Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), has partnered with Bank of America to launch a Centre for Digital Transformation (CDT). “The centre aspires to become a vibrant knowledge hub for academia, policymaking, and the private sector, by facilitating cutting-edge research on digital transformation and innovation,” a release from the B-school, said.
Announcing the launch of the Centre, Prof Errol D’Souza, Director, IIMA, said, “Advancements in the information technology sector are growing rapidly and transforming the way we function. The pandemic has further revealed the value of digital operating models and the need for industry, institutions, and nations to ramp up their adoption of technology. Therefore, it becomes imperative that we study the impact of this digital transformation on business, government, individuals and society.” The Centre for Digital Transformation is the ninth research centre to be set up at IIMA.
“Our global economy is quickly becoming more reliant on digital technologies as underscored by our current environment,” said Cathy Bessant, Bank of America Chief Operations and Technology Officer. “With the development of digital economies increasing at an exponential rate, shared learning and best practices are critical for shaping the future for our governments, private industry and universities. It’s how we’ll ensure we’re creating and implementing technology responsibly.”
Advisory council
As a strategic next step, the Centre has also set up an advisory council on responsible digital transformation. Helmed by IIMA, this council will bring together diverse stakeholders to deliberate on the urgent needs and unique perspectives on digitalisation. This is intended to help develop best practices and guidelines designed to benefit all stakeholders and achieve broader goals. The council will play a critical role in enhancing core competencies of the centre and help guide the projects. The council will enable greater collaboration and alignment with external industry partners for long term value creation.
The council members include Dr Ritu Agarwal, Senior Associate Dean of the Robert H Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland; Debjani Ghosh, President of NASSCOM; Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO of Tata Consultancy Services; Nandan Nilekani, Non-executive Chairman of Infosys; Aditya Puri, Senior Advisor, The Carlyle Group; Dr Vallabh Sambamurthy, Albert O Nicholas Dean of the Wisconsin School of Business of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Centre’s responsibilities
The advisory committee of the Centre is jointly chaired by Cathy Bessant, Chief Operations and Technology Officer, Bank of America, and Founding Chair Dr Pankaj Setia Professor of Information Systems, IIMA. The other members of the advisory committee include IIMA Director Errol D’Souza ; Sumeet Chabria, Global Technology and Operations COO, and Global Business Services Executive, Bank of America; Dr Debjit Roy, Professor, IIMA; and Dr Ramayya Krishnan, Dean, Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University.
The activities of the centre include but are not limited to:
· Convening leaders from academia, government, and the private sector to address the pressing moral, legal, and ethical questions surrounding the future application of technology and data.
· Conducting and catalysing cutting-edge research by disseminating white-papers, and research reports.
· Establishing debates/workshops/seminars regularly on the key issues digitisation is raising for the economy of India.
· Conduct training programmes, focusing on the impact of digital transformation and innovation.