In his address, Dean Rao said, “The penetration of IT in the manufacturing sector is very low, we want this conclave to address these challenges. The three Centers of Excellence at the ISB will take forward the findings of the conclave and will set the roadmap for the future.”
“There has been a major shift from China to India as far as the manufacturing Industry is concerned. This transition should be taken advantage of, “ added Rambling Raju. He conveyed that IT solutions in this sector were affordable and dependable. He stressed on the creative use of technology and judicious use of Soft Infrastructure like Human Resources, Customer base, Building Processes etc., which he felt were yardsticks of enterprise evaluation that do not reflect in the balance Sheet.
Rajdeep Sharawat, VP, NASSCOM, made some interesting observations. “Unless an SME sees IT solutions as a critical need it will not incorporate the same.“ He said the SME perceived the IT Industry to be arrogant and that they shared a rather adverse relationship. Thus the first step needed is for the two sectors to be more collaborative and for the IT industry to act as the facilitator and enabler.
The Indian School of Business has initiated several activities this year to enhance the interface between academia and industry. The School believes that such interactions will pave the way for an active, research based, solution development for the unique problems that are faced by emerging markets such as India, Asia, and other countries.