In India, as in many other emerging nations, the projected growth in urban development is coupled with the challenge of providing and managing movement of people and goods in inner cities. For businesses, this is a huge opportunity to integrate and deploy smart solutions to ease congestion, enhance safety and ensure efficient energy management for CO2 reduction. A holistic deployment will require agility and a mindset change to proactively review the current scenario. With the Prime Minister’s focus on Smart Cities, next generation mobility and business practices become even more prudent for the mobility fraternity.
With this backdrop, the Automotive Board of SAEINDIA conducted the first edition of Blue Ribbon CEO Conclave in Chennai on July 25 during the visit of Mr. Dan Hancock, President of SAE International. Mr. Murli Iyer, International Advisor, SAE International, accompanied him.
At this first-ever conclave, 20 CEOs and heads of business from OEMs and vendor partners were present to express their continued support to SAEINDIA and share their thoughts and experiences about “Business Practices for Next Generation Mobility”.
The discussion covered four major aspects: Doing Business Right – Ethics and Values, Diversity, Talent Development; Leveraging Innovation and Business Practices – PPP; Socio-economic Partnerships for Holistic Development, and Integrating Smart Mobility for Masses – Inclusive Strategy (Urban Development, Energy Providers and Policy Makers).
The conclave began with the welcome address by Dr. Arun Jaura, SAEINDIA Automotive Board Chairman, followed by the opening address by Dr. Aravind Bharadwaj, SAEINDIA President, and Head-Technology, TPDS-Automotive & Farm Sectors, Mahindra Mahindra Ltd.
Dr. Bharadwaj observed: “Business practices for next generation mobility will need a paradigm shift in building an innovation culture. Going forward, talent pipeline and ethics & values will form a stronger business foundation for faster growth”.
In his address, Mr. Dan Hancock said: “Collaborative innovation is a lever that will catalyze next generation business practices. Nurturing student initiatives along with supporting resources will build the appropriate pipeline for injecting fresh ideas in the mobility fraternity”.
Mr. Suman Bose, Managing Director and CEO, Siemens Industry Software India, emphasised the need for a paradigm shift through disruptive thinking and radical innovation. He shared anecdotes of his teams’ efforts, the work being done in India and other regions on connected vehicles, and a few other examples of how radical innovation and the way of conducting business has changed the play field for Siemens across India and the world.
He also talked about technology trends since one size does not fit all and various levers Siemens uses to be ahead of the curve in next generation mobility.
Dr. Mahadevan, Board Member of India Pistons Ltd., shared his thoughts about a holistic approach and participation of stakeholders and how setting the policy framework is important to lay a blue print for the industry and consumers of mobility solutions.
Mr. Nirmal Shani, Director, South Asia, IHS, discussed the trends and practices IHS is tracking globally. How innovation platforms and partnerships within industry-academia have seen ideation growth in several regions of the world.