We were fortunate to attend the book launch of Mr. Sandeep Godbole’s book, “Pilgrims in the digital world”. The program ran houseful and was attended by many eminent personalities of the information security domain. The book talks about technology yet it is not a technical book. It covers a variety of topics like digital privacy, bitcoin, cyber warfare, governance, human vulnerability and the precautions that need to be exercised while dealing with the digital world today.
The occasion was graced by Mrs. Aditi Godbole, the publisher of the book and wife of Mr. Sandeep Godbole, the guests of honour included Dr. Sachin Lodha and Dr. Sanjay Bahl. The event’s anchor was none other than Mrs. Nina Godbole, a prominent author who has written books on Information Systems Security and Software Quality Assurance.
The event began with a traditional vandana and invocation to the gods followed by an introductory speech by the author himself. Mr. Godbole talked about the way digitalization has touched our lives where everything is now being defined in zeroes and ones. He highlighted the fact that technology is now widely accepted and adopted. He also stressed upon the fact that technology is only capable of providing solution when we ask the right questions. In his words “It is time we recognize the good, the bad and the ugly side of technology”. His book talks about how Internet can be a cause of concern and a threat to national security. It therefore becomes necessary to involve every individual in addressing these risks. We also witnessed a short video of Mr. Godbole’s father expressing his views on the book and wishing it good luck.
The evening progressed with Dr. Sachin Lodha, the key person leading the cyber security program at TCS delivering an enlightening discourse on the topic “Who’s got my Data? Privacy in the digital world”. Dr. Lodha talked about the privacy paradox where he was surprised to note that the more controls are handed over to the people to protect their privacy, the more willing they become to share their data. Talking about the book he said the writing style is both lucid and conventional.
Dr. Sanjay Bahl talked about another interesting topic, “Securing Indian Cyberspace”. He talked about the various organizations working towards it and the existent laws. He also talked about initiatives like “DigiShala” which is a program aired on Doordarshan to create awareness at the grass-root level.
The book launch concluded with a vote of thanks by the author himself. The evening was both informative and enlightening for both information security enthusiast and bibliophiles.
