The 1st International Conference on Emerging Technologies of Information and Communications (ETIC) was organized in Jigme Namgyel Engineering College (JNEC) on March 8 -10, 2019. The conference was organized by JNEC in collaboration with National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia under the flagship of knowledge transfer project themed “East-West: Connected World”.
His Excellency Karma Donnen Wangdi, Minister, Ministry of Information and Communication, Royal Government of Bhutan graced the conference as the Chief Guest. In his address, Hon’ble Lyonpo mentioned that information and communication technology is a priority area of the government and it plays a major role in realizing the development goals of the government. Hon’ble Lyonpo further emphasized on the importance of industry-academia relationship.
Dr. Andu Dukpa, the President of JNEC in his welcome address, thanked the Hon’ble Lyonpo for gracing the event and welcomed all the participants to the conference. He further thanked Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia and other stakeholders for their trust and faith in JNEC and hoped that the event would pave way for further collaboration among the representatives from various academic institutions and industry across the globe.
The conference was organized to celebrate the 39th Birth Anniversary of His Majesty the King and the 45th Foundation Day of the College, to rejoice the journey taken by JNEC, the then Royal Bhutan Polytechnic and Jigme Namgyel Polytechnic in producing skilled workforce for socio-economic development of country since 1974.
Keynote Speaker Prof. Alister Graham Burr from the University of York, United Kingdom addressed the conference on “Where next for wireless? Reflections on the future of the physical layer in wireless networks”. Prof. Walid Saad, Virginia Tech, USA addressed on the second day of conference on “Ultra reliable low latency communication for beyond 5G networks: model-free deep learning and autonomous vehicle control” via Skype. Mr. Jigme Tenzing, Director-Designate, Department of Information Technology and Telecom, MoIC also made keynote address on “Managing IT for GNH” via Skype on the second day.
Prof. Sofiene Affes, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique Centre Énergie Matériaux et Télécommunications, Canada presented the tutorial on “5G and IoT Wireless Technologies: Key drivers for the development of smart Cities and communities in the new industry 4.0 Era”. Prof. Ioannis Pitas, University of Thessaloniki, Greece, also presented a tutorial on “Multiple Drone vision and communications for media production”.
Pro. Nikhil Sharma, LNMIIT, Jaipur, India and his team conducted a workshop on “Simulation of wireless systems using MATLAB + Simulink” followed by a workshop on “Reconnect to your network, reformat your mainframe” by Ms. Nancy Abraham from the Texas A&M University, Qatar.
A total of seventeen international participants across the globe presented twenty-one research papers under the main track of ‘Emerging Technologies of Information and Communications’ and a total of fifteen research papers by Bhutanese authors focused on the applications of ICT and recent trends in Energy and Power Systems were also presented.
ETIC2019 lived up to its theme “East-West: Connected World” with lot of interaction and discussion on future collaboration in the areas of common interest. The conference concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. Sangay Chedup, Head of Electrical and Communication Engineering Department and the local organizer with a commitment to build on the relationship developed during the ETIC2019.