Virtual Knowledge Sharing Session

29th July 2020 , @ 05.00 PM

For registration: Cilck here

UN Global Compact Network India (UN GCNI) in association with Somaiya Vidyavihar University is organizing a Special Virtual Session Coordinated by Somaiya Institute for Research and Consultancy, Somaiya Vidyavihar University

Nature has challenged us in many ways; however, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the masterstroke so far. Health-care workers, public health authorities and Researchers are scrambling to keep up. The pandemic has affected the health, economy, and social mobility of people in countries around the world. This pandemic has also significantly disrupted the education and health-care sectors, which is a critical determinant of a country’s growth and economic future. Through this webinar we plan to highlight the challenges that were posed and also the paths chosen to overcome these.

In the education sector, the pandemic has transformed the centuries-old, ‘chalk–talk’ teaching model to a teaching one driven by technology. This disruption in the delivery of education is forcing people to think out-of-the-box in terms of how to drive student & faculty engagement at scale while ensuring inclusive e-learning solutions along with tackling the digital divide. Remote learning strategies and interactions, although previously possible, were not widely used. Since this ended up being the only option at the moment, it has enabled new articulations that have proved to be fruitful. We need to learn from these situations and come up with new pedagogy, knowledge sharing, and assessment to prepare the next generation of ‘Zoomers’ and ‘Teamers’.

We now talk of a ‘pre-COVID’ world, where business was as usual, and a ‘post-COVID’ world which is the new normal. While the disease, caused by a tiny virus, has affected millions, it has also brought to fore some often-ignored challenges and opportunities to build a better tomorrow. Science has been in the forefront, driving these monumental changes across the world—from understanding the virus and designing a vaccine, to throwing insights on how we could prepare for and prevent the next pandemic. Efforts to develop strategies to understand the knowledge gaps would help direct future targeted science & technology efforts in India from a multidisciplinary standpoint. An address on possible measures to build research capacity in India to equip for the next wave or next pandemic is the need-of the-hour.

Global collaboration in health and scientific research has historically been a great success from the era of smallpox to Ebola. This will certainly be the case even after the drastic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Such opportunities can lead to breakthroughs and advances we could not have imagined if countries had pursued it alone. Post-Covid, we see communities of doctors, scientists, researchers and engineers across the world working together, tirelessly and seamlessly confronting the pandemic outbreak with an unprecedented spirit of cooperation. We learn more and faster together working in our own local environment, but connecting multidirectional across the world through technology. The pandemic is underscoring the critical role of international collaboration on the frontiers of scientific research and capacity building, thus working towards the sustainable development goals as listed out by the United Nations. There is also a dire need to promote openness in access to data, to outcomes of research and to research infrastructure. The current situation presents unprecedented challenges and opportunities in this regard. While this global pandemic has caused a huge upheaval in every possible aspect of our life and livelihoods, it also offers us an opportunity to pause, reboot and rethink on how to move ahead towards a better future.

Keynote Address
1. Dr. K Kasturirangan, Chancellor of Central University of Rajasthan and NIIT University, Former ISRO Chief & Chancellor JNU

Moderator
2. Dr. V Prasanna, Deputy Director, ACTREC Cancer Research Institute

Setting the Context
3. Prof V N Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice-Chancellor, Somaiya Vidyavihar University

Panelists
4. Mr. Samir Somaiya, Chancellor, Somaiya Vidyavihar University & CMD Godavari Biorefineries Ltd
5. Dr. T Ramasami, Former DST Secretary, Govt of India
6. Dr. Virander Singh Chauhan, Chairman Executive Committee NAAC
7. Dr. Chandrima Shaha, President INSA, Professor of Eminence & Former Director, National Institute of Immunology
8. Dr. Larry P Walker, Adjunct Professor, Michigan State University
9. Mr. Kamal Singh, Executive Director, UN GCNI