Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, University of Delhi organized the 5th edition of its Biennial International Conference on ‘Ensuring a Sustainable Future: Role of Entrepreneurship, Innovation in Management Practices, and Circular Economy’, in collaboration with Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong, Australia on 6th and 7th March, 2020. The conference witnessed the participation of many dignitaries, research scholars and faculty members from various universities of the country and abroad. Introducing the vision of the conference, the convener, Dr. Kawal Gill emphasized the necessity to explore new business models, to address sustainability issues around the world. She added that the conference aimed to reassess the role of innovators, entrepreneurs and collaborative efforts in ensuring a sustainable future.
In her video message, Professor Grace McCarthy, Dean, Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong, Australia, expressed her regret for not being able to attend the conference. She congratulated the organizing team and appreciated the relevance of the theme of the conference. Professor McCarthy highlighted the role of the educationists and researchers in making a difference with their insights and future collaborations.
The principal of the college, Dr. Jatinder Bir Singh in his inaugural address extended gratitude to the participants and pointed out that sustainability is an urgent international issue. He also emphasized on the need to analyze the accountability of various stakeholders, highlighting the role of policymakers and the market forces.
In his keynote address, the chief guest, Dr. Arvind Virmani, Chairman, EGROW Foundation, charted the fluctuations in the Indian economy in short, medium and long term time frames. He attributed the current decline to improper phasing, bad timing and unplanned implementation of otherwise well-designed policies. He underscored the need for a collaborative role of the government, central institutions like RBI, and the upcoming resourceful entrepreneurs for building a strong economy.
The guest of honor, Ms. Bindu Dalmia, Chairperson, National Committee on Financial Inclusion and Literacy, Niti Aayog, stressed upon boosting innovation intensity in entrepreneurship and management practices. Industry 4.0 is expanding at an exponential rate as against the linear rate of earlier revolutions. Ms. Dalmia pointed out that the digital revolution is likely to replace labor in conservative economies and referred to the new employment platforms like Alibaba, Flipkart, and Uber. She suggested that India could gain immensely by increasing the level of digital literacy, and vocationalizing online learning. She concluded that navigating in a world of variables requires constant calibration.
The last speaker of the session, Dr. D.K. Aggarwal, President, PHDCCI, spoke passionately about the sustainability of businesses and making India a 5 trillion economy.
The plenary session focused on a sustainable future from the practitioners’ perspective.
Ms. Anubha Prasad, National Coordinator, PAGE, UNEP, emphasized that circular economy and resource efficiency are vital for achieving sustainable development. She demonstrated how certain circular business models are already engaged in collaborative consumption, remanufacturing and dematerialization.
Ms. Gayatri Raghwa, Environment Education Consultant, UNEP, warned that the world has reached the ecological threshold.
Endeavoring to develop a low carbon economy is inadequate; we have to simultaneously provide green skills to our youth for the green collar jobs.
Mr. Manoj Kumar Keshwar, an entrepreneur and motorcycle explorer, shared his experiences gathered by traveling across the globe. He underscored the imperative need for re-thinking sustainability. He introduced project Atulya Ganga, initiated by army veterans, which aims to purify Ganga. He urged the audience to be a part of the initiative.
After the plenary session, nine parallel technical sessions, spread over two days, witnessed presentations of eighty-one research papers, including two student sessions.
These sessions witnessed various dimensions of entrepreneurship, management practices, and circular economy to ensure a sustainable future. Each technical session explored a specific aspect of Sustainable Development which included a circular economy, innovative management, various financial and economic factors etc.
Day 1 of the conference witnessed 4 technical sessions spread across different venues of the college. The sessions witnessed presentations of different research scholars and faculty.
Day 2 was no different with 5 technical sessions, 2 of which were of presented by student researchers, hence setting a foundation of a sustainable future.
Each technical session was chaired by 2 such session chairs which had years of experience of the subject of the session. Each presenter was given ample time to present their research. Once the presentation was over the house was open for cross-questioning from the attendees, fellow researchers and the session chairs. Each technical session concluded with the announcement of the best papers and valuable advice from the judges to all the presenters.
The event was finally concluded with a valedictory session to sum up the conference It consisted of farewell speeches from Dr. Kawal Gill (Convenor, Seminar Committee), Dr. J.B. Singh (Principal, SGGSCC) and other guests of honor.
The presenters of the best paper were honored and felicitated with certificates, presented by Dr. J.B. Singh and the guests of honor.
The conference finally ended on a high note with appreciation for all the faculty members and the entire team of seminar committee which made the dream of a successful event into a wonderful reality.
