Expressing joy at the start of the Conference Shri Modi pointed out, “Its heartening to see that in its 2nd edition the ICAI has grown so big. 135 universities, institutions from 56 nations and 60 universities, institutions from 14 states are here today.” The Chief Minister pointed out that the 21st century is the century of knowledge and every week there unfolds new developments in education and research. “Emergence of knowledge society has become a reality,” he affirmed. The event witnessed the presence of several acclaimed academicians from all over the world such as Prof. Antony D’Emanuele from University of Central Lancashire, Dr Andrew McCusker from University of Wollongong and Prof. Antonio Albano from Università di Pisa. The participation of eminent American Universities was also seen. Some of the American representatives were Dr. Renu Khator, Chancellor and President of University of Houston, Dr. Ade Mobogunje from Stanford University and Dr. Dipti Pitta from the University of Pennsylvania. The complete list of speakers and participants can be found here. The Chief Minister pointed out that earlier the information revolution and digital reach were limited to a certain segment of society due to which a digital divide was built. He stressed on the fact that if knowledge is co-created and co-authored it will be available to the entire humanity to be used and developed. “When the information age transforms into a knowledge, we can reap the benefits,” he stated. Shri Modi further stated that the themes for this august conference are internationalization, research and skill development. Talking about the rich history of this land in higher education the Chief Minister said, “Before 2500 years ago India had a sophisticated system of higher education. Nalanda, Taxila trained students in various fields. Nalanda University drew scholars from China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Turkey.” He pointed that a true knowledge society ought to have competent people who can innovate and create new concepts. Talking about the initiatives of the Gujarat Government Shri Modi shared that Gujarat is the first state to launch an Innovation Commission and the state also launched iCreate. Shri Modi declared that the focus is not on degrees but on employability and skill development. He further shared that the Government is working closely with industry on this issue. He talked about programmes like SCOPE and eMPOWER that train youth in soft skills and IT. Shri Modi gave emphasis on individuals and institutions establishing collaboration and cooperation. “Can we establish bonds and linkages that endure?” he asked. Shri Modi affirmed, “I have a dream. I dream of a society that is continuously in knowledge and where each individual is a part of the creation of knowledge. I dream of a society where youngsters can do courses of their choice where technology is is used but the importance of the Guru is retained,” and added, “The process of forming such a society has begun through this conference.”
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 08:52:01 +0000
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