31 Mar 2023|Noida | F - 3 Seminar Hall
ROUNDTABLE ON DIGITALISATION & THE FUTURE OF WORK IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY
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Amity University Uttar Pradesh in collaboration with Association of Commonwealth Universities Association of Indian Universities hosted a Roundtable on “Digitalisation & The Future of Work in A Global Economy” at Amity University Noida Campus on March 31, 2023, which was joined by more than 20 Vice Chancellors and Senior Industry leadership from India and across commonwealth nations as esteemed speakers.
The event was part of a series of ACU India Roundtables convened in different parts of the country in March 2023 with the objective of creating a forum for discussion on issues critical to higher education in India with an opportunity to identify and develop new partnerships amongst commonwealth institutions w.r.t internationalisation, digitalization and industry-academia collaboration.
Dr. Ashok K Chauhan, Hon’ble Founder President Amity Education Group graced the occasion virtually and blessed the gathering with his inspirational address. He appreciated the endeavours of ACU and AIU for the incessant development and digitalisation of Higher Education.
200+ Deans, Directors, Professors, Researchers from different Universities of India and abroad attended the programme physically and virtually. Ms. Alison Barrett MBE Director India, British Council joined as Guest of honour during the inaugural session, and emphasised that “HEIs must consider multilingual knowledge production with machine learning to reduce the digital divide and benefit from the create-tech industry.”
Welcoming the session chair and panellists, Prof. (Dr.) Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, Amity University Uttar Pradesh & Chair, Roundtable highlighted on Education institutions role to stay ahead of global trends to create a future ready workforce.
Mr. Aditya Malkani, Regional Director, Membership, Asia Pacific Association of Commonwealth Universities and co-chair of the roundtable stated that, “By bringing universities together from around the world – and the people who study and work within them, we help to advance knowledge, promote understanding, broaden minds, and improve lives”.
Dr. Mrs. Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General, Association of Indian Universities, and Chair of the roundtable joined the event virtually and stated, “The future of education requires curriculum modification, capacity building, multidisciplinary teaching, numerous teaching modalities, and lifelong learning.”
The Souvenir of the Roundtable was released during the inaugural session by the Chair, Co-Chair and Guest of Honour of the event.
The roundtable was conducted in three sessions. Session 1 focused on ‘Digitalisation and the Future of Work and Skills’. On the panel were Prof. Basuthkar Jagadeeshwar Rao, Vice Chancellor, Central University Hyderabad, Prof. P B Sharma, Vice Chancellor, Amity University Haryana, Prof. Jude William R. Genilo, Dean Social Sciences, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh, Prof. Sabu S. Padmadas, Associate Dean International, India Centre for Inclusive Growth & Sustainable Development, University of Southampton, UK, Prof Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay, Director, Centre for Crime, Justice and Policing, University of Birmingham, UK and Mr. Karan Singh, Dy. Director, NASSCOM.
Session 2 focused on ‘Internationalization and its importance in Higher Education in the era of Digitalisation’. On the panel were Prof. (Dr.) Mohammad Afshar Alam, Vice Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard University, Maj Gen (Dr.) G.K. Thapliyal, Vice Chancellor, Swamy Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut, Dr. Chadaram Sivaji, Vice Chancellor, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Dr. N. J. Pawar, Vice Chancellor, Dr. D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Pune, Prof . L. B. Laxmikanth Rathod, Vice Chancellor, Palamuru University, Ms. Anuradha Gupta, Head – Partner Engagement, Macquarie University, Sydney and Mr. Raja Dasgupta, Global Evangelist, Employability. life
Session 3 focused on ‘Importance of Industry-Academia Collaboration in Global Digital Economy’ with Prof. Sibaram Khara, Vice Chancellor, Sharda University, Prof. Sibaram Khara, Vice Chancellor, Sharda University, Prof. Ch. Gopal Reddy, Vice Chancellor, Mahatama Gandhi University, Dr. Rozy Patel, Dean & Director, Uka Tarsadia University, Gujarat, Dr Murli Prasad Panta, Professor IIT Kanpur, Mr. Jaspreet Singh, Grant Thornton, Mr. Abhishek Narad, Director, TradeServ and Mr. Jasmeet Singh Sethi, AVP, SHL on the panel.
Key highlights of the discussions were:
· Creating infrastructure to attract foreign students and faculty to make India a hub of international students.
· Internationalization should be a means to achieve our national goals and not to lose the basic values.
· Teachers must keep up with the newest teaching techniques and technical advancements in their field of expertise.
· While AI will take a lot of jobs, it will also create jobs and improve the economy.
· Need for a Co-op model on industry and Academia.
· Government should build industry academia relation at regional level.
· Create roaring minds; not boring minds to be a role model for others, blending Artificial Intelligence with Natural Intelligence and creating real thinkers.
· HEIs have a responsibility to impart values and education, which will create jobs for the next generation.
· Exploit digital to maximum but not lose human touch.
· Produce job providers rather than job seekers with industry support and faculty involvement to make Atmanirbhar Bharat.
The event covered a special Presentation on ‘Leveraging Academic Partnerships for a Wider Outreach’ by Dr. Shubhra Dutta, Customer Consultant- South Asia A&G ELSEVIER.
Prof. (Dr.) Pooja Vijayaraghavan, Professor, Amity Institute of Biotechnology and Campus Ambassador, Association of Commonwealth Universities delivered the vote of thanks and invited all to join hands with Amity and collaborate for future projects.