Roundtable Discussion on Bridging the Industry-Academia Gap in the IT Sector

Chandigarh, December 18, 201 : Leading academic institutions of Northern India and IT industries on Thursday met over “Round Table Meet” and discussed the measures and road map to bridge the gap between the Industry and Academia in the IT sector at Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh.

The Meet was jointly organised by DST- Centre for Policy Research at PU and British Deputy High Commission Chandigarh at the ICSSR Complex. The participants of the Meet came up with several concrete recommendations and initiatives to make a head start towards bridging the gap between the Industry and Academia in the IT sector.

PU Vice Chancellor,  Arun K Grover presided over the meet, which was attended by British Deputy High Commissioner Chandigarh,  David Lelliot OBE, Sr. Scientist at Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, Government of India Dr. Akhilesh Mishra. Many Directors and Senior Officials of Engineering Institutes situated in and around Chandigarh and representatives of the IT industry participated in the prestigious meet.

During the meeting, senior functionaries from leading industries like HCL, Infosys, IDS Infotech, Net Solutions, Drish Infotech, NetSmartz, Gray Cell Technologies and CII, Chandigarh discussed issues of Strengths of Existing Industry-Academia Relationship, Gaps and future possibilities regarding Industry-Academia Relationship with academic counterparts. Academic Institutes like PEC Univesity of Technology, Chandigarh, IIT-BHU, Varanasi, ISB, Mohali, Association of Colleges, UK, Jaypee University of IT, Solan, Thapar University, Patiala, Baddi University of Emerging Sciences and Technology, Baddi, UIET, PU and Aston University, UK represented the academic institutions.

Earlier, in his welcome address, PU, VC  Arun K. Grover emphasised the need and importance of innovation in sustainable growth of national economy for competing at the international level. He described innovation as the need of the hour.

In his opening remarks, David Lelliot said that the UK is very keen to support the Skills Agenda. “We have a number of organizations with great experience to offer. It was good to have a chance to hear views today on what is needed  and explore how we might work together to address the skills gap”, he added.

Dr. Akhilesh Mishra emphasized on the need to translate University Research into Commercial Products that would generate wealth for the country. He said “Private sector will need to play a defining role for foster, sustainable and inclusive growth of the country.” Taking into reference the White Paper on Stimulation of Private sector into R&D in India he encouraged the SME’s to take advantage of the incentives being provided by the Government of India.

India ‎VP & Global Head of Corporate Communications at HCL Technologies, Ajay Davessar said that the academia should also understand the concerns and expectations of the industry. He invited scientists from in and around Chandigarh to come with HCL in solving customer problems and adding value to industry.

Sameer Goel, Past Chairman CII, Chandigarh Council proposed floating of projects by the IT industry as a consortium to a combined academic network for problem solving and thus enabling them to work together in continuity.

Sameer Jain, Net Solutions Chandigarh, threw light on the importance of the SME sector which has the capability to train and hire graduates at a more rapid pace.

R. Tewari, Co-ordinator, DST-Centre for Policy Research at PU, suggested that young faculty members in the academia should be encouraged to go on short sabbatical leave to the industry so as to understand the environment and needs of the industry, so that they could be addressed by the researchers of the University.

Harshvir Singh, Drish Infotech, Chandigarh remarked that it is imperative to tap the Institute Alumni for developing stronger linkages between the Industry and Academia.  The moderator of the Meet  D.N.V Kumara Guru emphasized the importance of having members of both the Academia and Industry on the Advisory Boards of the respective councils and urged the entrepreneurs for regular interactions with the faculty and students.

(SK Vyas/Jalandhar)

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