NASSCOM Foundation hosted India’s largest Tech for Good driven conference – The CSR Leadership Conference 2018 in Bangalore.
The two-day conference brought over 400 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 and help create a roadmap to a new, developed and inclusive India.
The event was supported by Accenture, discussing Skills to Succeed. Societe Generale and Wells Fargo also came forward to support the knowledge platform, along with Sonata Software.
The event saw leaders like Debjani Ghosh, president, NASSCOM call for collaboration across the industry to solve larger national issues. Rekha Menon, Chairman and Senior Managing Director, Accenture India, talked about how India needs to upskill and re-skill its workforce to remain relevant. Arun Seth, Chairman, NASSCOM Foundation, reflected on NASSCOM Foundation’s role in using technology for social good to create an inclusive India.
Ashok Pamidi, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation, said, “Sabka Saath, Saka Vikaas, (together with all, development for all) has been one of the cornerstones of the public policy of the Government of India. The conference takes this vision forward by providing a platform for the IT-BPM industry to collaborate and solve India’s most pressing problems.”
According to a report from Accenture on creating a future workforce, 95% workforce believes that it needs new skills to remain relevant. Addressing the critical question on future of work and where does India stand in re-skilling its workforce, the Skills to Succeed partner for the conference, Accenture called for an innovative approach, aided with intelligent technologies, to help people develop future-ready skills. The panel consisting of leaders like Gayathri Vasudevan from LabourNet Services India Pvt. Ltd.; Clement Chauvet, UNDP; Anita Rajan, Tata STRIVE; Rituparna Chakraborty, TeamLease Services Ltd, and Gaurav Kapoor, NSDC moderated by Kshitija Krishnaswamy, Accenture further discussed on how India’s skilling challenge can be transformed into an opportunity.
Collaboration in CSR can help bring impact at scale for some of the most challenging of the social problems we face today. Prakriti Panvar from Wells Fargo took the lead in discussing various collaboration models and highlighted best practices in a cross-sectoral, multi-stakeholder environment.
According to a report, 9 out of the ten most polluted cities in the world are in India. Increasing air pollution, water pollution, inadequate waste disposal, increasing e-waste, growing scarcity of natural resources are some of the few immediate and imminent environmental threats the country faces. Societe Generale has been at the forefront of promoting clean and renewable energy and brought its knowledge to the conference where Sowmya Suryanarayanan talked about how can organizations embed sustainability within the values and culture of an organization.
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.
