Ahmedabad witnessed futuristic conference on “Crafting Tomorrow’s World: Strategic Project Management for Industry 5.0” organized by PMI Gujarat Chapter (PMIGJC) co-hosted by Nirma University at Nirma University Campus. This was the first conference organized by the PMIGJC after its establishment.
Conference was attended by delegates from varied industries like construction, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and IT, also included delegates from other metro cities of India – including Chennai Bengaluru, Delhi NCR and Others. Additionally, academicians and students of Nirma University, other Colleges & Universities’ representatives have also attended the conference.
Delivering welcome address, Dr. Sanjay Buch, President PMIGJC provided chapter’s introduction and setting the context of the conference proceedings talked about how this conference aligns to chapter’s objective of bringing academia and industry together. Dr. Anup Singh, Director General of Nirma University and Dr. Rajul Gajjar, Vice Chancellor of Gujarat Technological University (GTU) shared their views on industry, technology and academia connections. They mentioned that technology will play vital and crucial role for transformation. New generation will need ability to transform from situation to situation, ability to handle everyday new challenges and interact with many stakeholders.
Addressing gathering of more than 350 delegates Chief Guest Ms. Mona Khandhar, IAS, Principal Secretary of Economic & Commerce, Government of Gujarat, said that it is demand of now and tomorrow to adopt the technology, AI, Renewable Energy and promote sustainable development in Gujarat. She invited industry leaders, SMEs and experts to participate in CoEs set-up by government on Industry 4.0, AI and other next generation technologies. She also mentioned how government’s commitment towards technology development and framework has attracted likes of Google, IBM, Capgemini and Bank of America to open their respective research centers in GIFT city.
Distinguished international speakers from Singapore, Vietnam and India, from across industries, provided insightful sessions on how we have to work carefully to achieve efficiency using new technologies in a sustainable way. How new technologies are changing the way work is done, improvement of safety and need of reskilling to work with collaborative bots (COBOTs) was elaborated. It was emphasized that keeping Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Goals in front of us is the demand of now and absolute necessity for tomorrow. Many countries are coming with very stringent policies for industry to comply with net zero objectives and heavy tax regimes for defaulters. However, government alone will never be able to achieve it, as always it will take societal revolution and active participation to achieve sustainable growth. Answering to questions asked by student delegates, speakers mentioned that tomorrow will be of climate technologies.
Conference also hosted three panel discussions on Smart Factory, Sustainable Infrastructure Development and Funding the Future. Panelists consisting Founders, CxOs and industry experts deliberated on various challenges industry will have to deal while getting ready for Industry 5.0 and how to tackle it. Role of data, analytics and AI will be huge. Academia has to make new generation platform ready to work with new technology and be agile to adopt frequent changes. Infrastructure development have to be standardized and modular to product it in factory mode which will make infrastructure development more sustainable. Lastly, financial options such as green bonds, incentive interest coupons and return on achievement of sustainable goals, have to be thought through to encourage green development. Two case studies were also presented on how industry has walked the talk in their companies to take technology development improving efficiency from concept to commissioning activities.
All the dignitaries and speakers have appreciated the role of PMIGJC in the spreading the awareness related to the Project Management and strengthening the community in Gujarat. Further everyone requested PMIGJC to take transformative role for changing the work culture with the help of best practices of project management. Delegates referred the conference as first on the Industry 5.0 concept and found very informative as well as thought provoking. “We generally do not talk sustainability that frequently, however we understood from the sessions that it has to be at the foundation. It’s an eye-opener. Placing humans back at the center of the development, making empowered workforce with latest technology while respecting boundaries of our planet is the future that we have to look for”, summarized by one delegate. All delegates who have attended the conference have express their satisfaction and assured for giving their best support in future.
Mr. Rajit Shah, Director of Conference and VP Corporate Relations, conveyed that MSME’s are at center of India’s overall development and early adoption of futuristic trends and technologies such as Industry 5.0 is crucial to continue that journey this shall also help Gujarat to maintain its leadership position as we always are in managing new projects that are expected from Foreign Direct Investment to be more competitive in coming times. Addressing the press, Mr. Prerak Shah, Vice President PMIGJC said, “Project Management is 3rd in Forbes’ list of 10 Most In-Demand Skills for 2024. Something that we at PMIGJC also strongly believe, and are committed to create awareness of Project Management (PM) best practices in the industry and imparting PM skills in students through our affiliations with colleges and universities across the state, leading to better employability and successful career.”
The conference team was comprising of senior board members. PMIGJC volunteers team compromising members as well as students have worked day and night dedicatedly to shape the conference organization in systematics manners. Conference team have attempted to give best experience and feeling with the proper planning, selection of speakers, topics planning and time management. The Conference team has reviewed the progress of the Conference and required directions along with key decision with PMIGJC Board members on regular basis.
PMIGJC Board members, conference team and volunteers have demonstrated excellent synchronization. PMIGJC BODs acknowledged and appreciated contribution of conference team comprising of Board members, volunteers and students. PMIGJC have recognized and appreciated the volunteers who have contributed during the year in different portfolios and involved in the conference.
PMIGJC has acknowledged financial support extended by various organizations for skill development, knowledge exchange and enrichment sessions conducted by PMIGJC. The Nirma University has supported the Conference by becoming venue partner and providing required facilities.The approach of the leadership team of Nirma University was very much professional and vision oriented. The conference was concluded by delivering the vote of thanks by Rajit Shah, Director of Conference. It is important note here that, PMIGJC is a regional chapter of US based Project Management Institute (PMI®), and has been recognized as the ‘Chapter of the Year’ for 2021 among its 300+ chapters across the globe.
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