At the close of the first day of TiECon2003, it was a football player more than industry leaders and experts who drew the most cheers for his speech.

Steve Young, one of the best known and much loved quarterbacks in recent National Football League history, pointed out to an enthralled audience the importance of qualities like perseverance, patience, love, hard work, mental toughness, teamwork and accountability.

The ex-footballer, who is now a businessman with interest in venture capital, disarmed his listeners with jokes about the supposed low IQ of professional football players ("I am not expected to speak more than two sentences, so I've already won!") and then won their respect when he said that instead of being depressed about the current economic scenario, one should try and turn it into an advantage, a sentiment that was shared by most of the other panellists.

Despite the information technology bubble-burst and the slowdown in the global economy, panellists participating in TieCon2003 agreed that venture funding is indeed available, only the investors are looking for more stability.

"The market crash and current downturn, to me, is like the erupting of a volcano; it burns everything, but prepares the soil for much sturdier growth," said Krishna Kolluri, CEO of Neoteris Inc.

"I am very optimistic about the type of companies getting funding and I think this is the right time to build high quality companies," he said. "Tons of money is available and though it's harder to go get someone to write a cheque, it is still getting done."

In his addresses, QualComm CEO Irwin Jacobs said India is a good market for CDMA technology and it was necessary to add more third generation technologies.

Referring to the low penetration of telephony in India, he said CDMA would have a growing percentage of users if priced right. "India has an advantage in software, and technologies like CDMA will provide low-cost access to Internet. Wireless communication will help bridge the digital divide," he asserted.

In a panel discussion, Ashok Narasimhan, CEO of July Systems, pointed out that it was critical to have an understanding of cultures while launching a global company. "Unless you understand cultures, you cannot understand the needs of the customer," he pointed out.

During the course of discussion, the panel also advised would-be entrepreneurs to exercise caution while picking their investors. "They are people who are going to be around for a long time, so a combination of investors who can understand your team and have a global approach to life is very important," Narasimhan said.

As more and more work gets done over the Internet, increasing fears of security management also provoked discussion at a panel suggestively titled 'Homeland Security'. Khaja Ahmed, CTO of Microsoft's .NET Passport services, accepted the fact that it was impossible to guard against identity theft. "There have been cases of parents stealing their children's IDs and using it online. So there's no foolproof mechanism," he said.

At the same time, in a reference to the actual requirements of new laws, Matthew Ellis, Pacific Northwest privacy leader at Ernst & Young LLP, San Francisco, said giving out some private information is a small price to pay for increased security. "The Patriot Act sometimes requires more information about oneself and while I am not very comfortable with giving out private information, as an American I see it as giving something up to get something in return," he said. "It's like e-commerce, when I willingly give out my credit card number [online] to get goods shipped free of cost."

In a panel on 'Serving the Next Market Tier', Ashok Jhunjhunwalla of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, pointed out the importance of serving the bottom of pyramid markets. But, he said, it is critical to keep technologies aimed at the rural areas of India extremely cost-effective and ensure the availability of finance, knowledge and training, buying and selling, and insurance to enable and empower the lowest tiers of the market.

In a disappointing development, sources told rediff.com that Information Technology and Divestment Minister Arun Shourie would not be coming for Saturday's keynote address.