Chennai: Youth pursuing engineering and science should use technology to assist the elderly and help combat organised crime, said Racha Aribarg, Consul General of the Royal Thai Consulate-General, Chennai.

Speaking at the 10th annual edition of “technoVIT'25” at VIT Chennai on Friday, Aribarg urged students to ensure their knowledge benefits society beyond academics. “There is a serious issue of digital divide — a gap of knowledge between the young and the elderly. Spend some time with elders; otherwise, they will be left behind, unable to use technology in their daily lives,” he said in a press release.

He encouraged the youth to use technology for social good and communicate more frequently with the elderly to make their lives better.

VIT Vice President G V Selvam said the number of Indian students going abroad for higher studies had dropped by 44 per cent, resulting in a trend of 'Study in India, Make in India,' driven by stronger Indo-US ties. He added that technoVIT'25 demonstrated the innovative capabilities of Indian engineering students, countering the perception that the country's education system is overly theoretical.

HCLTech Executive Vice President D Prince Jayakumar said that after becoming the IT services capital of the world over the past three decades, India is now poised to become the innovation capital — with youth playing a key role.

VIT Chennai Pro Vice-Chancellor Dr T Thyagarajan and Director K Sathiyanarayanan were present. Over 10,000 students from across India and 10 foreign countries, including Thailand, Poland, and Australia, are participating in the three-day event featuring around 150 technical sessions and prize money exceeding ₹10 lakh.