IILM University Organizes Conference on ‘Industry 4.0 and the future of Work

IILM University Gurugram Organizes International Conference on ‘Industry 4.0 and the Future of Work’

There isn’t an iota of doubt that humanity continues to embark on a period of unparalleled technological advancement. The next 20 years will present both significant challenges and opportunities. Private sectors, governments, academics and entrepreneurs are all seeking the roadmap for navigating these profound changes in the world of work. Such a road map must be created collaboratively by all stakeholders. One of the most immediate and impactful outcomes of

Lamplighting by the guests at the Inaugural Session

technological evolution is the vast advancement in automation. Every day, more manual processes become automated, and as technology continues to accelerate, so will automation. The advancement of digital technologies has put firms in the face of an anticipated change in paradigms and approaches to management. Over the decade, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has attracted attention from all around the globe. The new technological trends, the advent of Industry 4.0 and the Internet of things (IoT), make it essential to reflect on corporate and business strategies and their effectiveness with respect to the new technological development. Businesses need to define new strategies, implementation modalities, different methods and tools to triumph in this new global scenario. Industrial automation, connection and aggregation of different data in corporate information systems are phenomena that need to be studied in-depth to make them contribute to the new business strategy bringing concrete benefits. As a result of these developments, the world of work and labor market demand are swiftly changing. According to McKinsey, upto 375 million workers may need to change their occupational category by 2030, and digital work could contribute $2.7 trillion to global GDP by 2025. Faced with the scale of the unstoppable shifts in workforce demands, there is a need to address the challenges associated with workforce transformation, starting by taking an in-depth look at its impact on the world of work. Against this backdrop, a two-day International Conference was organized by IILM University Gurugram on the theme, Industry 4.0 and the Future of Work during December 6-7, 2019. Research papers and cases were invited from industry practitioners, government sector, faculty members, research scholars, students and all interested professionals. The Conference saw a plethora of eminent guests, speakers and industry stalwarts gracing the occasion and sharing their views on the contemporary theme The Inaugural Session The conference started with the Inaugural Session. The Chief Guest, Dr Ashutosh Karnatak, Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL India Ltd. gave insights on the changes brought by Industry 4.0. He introduced the basic meaning of ‘Revolution’ and how Industry 4.0 brought about a change in the mindset of the people. According to him, companies and universities need to work together so that students can know what they should do. Constant innovation, a need for digital orientation, energy transformation and digital transformation is the need of the hour. He motivated students to stay focussed on three things – Self, Organization and Society. He encouraged students to implement the success formula: goal setting, dynamics, positive attitude, self-belief and directional efforts. He also spoke about the role of positivity and an action-oriented approach. Guest of Honour, Mr Sachin Gupta, President & Chief Information and Innovation Officer at Usha shared his principles of life, which he said helped him to stay attuned with the fast-paced technological advancements and helped him to gear up for the future. He urged students to focus and concentrate to create a path for their goals; move on even in case of a failure; think and plan

meticulously; learn to execute and implement by delegation; and strive for 100% achievement for all tasks. According to him, these principles would help students face the future uncertainties successfully. The second Guest of Honour, Mr Vineet Sahni, CEO & Sr Executive Director, Lumax Industries gave insights on the language, skills and the environment around. He spoke about big data and gave the example of the time taken to reach 100 million customers, where, it took 7 years to reach this level through the web; 75 years through the telephone; 4 years through Facebook; 2 years through Instagram and PokemonGo took just 1 month to reach 100 million customers. All this was the power of data which cannot be seen. He took the audience through the journey and evolution of Industry 4.0, adding on the pivotal role it has played in today’s era. Being himself of the 3rd generation, he stated how he changed himself to survive in Industry 4.0. He then spoke about Artificial Intelligence, about the Robot Sophia, about Cobots or Collaborative Robots which are being taught and are learning like the human beings. He then shifted focus on the future skills required to survive the technological developments, both in terms of hard skills and soft skills. Digitalization and innovation are the part and parcel of life today and one needed to upgrade oneself in order to thrive in this era. The conference proceedings published by Bloomsbury International Publishers were released by the Industry guests, Dr Sujata Shahi and the conference team. More than 40 papers were received but only 33 full papers were published after review. Role of Technology on the Future of Work After the Inaugural, a panel discussion was conducted on the ‘Role of Technology on the Future of Work’. The Panelists included Mr Artificial Intelligence, Extended Reality and Quantum Computing) and SMAC (Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud). The panellists assured the students that if they focus on reskilling themselves on the hard skills like Advanced Excel, R, SQL etc and on soft skills like Critical Thinking, Creativity and Emotional Intelligence, they had higher chances of success in the future. Continuous learning to remain relevant had to be the mantra for all the youngsters. The panel deliberated on the multiplier workforce consisting of freelancers, millennials and the Z-generation. The discussion focussed on the work environment, automation of the HR processes by more than 70% of the organizations, increasing demand to work on projects, work-life integration and removal of all monotonous work by AI. Paper Presentation by Researchers The last session was the paper presentations of the researchers. The Session was chaired by Dr Sudhir K. Jain, Professor, JNU (Former Vice Chancellor, Mata Vaishno Devi University Katra and Prof IIT Delhi) and co-chaired by Dr Srinivasa Reddy, K., Int. Mgmt. Faculty, School of Management, Xi’an Polytechnic University, Xi’an City, P.R. China. In his keynote address, Dr Jain spoke about leadership through technology, and the focus on innovation, new technology and AI. He gave examples of flying cars, biofuel, green technology in different sectors, evolving communication system, genetic engineering, cloning, and the changes in the teaching and learning patterns. The action-packed day ended with a cultural evening consisting of performances by students. Industry 4.0 in the Indian Context The Second day of the Conference began with a Panel Discussion on Industry 4.0 in the Indian Context. The Panellists were Mr Gerard DMello, Director HRD, Daikin Airconditioning; Mr Aditya Kohli, CHRO, Clix Capital; Dr (Maj) Rupinder Kaur, Special Talk by Dr Srinivasa Reddy, K. Int. Mgmt. Faculty School of Management, Xian Polytechnic University, Xian City P.R. China Raj K. Chauhan, CHRO, Roki Minda, Ms Ruma Batheja, Head–People Strategy & HR Analytics, Knowledgetics, Mr Angira Agrawal, Sr Vice President – Enterprise, NCR / Delhi, Vodafone. Their deliberations were moderated by Ms Yasmin Taj, Editorial Head, People Matters. The focus of the discussion was on the impact of the disruptive technology and the transition from 1.0 to 4.0 on infrastructure, manufacturing and the skills required to cope. Students were given insights on DARQ (Distributive Ledge Technology,

Asst Director, Firmwide Learning, Ernst and Young; Ms Runa Maitra, Founder & Director, People Talent Intl (PTI) and Mr Anoop Rawat, Head of Human Resources, G4S. The session was moderated by Dr Smriti Pahwa, Senior Consultant, Aarogya. The key takeaways from the discussion were on how Industry 4.0 requires a workforce which has specific skills to cope with the advancements in Automation, Machine Learning and Real-time data. The HR would need to design employee benefits that were attractive and competitive yet would trim the costs and promote future growth of the employees. The impact of Industry 4.0 was creation of new jobs, AI playing a major role in India’s GDP, pivotal role by soft skills and use of technology, AI and data analytics to identify and screen talent. Organizations would need to invest in people’s skills to differentiate humans from robots. The panellists were of the view that there needs to be an interface to efficiently manage AI and application–based learning. The experts felt that there were three levels of changes being brought in by Industry 4.0 and AI – physical change, digital change and biological change. There was a need to shift from subtractive to editive manufacturing. In India, widespread implementation of the changes being ushered by Industry 4.0 were still in nascent stage in many parts of the country. With high investment outlay and inadequate know-how, the organizations were struggling to keep pace with other counterparts. in the factories, faster reach to the market. The need of the hour is to have a strong industry– academic interface wherein the curriculum to be revised and made contemporary; creation of vocational infrastructure and incorporate the latest terminologies and technologies in the academics. Emerging Market Multinational Corporations A special talk on Emerging Market Multinational Corporations was delivered by Dr Srinivasa Reddy, K., Int. Mgmt. Faculty, School of Management, Xi’an Polytechnic University, Xi’an City, P.R. China. He shared insights on how business was conducted in China and gave inputs on the Chinese culture, removing myths about the environment of China. Paper Presentations by Researchers The last sessions were two parallel paper tracks. One was chaired by Dr Srinivasa Reddy, K., and co-chaired by Dr Tripti Toor; while the other was chaired by Dr Puja C Sharma and co-chaired by Dr Ashish Mathur, senior faculty, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur. The research papers were received from the University of Mexico, University of New Zealand, Delhi School of Economics, Jai Narain Vyas University Jodhpur, Delhi University, IBS Gurgaon, Jaipuria Noida, FMS Delhi, Jaipuria Jaipur, SSR IMR, Silvassa, Dayananda Sagar University Bangalore, Symbiosis Intl University Pune, ICFAI University Tripura among others. The students of BA & MA Psychology, BBA and MBA also contributed under the guidance of faculty While India was at an advantage of having a large manufacturing base and a significant IT industry, there was huge potential to leverage the transitions occurring across. It would lead to substantial cost reduction, safe work environment members. Valedictory Session The Valedictory Session saw certificate distribution by the Guest of Honour, Dr Akhil Prasad, Director, Country Counsel India and Company Secretary, Boeing India. He shared his views and thoughts on the impact of technological advancements while delivering his speech. The conference concluded with a half day workshop on ‘Crafting and Publishing Research by Business Management faculty and PhD Research Scholars’, conducted by Dr Srinivasa Reddy, K. The conference was sponsered by SAIL, GAIL and Power grid. The Plus Approach Foundation (PAF) collaborated with IILM University as an NGO Partner. The two-day knowledge confluence was wellreceived by all the industry guests, academicians, scholars, paper presenters and students. Dr Sona Vikas Associate Professor, IILM University Gurugram Dr Akhil Prasad and Dr Ashish Mathur with student volunteers