New Delhi: VeriSign, Inc., the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world, will host an event of Internet policymakers and industry leaders to celebrate the economic, social and cultural impact of the Internet. The invitation-only event will be held on Friday, February 11th 2011 at the Oberoi Hotel in New Delhi.

The event will feature Verisign’s leadership team including Rusty Lewis, Executive Vice President, Strategic Development; Patrick Kane, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Naming Services and Hillarie Flood, Vice President, Value Added Services and International Product Marketing among others. Mr. N. Ravi Shanker, Joint Secretary & CEO of NIXI (National Internet Exchange of India), Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Department of IT, Government of India will be the keynote speaker at this event. Patrick Kane and Mr. N. Ravi Shanker will also unveil a book on the impact of the Internet in India that is being published by the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF).

Commercial Internet in India has been in existence for close to 15 years and the popular .com domain name extension recently marked its 25th anniversary. While India dialed into the Internet in 1995 through Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL), it saw its first .com domain name – Rediff.com – go live in 1996. Today, with 81 million1 Internet users, India ranks fourth2 in the world among total number of Internet users. By 2013, India is predicted to have the third largest number of Internet users3.

“The Internet has become such an essential part of how we work, live and play. This event gives us a moment to step back and realize how deeply the Internet revolution has transformed our society,” said Manish Dalal, Vice President, APAC, Verisign. “At Verisign, we’re proud of the role we play in helping bring the Internet to people, but we never take for granted the need to continue to build and strengthen the Internet to meet the increasing demands placed upon it.”