G20 seminar on strengthening research held at Amritsar

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Delegates from the G20 Education Working Group on Wednesday discussed the future of work and innovation, with a focus on building bridges across nations for equitable development at a seminar here.

The seminar ‘Strengthening Research and Promoting Innovation through Richer Collaboration’ was held at Khalsa College Amritsar. IIT Ropar under aegis of Ministry of Education hosted the seminar.

It focused on bridging the gap between government-academia-industry linkages for designing solutions for addressing global challenges.

Secretary, Higher Education K Sanjay Murthy and Director IIT Ropar Rajeev Ahuja were among those who spoke on the occasion.

The first panel titled ‘Research in Emerging and Disruptive Technologies, Industry -4.0’ moderated by Prof Anil Gupta and chaired by Prof Rajeev Ahuja brought together panelists from Australia, France, India and UK who shared insights on the role of various stakeholders to promote research on the emerging innovations, their impact on education systems and society in general.

The second panel on ‘Research in Sustainable Development Goals’ chaired by Prof Shalini Bharat with panelists representing China, Oman, South Africa , UAE and UNICEF laid importance on enhancing the capacities of universities being the core of research.

Alison Dell, Assistant Secretary, Australian Government Department of Education, discussed the National Collaborative infrastructure scheme in her country and what her government has been doing in moving towards applied research.

She emphasized the importance of international collaboration in research and innovation, highlighting the successful partnerships between Australian and Indian institutions in the past. She expressed hope that such collaborations would continue to thrive and contribute to the sustainable development of both nations.

The seminar concluded with an address by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. (ANI)