VJIM, Hyderabad recently organized its 10th National Conference in the presence of leading luminaries from different walks of lives. Held on 27th and 28th January, 2017 the event had the highly relevant and topical theme of “India-2022: The Road Ahead”. To give participants an insight into the country’s economy and how it is being shaped, the two day event was further divided into themes like Start up India, Make in India, Digital India, FDI in India and Skill India.

The much anticipated conference began with the inaugural function that had Dr. Santanu Paul, CEO & MD, Talent Sprint, Hyderabad as the Chief Guest and Ms. Selina David, Country Director (L&D) India, Hitachi Consulting as the keynote speaker. Dr. A S Rao, Director, Center for Project Mobilization and Globalization, VJIM presided over the function. Mr. Durga Prasad, Director, VJIM welcomed the guests and drew a roadmap for graduates to follow.

Dr. A S Rao offered insights about evolving corporate world and importance of automation before saying, “Globalization is a revolutionary change and the biggest competition in today’s world.” According to Ms. Selina David, the 4th industrial revolution will be a fusion of technology that would blur the lines between human resource and technology digitalization. In his inspiring speech Dr. Santanu Paul highlighted the role of Artificial Intelligence in the future.

The inaugural session was followed by three tracks, each dealing with a crucial topic of interest. Mr. Atha Khan, Head – Business development Goambee, Hyderabad, Mr. Sridhar Irventi Founder, Gobharati, Agro-industries & service Pvt Ltd and Mr. Prashanth Founder, Bamboo House India, Hyderabad were the speakers for the ‘Startup’ track. They shared their experiences with startups in the session that had many important takeaways for the audience.

‘Digital India’ track brought together leading lights like Mr. A. S. Murthy, Executive VP, Tech Mahindra, Hyderabad, Mr. Charan Lakkraju, Founder, STUMAGZ, Hyderabad, Mr. Srinivas Yeluripati, Senior Industry principal, IVS, Infosys, Hyderabad and Dr. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Senior Architect, Honeywell Technology Solutions. They focused on Government’s flagship Digital India program that aims to empower the society through digitalization.

Another popular initiative of the Government, ‘Make In India’ was discussed by Mr. Jagannatha Rao, EVP Exports, Nagarjuna Agrochemicals limited, Mr. Surya Bhatt, Honeywell Technology Solutions and Mr. Palani, Executive Director, Usha Fire Safety Equipment, Pune. The discussion turned out to be an engaging one with immense value added to students’ knowledge base. And it set the tone nicely for the sessions to follow on Day 2 of the conference.

It began on a high note with Track 4 that dealt with another burning topic of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and turned out to be an eye opening experience. Dr. Prasad Kantamneni Former Associate VP, Deloitte), Mr. Janaswamy Venkata Ramana, MD, Sujana Power & Infra, Hyderabad, Mr. PV Rao, Visiting Professor, MK Nambyar SAARC Law Center, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad offered their unique perspectives on the topic.

Mr. Ramaraoveluri, Director, Marketing, Asabhanu Technical Services, Mr. Pranav, Director – Operations, Dr. Reddy’s Foundation, Mr. Venkatesh, Assistant Director, Advanced Training Institute, Ministry of Skill development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India were in charge for Track 5. It focused on ‘Skilling India For Competitiveness’, where the seasoned speakers offered solutions that can make a huge difference to the talent base in India.

‘Managerial Skills’, an apt topic for the students in the gathering was discussed in the final track of the conference. Mr. S. R. Tulasi, Former Vice President, ITC Limited and Mr. Venkatesh Palabatla, CHRO, GMR Hyderabad International Airport brought the discussions to an end on a rousing note. Together the different tracks and the discussions that followed gave participants an insight into how things can be shaped by the year 2022.

The 10th National Conference had also received a large number of research papers on topics related to its theme. 19 of them, including those on Future of TATA Nano, India 2020 and Beyond, Digital India and its impacts, were presented on the campus. The Valedictory Function presided by Sri. B. Sarat Gopal, General Secretary, Vignana Jyothi and with Ms. Manisha Saboo, AVP-IVS (IHL-CP) & Centre Head – Hyderabad SEZ, Infosys, HYD as the Chief Guest concluded the conference that enriched and inspired the students of the institute.

Poojitha, Priyanka, Manikanth & Soumya Sharath

Student Public Relations Committee

PGDM, VJIM Hyderabad