Delhi Conference: 5-6 Feb 2020

The first RAG conference in a region brimming with talented risk managers

 

 

Overview

2020 will see RAG hold its first conference in India, thanks to the generosity of BT Group, who will host RAG Delhi at their facilities in Gurgaon. The conference is scheduled for Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th February. All talks will be given in English. Attendance will be free for telcos and regulators, but based on the limited space we expect to fill the venue, so book your place as soon as possible.

 

Agenda

The conference will cover revenue assurance, fraud management, cybersecurity, enterprise risk management, margin optimization, cost management and other kinds of business assurance. The formal agenda will begin at 9.00am on both days so please leave plenty of time to pass through security. Coffee and pastries will be served each morning, so come early and use the time to network with your peers.

The following agenda is updated each time a new speaker promises to take part. Click on the speaker’s name to read his or her biography, and continue reading below for more information about the confirmed sessions.

 

Wednesday 5th February

  • Conference chairman and former MTN executive Tony Sani will open the event with his introductory remarks.

  • RAG Chief Executive Eric Priezkalns will briefly explain RAG’s formula for bringing telcos together, and why RAG has been able to deliver a rapidly expanding program of activities, services and events for telecoms risk and assurance professionals worldwide.

  • Our generous host, Bernice DeMarco of BT, will give the opening keynote presentation. Bernice’s role as Director of Business Assurance at BT Group has seen her manage the transformation of a traditional revenue-focused RA function into one of the most diverse and expansive business assurance functions working in any telco today. Her staff in the UK and India are setting the pace for other telcos by developing new techniques and identifying new ways to add value.

  • Bharat A. Pandit, Senior Vice President for Strategy and Business Intelligence at Tata Sky, will give a keynote presentation. Bharat has also served as Vice President of Revenue Assurance at Reliance Communications. He will draw upon his extensive experience whilst addressing the important changes currently occurring in the electronic communications and media sector.

  • Ashwin Menon of Subex will speak about using business assurance to drive profitable enterprise growth.

  • An all-star panel of senior managers will discuss the future of revenue assurance. The panellists will include:
    • Nikhil Sehgal, Head of Business Assurance and Insights at Colt Technology Services;
    • Rahul Puri, Revenue Assurance General Manager at Tata Sky; and
    • Naresh Chandra Biswas, Revenue Assurance General Manager at Robi Axiata.

  • Atul Jain will inspire the audience by sharing some of the life experience he gained by leaving his native India as a young man, moving to the USA, and founding TEOCO, a network analytics business he started with a $2,000 investment and which has grown into a supplier of 300 telcos and OEMs worldwide.

  • Award-winning revenue assurance practitioner Geoff Ibbett will present the results of the RAG Leakage Coverage Survey.

  • Paul Cox from Neural Technologies will speak on the subject of rating reconciliations.

  • Eric Priezkalns will debate whether the promise of data-driven decision-making will ever be realised in practice. He will be joined by two authorities on the subject of analytics and data management, Divya Shridhar of BT and Geoff Ibbett of Symmetry Solutions.

  • Our cybersecurity panel will feature Arun Ganjoo, Information Security Specialist at Jio and formerly a widely-travelled consultant with Subex, EY and KPMG. The panel’s expert moderator will be Jacqueline Fick.

  • At the conclusion of the formal agenda, anyone interested in participating in an extended workshop on using the RAG Leakage Catalogue to map the route from revenue assurance to business assurance is welcome to participate.

Thursday 6th February

  • Naresh Chandra Biswas will present a case study on how he uses analytics for revenue leakage detection in Robi Axiata.

  • Tony Sani is the leader of RAG’s global project to reduce wangiri fraud by using a blockchain to share data about numbers and routes used in wangiri attacks. He will present an update on the worldwide adoption of the RAG Wangiri Blockchain, followed by a conversation with some of its users about the reasons they participate in the exchange of fraud intelligence and how they would like to see this initiative develop.

  • Veteran RAFM manager and consultant Joseph Nderitu will talk with leading technologists about the ways technology is changing how we do revenue assurance and fraud management. Joining him will be Hakim Akayour, a senior manager in BT’s Business Assurance function.

  • Arnd Baranowski, CEO of Oculeus, will tell the audience about using SIP as the foundation for new fraud prevention techniques.

  • Amit Jain, Director of Product Marketing for Mobileum, will give a presentation on the relationship between security and fraud management.

  • Jackie Fick will return to lead a panel discussion of the key trends in fraud management. The panellists will include Mahfuz Alam of Robi, Michaël Houis of FraudBuster, and Mohamed Jaffar Badry of LATRO Services.

  • Steffen Öftring, who leads the RA service line for SIGOS, will talk about the ways his firm provides active revenue assurance testing capabilities to BT.

  • RAG Delhi will close with the ‘Wise Heads’ discussing the state of the telecoms industry and what they felt were the key takeaways from the conference. Amongst the experienced professionals on the panel will be Joseph Nderitu and Eric Priezkalns.

  • Following the conclusion of the formal conference, we will have an informal and extended workshop that defines what fraud intelligence should be shared by telcos. Anyone wishing to participate is welcome to share their opinion and help us reach decisions on how telcos work together.

 

Location, Evening Entertainment and Hotels

The conference will be held at BT’s offices in Gurgaon (Gurugram), India.

International travelers can fly into Delhi’s airport, Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) and then take ground transportation to Gurgaon, which is approximately 30-50 minutes from the airport by taxi, depending on traffic. Gurgaon is connected to the same mass transit system as New Delhi.

The full address of the venue is: BT Global Business Services, Building 14, Tower C & D, 8th floor, Sec-24 & 25 A, DLF Cyber City, Gurgaon, 122016, India.

Here is a list of other local hotels. Attendees are responsible for arranging their own hotel accommodation.

  • The Leela Hotel, National Highway 8, Ambience Island, DLF Phase 3, Sector 24, Gurugram, Haryana 122002, +91 124 477 1234
  • The Oberoi, 443, Shankar Chowk Rd, Opposite Metro Station, Phase V, Udyog Vihar, Sector 19, Gurugram, Haryana 122016, +91 124 245 1234
  • The Westin Gurgaon, Number 1 Mg Road, Sector 29, New Delhi, Ncr, Gurugram, Haryana 122002, +91 124 497 7777
  • Crowne Plaza Today Gurgaon, Site No.2 Sector 29 Opposite Signature Tower, Gurugram, Haryana 122001, +91 124 453 4000

As well as providing lunch and refreshments during each day, we will provide food, soft drinks and the opportunity to network each evening. These restaurants are both in DLF Cyber City, a short walk from BT’s offices.

 

Visas

We strongly recommend that attendees from other countries apply for India’s e-Business visa (sub-option: Attend Technical/Business Meetings) as this will be the quickest and easiest visa to obtain. Applications for this visa can be made through the Indian government’s online portal at https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html.

To apply online you will need to have a photograph of yourself in jpeg format, and a scanned copy of your passport page showing your personal particulars. A sample e-visa application is available here. Your passport must have at least six months remaining, and the e-visa will cost approximately USD10.

It is our experience that Indian e-visas are issued rapidly, but we recommend that you apply well in advance to avoid the occasional risk of processing delays.

 

Brochure

This printable PDF brochure for the conference was created on 21st January; you can download it from here or view it below. However, we always recommend that attendees check the agenda on this webpage for the most up to date schedule of speakers.

 

Free Registration for Telcos and Regulators

Employees of telcos or telecom regulators may attend RAG Delhi for free, so long as they register using the email address associated with their place of work; click here to register.

 

Attendance Options for Sponsors, Academics and Invited Guests

Sponsoring businesses may send their representatives to RAG Delhi. If your business is interested in participating in RAG events then please make your initial query through our contact form.

RAG allocates a limited number of complimentary seats for freelance consultants, subject matter experts, academics engaged in relevant research, and other industry leaders. To maintain a balanced audience, these seats will only be made available to specific named individuals. Invitations will be emailed in due course. If you wish to be added to the guest list you should contact a member of the RAG Committee, or else ask the host or one of the conference sponsors to forward your request.

One of the most important aspects of our conferences is what we call the ‘RAG Spirit’. We want attendees to feel relaxed and have the freedom to talk openly about the challenges they face. To protect the RAG Spirit, we reserve the right to decide who may attend on a case-by-case basis.

 

About Our Host and Sponsors

RAG is a not-for-profit enterprise, and telcos and regulators may attend our events for free, as do many specially invited experts. That means we rely on the generosity of the businesses that host our meetings and pay for everything from our web server to the coffee we serve attendees. We would like to thank the following businesses for contributions that have made this conference possible.

The Hosts

BT

Gold Sponsors

iconectiv, Mobileum, Neural Technologies, Oculeus, SIGOS, Subex, Symmetry Solutions, TEOCO

Silver Sponsors

Araxxe, FraudBuster, GBSD Technologies, LATRO Services, Six Degrees

Bronze Sponsors
Trustonic

If you would like to host a future RAG event or if you want to learn about sponsorship opportunities then please get in touch. We will be glad to hear from you!

© Risk & Assurance Group