Hectic work is on to make the three-day mega event, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpaye on March 11, a grand success.

The meeting, titled "Asia's Technology Future: Transforming Business," could have turned out be the mother of all such events held in Bangalore if the Asia Society was able to bring in its original guest list.

Former US President Bill Clinton and Sony Corp chairman and chief executive officer Nobuyuki Idei were two guests the Asia Society hoped to fly down to Bangalore. But the two VVIPS have informed the organisers of their inability to attend the conference.

Speaking to The Financial Express, Asia Society Business Programme director Judi R Kilachand said that both Mr Clinton and Mr Idei would not be attending the sessions. But organisers are not perturbed by the absence of such VVIPs or the slowdown in the US economy. "Our sponsorship remains intact and we hope that this will not affect delegate participation. We are expecting between 500 to 600 delegates, besides 100 media delegates," she said. The conference will explore technologys impact on business and society in Asia.

The conference is structured around six round table conferences and four concurrent sessions spread over two days. The first round table, to be moderated by Dow Jones International president Karen Elliot House, would focus on Asia and its role in technology development. Confirmed speakers for this include, Warburg Pincus managing director W Bowman Cutter, Singapore Economic Development Board MD Ko Kheng Hwa, MiTac-Synnex Group Taiwan chairman Matthew Miau, Infosys chairman NR Narayana Murthy, and eASEAN task force chairman Roberto R Romulo.

The round table on 'IT: software and services', will be moderated by Anupam Puri, affiliated director, Mckinsey & Company. Silverline Technolgies CEO Shankar Iyer, Loke Soon Choo, regional director, Oracle South Asia, Dewang Mehta, president, Nasscom and V Shankar, MD and head of investment banking, Asia, for the Bank of America.

The third round table on telecom, media and the Internet or Tel Me Net will focus on convergence. Ramesh Venkataraman, principal, McKinsey & Company will be the moderator. The speakers in this session include Rajiv Chandrasekhar of BPL group, Andres Bande chairman and CEO Fiberlink Around the Globe, Laina Reveendran Greene CEO GetIt Inc, John Helleur Executive Director Mahindra-British Telecom Ltd.

Round table on Technology hubs will be moderated by Nicholas Patt, President Asia Society. The speakers includes Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu. The round table on financing the revolution will be moderated by Sunil Mehta country head and CEO Amerrican International Group while last the round table will be on House vs Mouse: can the new economy save the old economy.