Corporates discuss innovative approaches to CSR at NASSCOM Foundation's leadership conference
More than 400 delegates, including CEOs, CXOs, CSR heads, NGO leads, policy makers, and social innovators, discussed why India needs to upskill and re-skill its workforce to remain relevant.
NASSCOM Foundation is hosting the two-day CSR Leadership Conference (CLC) 2018 in Bengaluru to discuss innovative approaches to CSR, and help create a roadmap to a new, developed, and inclusive India.
The conference brought together over 400 delegates, including CEOs, CXOs, CSR heads, NGO leads, policy makers, and social innovators.
The event, which was supported by Accenture, Societe Generale, Wells Fargo, and Sonata Software, had in attendance leaders like Debjani Ghosh, President of NASSCOM; Rekha Menon, Chairman and Senior Managing Director of Accenture India; and Arun Seth, Chairman of NASSCOM.
They talked about the need for collaboration across the industry to solve larger national issues, how India needs to upskill and re-skill its workforce to remain relevant, and NASSCOM Foundation’s role in using technology for social good to create an inclusive India.
Rekha Menon pointed out that corporates can, beyond funding, be sources of innovations. They just have to take a different view on what CSR is to them.
“Collective ecosystem impact would be far more if we figure out a platform like how NASSCOM Foundation is doing - wherein sectors come together and use technology to uplift people at the bottom level such as construction workers, anganwadi teachers etc,” she said.
Debjani said today the value of a company is based on three factors - trust, engagement, and scaling. These can help bring a new perspective towards CSR for the company and country, she said.
Networking opportunities
The CSR Leadership Conference also had a host of networking opportunities, and enabled NGOs and corporates to find relevant partners. CLC also hosted some social innovation project demos. The first day had interactive panel discussions in rural development, reimagining healthcare, and making development efficient.
The day ended with business leaders like Sandhya Vasudevan, DB Group; Rostow Ravanan, Mindtree; and Sarv Saravanan, Dell EMC; speaking on how they balanced business goals with social imperatives.
The second day of CLC will deep dive into engaging learning experiences in employee volunteerism with a session by MyGov on Self4Society, mapping CSR to sustainable development goals (SDGs), design thinking for development, and best practices for monitoring and evaluation.
