“Digital is the future, even when it comes to God”
Noted speakers at the recently held IFIM B School’s international conference
“CONVERGENCE 2016” bullish about India becoming a digital super
Bangalore, February 17, 2016 : India is witnessing a revolution when it comes to going digital. From organizational practices to e commerce, big data is becoming critical in every aspect of life. The readiness to handle the data generated at every step is what needs to be addressed and that can be done by an amalgamation of software processes and human intellect. This is what the doyens of industry and academia had to say at the recently concluded IFIM Business School’s 10th Edition of international conference CONVERGENCE 2016.
The 3 day event which was held from February 4th to 6th at IFIM Business school’s campus at Electronics City here witnessed a galaxy of noted speakers not just from India but also the world.
In his inaugural address Prof. S. Sadagopan, Director /President – IIITB said,”The word ‘digital’ has entered every place. Besides goods or services, in today’s times, we have a new concept of digital goods as well, which are available in a wide range of industries, he added. Prof Sadagopan expressed that digitization and e-chaupals need to be implemented for farmers as well. He has observed first hand that farmers are paid 50p for KG of Bananas in Mysore but 1 KG of bananas in Banerghatta or Bangalore city go for around Rs 60/-
Digitization can improve the state of these farmers by direct digitization of distribution processes. Commenting on the extent of digital business, he said, “We have not only changed human behaviour, but God’s behaviour as well. Examples supporting this are online booking of slots to visit certain famous temples, and e-handi, where donations to God can be made through online transfers.”
Over ages it has been the human intellect which worked wonders. But the advent of computers changed the landscape for the humankind. So much so that what seemed incomprehensible some years ago is today possible considering the digital tools at our disposal. Mr. Sriram Jayasimha, founder of Signion, a company that designs products for the signal-processing market, expressed that recursive self improvement and regeneration could surpass human intellect. Software in the future will reprogram themselves to do things better. He discussed the concept of ‘super intelligence’ in digital business in the future where a combination of human intelligence and machine abilities will accelerate comprehension.
The evolving job market too is witnessing transformation, thanks to analytics. Instead of physical referrals, analytics today has made it possible to ascertain an employee’s behaviour by even his engagement on social media. Mr. Laksmi Kant, CEO of Head Hunters said, ”While traditional software helps companies with respect to the HR characteristics, social media tools can also be used to analyze the ‘feel’ of various stakeholders towards a company by going through comments, text, pictures, likes, groups etc.”
Rajeev Mishra, Digital Head of WIPRO said analytics today can judge the mood and requirement of a consumer and suggest to them what they need. Even MIS system has become outdated. Today and in the future of digital business, only refining analytics and processes is the way forward while Mr. Jayas Damodaran, CEO of Boston Technology Corporation highlighted the fact that three factors influence digital business– Mobile, Social and Analytics which form the pillars of convergence.
With so much data floating around, it has become the need of the hour to utilise it optimally. “The impacts of businesses going digital which include- better customer experience, operation efficiencies like cost, time & physical resources, increased competition and better prices for consumers. People do not realize that we need to process and analyze data to make life easy because there are societal implications of analytics. We need to stop looking at digital business only from a monetary point of view,“ said Dr. Vishnu Nanduri, Data Science & Engineering practice leader, IT operations analytics at IBM.
Dr. Ashwini Kumar Sharma (Chief Executive Officer and Director General at National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology –NIELIT, Government of India) said that adopting technology is the only thing that can drive business. He then predicted that the technological advancement over the next 100 years is going to overtake the past 2000 years.
Digital in Education –
Dr. Gurumurthy Kalyanaram, Professor, a management consultant and a corporate advisor, said Democratization of good quality education can build skills and increase intellectual output from Universities. He added that the true enablers of technology are high quality accessibility to education, open source servers and increase in research and collaboration between industry and academia.
A good teacher not only has a natural talent for great delivery of content, but ensures personalization according to the levels of the students. In the old days, teachers used to re-check this by asking questions, conducting quizzes etc. However, in modern times, using digital technology, lecturers need to use ‘gamification’ to make lectures enjoyable by engaging students through videos and case examples, project work to promote innovative thinking and encouraging collaborative learning feels Mr. Amit Mahensaria, Co-Founder, Impartus Innovations.
While our education system is mired with systemic problems, what needs to be addressed with the help of technology are two important things – the drop out rate and attendance issues. Prof. Khaled Azam of the Aligarh University opined that there is a large difference in delivery of education in the rural areas of our country as compared to urban cities and metropolitans. The dropout rate is higher when there is no dedicated streamlined process for delivery of education. This can be solved through digitization and planning of the process of delivery. He added saying that besides propagating digital ecosystem to support education, getting an individual to align to this concept itself is difficult. “Teachers just want to explain what is in a textbook and leave the class. Hence, it is essential to employ teachers/ professors who are not in the education industry for just salary, but those who are interested in innovation in education and transforming students through digital exposure,” said Prof Azam.
Mr. Vijaya Kumar Ivaturi, while moderating a panel discussion on Big Data said digitization is going to help distribution channels and close the gap between buyer and supplier. Gaps in skill sets also need to be addressed in the future as individuals with specific type of training in business analytics can contribute to the digital ecosystem and digital business. “Only excelling in individual fields like mathematics, statistics, or communication is not enough. Business Analytics is a combination of science, art and engineering,” said Mr Ivaturi.
IFIM Business School is one of the top business schools in India. It has been consistently ranked as ‘Bangalore’s No.1 Private B-School’. IFIM offers three core programs that are AICTE approved — PGDM, PGDM-Finance (recognized by CFA Institute) and PGDM-IB (International Business). In addition, IFIM also offers a Ph. D. program in Management and a range of options for Executive Education. IFIM Business School is accredited by South Asian Quality Assurance System (SAQS) and is ISO 9001:2008 certified. The School is also a member of AACSB and is in final stages of obtaining the international accreditation. Faculty with perfect blend of industry and academic experience, international collaborations with American and European top B-Schools for faculty and student exchange programs, internationally recognized curriculum are some differentiators, which propel IFIM in a stratosphere far above its peers.