NASSCOM Foundation hosts The CSR Leadership Conference in Mumbai in partnership with BNY Mellon and eClerx
Mumbai: NASSCOM Foundation, in partnership with BNY Mellon and eClerx hosted India’s largest Tech for Good driven conference – The CSR Leadership Conference 2018 in Mumbai today.
Over the past 5 years the NASSCOM Foundation has hosted its flagship event, The CSR Leadership Conference – one of the largest IT-BPM industry specific CSR conclaves in the country. This year, the Foundation moved beyond its traditional venues of Bangalore and Delhi and hosted its first CSR Leadership Conference in Mumbai.
The conference brought over 150 delegates consisting of CEOs, CXOs, CSR Heads from the industry, policy makers, influencers, NGO Leads, Tech4Good champions, and social innovators under one roof to discuss innovative approaches to CSR, understand the problems of the present and then co-create a roadmap to a new, developed and inclusive India.
The CSR Leadership Conference with a central theme of ‘catalysing change’ saw visionary leaders like Harish Mehta, Founder, NASSCOM; Chairman, Onward Technologies call for collaboration across the industry to solve larger national issues.
Speaking at the conference, Ashok Pamidi, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation said, “Maharashtra occupies the top spot in terms of CSR expenditure. With a strong presence of the IT and other industries, the region has had focused interventions from many technology organizations and has incredible potential for using technology for social good.”
He further added, “With Industry Revolution 4.0 technologies, we are at the threshold of what could be history in the making. On the one hand, we plan to use CSR funds to skill people on these new technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain, Robotics, etc. and bridge the skills gap. On the other hand, we plan to use the power of these technologies to address various day-to-day problems and needs of common people while helping improve the social fabric. This conference aims at the discussing opportunities and challenges of these technologies apart from addressing the present implementation needs.”
According to a report by Accenture, 95% workforce believes that it needs new skills to remain relevant. Addressing the critical question on how can CSR help in re-skilling the workforce, the conference called for an innovative approach, aided with intelligent technologies, to help people develop future-ready skills. The panel consisting of leaders like Aloka Majumdar from HSBC India, Deepak Maheshwari from Symantec, Deepa Kapoor from eClerx and Girish Singhania from EduBridge Learning, further discussed how India’s skilling challenge can be transformed into an opportunity.
Different companies bring different expertise to the table and when resources are clubbed together, the scale and impact of the CSR projects increases. The conference further encouraged collaborative CSR by putting forth successful models and examples of public-private and inter-company collaborations.
Education is the backbone of every society and the industry understands that extremely well. The sector, therefore receives the most CSR funding. The conference discussed on how can CSR make the next stride in providing quality and future-proof education to all.
The conference ended with thought leaders like Santhosh Jayaram, Partner & Head, Sustainability and CSR Advisory, KPMG taking a closer look on corporate India’s contribution to development, in the mandated CSR era and its impact towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
The CSR Leadership Conference also had a host of networking opportunities and enabled NGOs and Corporates to find relevant partners.
The NASSCOM Foundation CSR Leadership Conference, therefore, delivered on its promise to provide a 360-degree opportunity for all stakeholders to connect, learn from peers and experts, and strive to solve the most significant challenges facing development and diversity in India.