IBM, RGICS team up to tackle social issues

IBM India and The Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies (RGICS), think tank of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, announced a strategic relationship aimed at creating a platform for government and the private sector to collaboratively address the strategic socio-economic issues facing India today, such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, energy & enviroment, and security. As a part of this collaboration, IBM and RGICS will launch a unique initiative called "Face2Face" "� a leadership forum through which stakeholders, both public and private, will bring the issues of national importance in the forefront and initiate a public debate for remedial action.

With the aim of nurturing India as an innovation hub, empowering public sector leaders with information, and aligning industry with key development issues, the first Face2Face forum will focus on healthcare. Entitled, "Role of Private Sector for Inclusive Healthcare System," the conference will be held on April 23 in New Delhi, the conference will be addressed by Mr. Amar Singh, Chairperson for the Parliamentary Committee on Health, Mr Analjit Singh, CEO Max Hospitals, Mr. Shanker Annaswamy, MD - IBM India Pvt. Ltd. and Dr. H. Sudarshan, Karuna Trust & VGKK. The conference delegates will include Members of Parliamentary Committee on Health, policy makers, academicians and officials from the multilateral and developmental bodies

Commenting on this association, Dr Saqib Mohamed, Senior Fellow, Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies , said, "Although India's growth has accelerated in recent years, large sections of the population remain marginalized. Long term sustainability of the social and economic rise of India rests on the agenda of inclusive development. To enable this, the emerging Indian economy needs to address key issues of literarcy, healthcare, and infrastructure while embracing inclusive development and growth. In our endeavor to promote effective, practical and sustainable programmes for national development, we have teamed with IBM to begin a dialogue between the stakeholders, especially policy makers, on issues of national priority."

Mr. Shanker Annaswamy, MD- IBM India & Regional General Manager, IBM India /South Asia, said, "IBM's relationship with RGICS, is premised on a long-term view of furthering socio-economic development and improved access to critical services. At IBM, we have seen from experience that technology deployed in a strategic and thoughtful way can help bridge divides across many areas."

IBM has made considerable investments in skills and talent development in India through various education, government outreach, and research and development initiatives. The company's collaboration with the RGICS is another important step toward growing India's innovation ecosystems and thereby advancing country's transformation.

The RGICS of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has established its presence in virtually all the states and union territories of India, and launched programmes and activities in several areas. The Foundation's think tank is independent of party or political affiliation and offers a forum for dialogue between different views. It works towards providing to the Parliament a solid contribution in terms of ideas, research and international analysis , as well as providing enlarged opportunities to the underprivileged and the deprived.