India will lead the world in innovation, says Kris Gopalakrishnan

Co-founder of Infosys Kris Gopalakrishnan was the chief guest for the virtual inaugural function at IIM Kozhikode

A Centre for Digital Innovation and Transformation (CDiT), which promotes and coordinate interdisciplinary research in emerging digital technologies, has been opened at the IIM Kozhikode here.

Co-founder of Infosys Kris Gopalakrishnan was the chief guest for the virtual inaugural function here on Wednesday, a statement said here.

In his inaugural address, Gopalakrishnan, congratulated IIM Kozhikode for this initiative and expressed hope that the industry becomes an active participant in the activities of this centre because it is at the intersection of academic and industry activity.

He also encouraged the centre to strive for excellence to come up with sustainable business ideas, create better products through core research activities which are for the betterment of lives and the society.

He laid out seven significant milestones for the centre and remarked "the growth model of this century will be founded on innovation and not on consumption. India will lead the world in innovation in the 21st century and this bound to be India's century."

Director IIM Kozhikode & Patron of the Centre, Prof. Debashis Chatterjee appreciated the effort of the team which put together this centre and said IIMK's mission to go global will receive a massive boost with this initiative about bringing digital transformation.

"Sustainability should be at the core of all transformation and the world today is moving from consumption to innovation and from producing to caring," he said.

The sheer scale, scope and potential impact that India will have on 21st century business makes IIMK's Vision 2047 of Globalizing Indian thought a worthwhile aspiration, he added.

IIM-Kozhikode has been a pioneer in digital outreach and was the first Business School in Asia to conduct programmes for working executives through satellite delivery systems (later through dedicated internet), called Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) mode, the first of its kind in Asia back in 2001.

At an age and time when the government initiatives like Digital India are transforming the society, IIM Kozhikode's Centre for Digital Innovation and Transformation will promote and coordinate interdisciplinary research in emerging digital technologies, added Prof. R Radhakrishna Pillai, Head CDiT.