India-ATP Holds Third Annual "ThoughtFerence" In Bangalore

Presentations Focus on Link between Higher Ed and the Workplace

 After holding its first two conferences in New Delhi, I-ATP shifted its location this year and brought what they refer to as their third annual "Thoughtference" to Bangalore.

"We were seeking to expand our horizons this year, and perhaps appeal to more of an educational technology audience," explained I-ATP Director Soumitra Roy of Prometric. Soumitra pointed out that Bangalore is known as the "Silicone Valley" of India.

David Bearfield, Director of the European Personnel Office (EPSO) keynoted the event with a presentation on Testing Time Ahead -- Trends and Challenges for the Testing Community.   His remarks were followed by a presentation from Pawan Adhikari, (Pictured upper left), ACT's Regional Business Development Director for Asia, who gave an overview of ACT's Assessments for the 21st Century.

Switching between networking tea breaks and presentations, other speakers included an assortment of experts from Pearson Vue's Psychometrician, Dr. Edward Feng Li, who presented on transitioning from paper and pencil to computer based testing; MeritTrac's CEO Gopal Devanahalli who gave an overview of the role of technology; and Prometric's senior manager of Test Development Sanjiv Kumar who presented on innovation and score reporting.  Rounding out the full day of presentation and discussion, Somdev Chaudhuri of MeritTrac provided a presentation on best practices in higher education assessment.

Suraj Puravakara, Marketing Manager, Pearson VUE, who served as this year's Conference Chair has announced that plans are already underway for next year's event.

This year's sponsors included ACT as Academic Partner, GMAC as a Gold Sponsor, Silver Sponsors: CApStAn, College Board and ITS.  To download presentations from this event visit the I-ATP webpages at: http://www.testpublishers.org/india-atp-conference