IIT Delhi leadership conclave: creating an ecosystem for the fourth industrial revolution

At the leadership conclave to be organised by IITD today, the various stakeholders of the manufacturing industry will put their heads together to discuss advancements and challenges facing the sector.

With a view to addressing the challenges facing the manufacturing industry in India as well as the cognitive changes in the way humans interact with their environment, IIT Delhi is organising a leadership conclave on Saturday, November 11. The conclave brings together various stakeholders of the industry to take stock of the rapidly changing market environment in the country.

It is fitting that the event is called ‘Creating The Ecosystem for The Fourth Industrial Revolution’, as it is a platform for multidisciplinary collaboration, bringing thought leadership to discuss some of the burning issues in the wake of technological advancement.

The conclave is expected to have over 200 attendees, comprising senior IIT alumni of IAS and senior government officials, along with industrialists, startups, IITD deans, academicians, and research scholars participating and sharing their experiences.

The key speakers include Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas. Satya Pal Singh, Minister of State for HRD, and Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog.

The key topics of discussion are ‘Bridging The Urban Rural Divide’, ‘From Starting Up to Global Scale’, and ‘Creating The Framework for Large Sustainable Businesses’.

The event provides an ideal platform for multi-disciplinary collaboration bringing thought leadership to discuss upon some of the burning issues in the wake of some of the advances on the technological side besides providing a great networking platform for stakeholders from all walks of life.

The key sessions

Speakers will share their vision and views on the challenges confronted by India and paradigm shift required to address the fast-changing environment due to advancements in technology never witnessed by humankind since the advent of industrial revolution.

As the adaption of newer technologies in advanced countries accelerates, the labor arbitrage that developing countries like India enjoyed will be marginalized and so will the need for new set of skills.

Bridging the urban-rural divide

The session shall focus on striking a balance between rural development planning under the context of fourth industrial revolution that will result in advances in computing power, connectivity, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, 3-D printing, geographic information system, and other technologies. An approach that should enable India to leapfrog over many older technologies and not widen the gap between Rural –the Have Nots and Urban Clan-The Haves.

From Starting up to global scale

The session shall be focusing on the framework required so that Indian Entrepreneurs are able to cross the local boundaries and scale up to global heights.

India is yet to see a company of that scale, given the issues around internet connectivity and availability of product oriented talent. With the number of Unicorns emerging from the stables, the day is not far away.

With India moving up to the 100th rank in the recent Ease of Doing Business survey by the World Bank while commencing business will become a lot easier the session shall focus on what next to be done for Indian entrepreneurs to reach a league of Google, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft.