief guest

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) celebrated its 54th Convocation on Friday. The occasion was graced by Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys and former chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAD). PTI

Professor Bhaskar Ramaurthi, director of the institute, awarded degrees to the graduating students while Nilekani presented prizes to them. A total of 2,263 degrees were awarded this year. PTI

Nilekani also made a strong pitch for democratising data so that it is available to everybody and not just a few organisations. India has a chance to build a completely new paradigm, he added. PTI

Nilekani also asked the students to be prepared for a world with changes. Describing the importance of “digital explosion” he said, data has become the new oil. Just like oil was the basis for transformation of the 20th century, data is the basis for 21st century," he added. PTI