The discussion of the conference was based on the following themes;

·         Decoding Industry-Academia partnership for Research and Innovation

·         Digital Transformation of Higher Education: Industry – Academia partnership for Online Learning and Teaching

·         Bridging the Classroom-Industry Divide: Industry – Academia partnership for Empowering Students with Real – world Learning

The conference featured distinguished speakers and delegates from industry and academia. The discussion was based on the above themes with healthy interaction between delegates and experts on research, innovation, startup, ecosystem, NEP 2020, partnerships between industry and academia on skill based and technology based inputs. 

The students are Brajesh Roy, Shobit Agrahari, Khushi Chachra and Anupam Shaw. The Students were accompanied by Dr. Anusha Agarwal and Prof. Yachna Malhotra.

The conference started with registration and high-tea followed by Inaugural Session in which Shri Deepak Sood, Secretary General ASSOCHAM gave opening remarks which was followed by a welcome address by Shri Ajay Singh, President, ASSOCHAM & CMD, Spicejet. The keynote address was given by Shri Alfred F. Kelly Jr, Executive Chairman, Visa Inc., in which he mentions how India tourism industry will continue to grow. He also mentioned that spending money in tourism will help us seek new opportunities in future and that Shimla has become a very liked place among tourist because of its hand crafted items.

The Guest of honour, Shri Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa, mentioned that Visa is very big driver in Indian tourism sector. He also mentioned that 46% of the real time digital payment in the world is done by Indian whereas 113 countries still do not have digital payment access.

The Inaugural Session was followed by panel discussion on the topic India’s Tourism towards seamless, contactless, and frictionless; creative digital economy, digital payment and leveraging digital technologies for next generation tourism services.

In the Panel discussion the panelist discussed about medical industry; Ayurvedic, Homeopathic and national adventure tourism and its security issues and Sustainable future and role of startups and how the Government support the startups. The distinguished speakers included:

·         Sh. VinodZutshi, IAS, Former Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India

·         Sh.Pragyal Singh, Partner, Consulting Services, EY India.

·         Sh. Mohit Gupta, Chief Operating Officer, PayU, Payments India

·         Sh. Aashish Gupta, Federation of Associations in India Tourism and Hospitality

·         Sh. Alfred F. Kelly Jr, Executive Chairman, Visa Inc.

After the end of the panel discussion, students asked questions about Eco-tourism in India and Augmented reality in promoting tourism virtually.

At the end all the eminent speakers were presented plaque as token of gratitude and respect. The conference provided a great learning experience and networking opportunities for both faculty and students.

The main purpose of the IIEE-ASMA Education Innovation Summit 2023  organized by Sparsh Global Business School was to explore  the future of Higher Education – its transformation and scope, and delving into discussions to help stakeholders navigate the future.

The inaugural session on the theme- Revisiting the purpose and vision of higher education: An imperative for a paradigm shift witnessed a stellar gathering of education leaders, that included:

1. Dr. Bharat Bhaskar - Director, IIM Ahmedabad

2. Prof. BhimrayaMetri - Director, IIM Nagpur

3. Dr. HarivanshChaturvedi - Director, BIMTECH

4. Prof. Chandan Chowdhury - Associate Dean, ISB Mohali

Mr. Rahul Jain, MD InnoServ Group delivered the welcome address. The Guest of Honour, Prof. HarivanshChaturvedi- Director BIMTECH elaborated on NEP2020 and articulated that every higher education institution needs quality students and quality faculty. The Guest of Honour- Prof. Bhimaraya Metri- Director IIM  Nagpur elaborated on the need and significance of  IKS ( Indian Knowledge System) and rebooting the B-School curriculum.. He also emphasized the need to develop an Institutional Development Plan as a roadmap for realizing the vision. The keynote speaker, Prof. Bharat Bhaskar- Director IIM Ahmedabad spoke eloquently about democratization of higher education and informed that IIMA has launched an online course for certain areas that can be accessed by all for learning.

Dr. Amit Andre, CEO, the Data Tech Labs showed an audio-visual presentation on ‘Transformation with AI and Metaverse.

This was followed by Round Table Discussion which was moderated by Prof. Harivansh Chaturvedi- Director BIMTECH.  Prof. Bhimaraya Metri- Director IIM  Nagpur addressed the august gathering about the importance of upskilling by faculty and emphasized that ‘unlearning and learning’ is an important driver of growth. The other speakers included:

Other eminent speakers are:

Dr. Chandan Chowdhury Associate Dean - ISB, Mohali

Mr. Jitin Chawla Founder and Director - Centre for Career Development

Dr. Vishal Talwar Director - IMT, Ghaziabad

Mr. Vivek Suneja Dean - FMS, Delhi

Dr. Vandana Arora Sethi Director - Lloyd Institute of Management

Dr. Jayanthi Ranjan Director, Business School - Sharda University

Dr. Rajeshwari Narendran Director - NTPC Business School

Dr. Taruna Gautam Vice Chancellor - IILM University

to chair a technical session in the International Conference  on “Financial Innovation for Sustainable Development” on    29th April, 2023

The theme of the conference was “Role of Sustainable Development Goals in Business and Economic Transformation”. The objective of the conference was to provide a common platform for researchers from the Academia as well as the Industry to discuss and present their research work by providing an opportunity for collaboration among them. Various research papers on the above mentioned theme were presented in the conference. The papers were presented by academicians, Research scholars, and Executives from industry in different areas from different parts of the Country. Overall the session was more on the research papers dealing with real problems and scenario in multidisciplinary areas. It was a rich learning opportunity for the participants and all. The interactive nature of the session further added great learning. The feedback was given to the participants on one to one basis along with suggestions for continuing their research in their area of interest.

At last the concluding remark and best wishes was given to all participants for their research in future. Overall the experience was enriching and overwhelming.

The dignitaries of the program were;

·            Ms. P.V. Sindhu, Brand ambassador of PNB MetLife;

·            Mr. Subhash Chandra Garg, Former Finance Secretary;

·            Mr. Sameer Bansal, Chief Distribution Officer PNB MetLife;

·            Ms. Sanchita Mukherji and Ms. Neha Nagar, Finance Content Creator

The panel discussion focused on financial planning of child education for their dreams. White paper on the theme of PNB MetLife to all citizens of India by Happy and Chhoti Sindhu the mascots of PNB MetLife was released.

Ms. P.V. Sindhu shared her childhood memories and discussed the role of finance planning. Mr. Subhash Chandra Garg shared his views relating to government initiatives related to child education schemes. Mr. Sameer Bansal highlighted the importance of financial security for the children in the scenario of rising education cost.  Ms. Sanchita Mukherji talked about the need of financial planning for children at the earliest. Ms. Neha Nagar gave several examples of financial goals and impact of inflation on financial planning. At the end of the show audience asked few questions to the dignitaries.

Mr Yamini Bhushan Pandey, MD, IIML EIC, delivered the welcome address. He also spoke about the support offered by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, Startup India and the Government of Uttar Pradesh.

Mr Amit Trivedi, Head Investments, EIC, talked about the partnership with NABARD, following which Shri S. K. Dora, CGM NABARD, held forth on the Joint Accelerator Programme.

On the anvil was also IIML’s partnership with Microsoft, on behalf of whom Mr Raghav Sehgal provided insights on the latest developments in the technology sector. He enlightened the audience about Microsoft Startup Founders’.

Also on the agenda was the announcement of the partnership between IIML EIC and State Bank of India. Mr Saket Dalmia, President, PHDCCI elaborated on his involvement with the government. The keynote address by Prof. Neerja Pandey, Dean, IIML, emphasised on the strategic partnerships Finally, Prof. Pooja Pandey, who leads the Enterprise HER initiative for women entrepreneurs at IIML EIC, apprised all concerned about the woman led enterprises who had qualified for support from the institution.

Subsequently guests were given a guided tour of the incubation centre on campus. All in all, it was a fruitful day for the participants.

Professor Lam Khin Yong, Vice President (Industry), NTU Singapore addressed the audience through his opening remarks. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Honorable Minister of Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India described the 3C Model i.e. capacity, capability and capital in addressing problems of the country. He stressed on technological aspects in both countries to boost the environment of Innovation and Research & Development. Mr Gan Kim Yong, Honorable Minister for Trade and Industry, Government of Singapore discussed about financial inclusion for encouraging the startups.

The entire program was spread across three technical sessions:

The distinguished speakers of the panels included:

·         Mr. Vijay Sekhar Sharma, Founder, One97 & PayTM

·         Mr. Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer, Monetary Authority of Singapore

·         Ms. Tan Bin Ru, Deputy CEO of Chainup Pte Ltd and President, Singapore Blockchain Association

·         Mr. Walter de Oude, Founder, Singlife and Chocolate Finance

·         Mr. Niel Parekh, Partner & Head of Asia, Australia and New Zealand at Tikehau Capital & Chairman, The Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI)

·         Ms. Amita Chaudhury, Group Head of Sustainability, AIA

·         Prof Tim White, Vice President (International Engagement), President’s Chair in Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

·         Professor Ajay Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India Professor T G Sitharam, Chairman, All India Council of Technical Education

Discussions centered onward technology, finance, block chain, IT, sustainability, research, unicorn, materials tangible and other. The program was informative and insightful for new startups, entrepreneurs and industry.    

The objective of the Research Symposium was to develop research abilities in students and provide them insights in their research reports in Finance Area.  Students demonstrated the research work to the panel for suggestions and evaluation. The winners were felicitated by trophies. 

 Overall the experience was enriching and overwhelming.