The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B), in collaboration with Toulouse Business School (TBS), France, hosted an international conference on Future of Aviation & Aerospace 2018.
The global meet, which was organised by IIM-B’s Executive Education Programmes, witnessed the presence industry stalwarts and participants from major airline and aviation companies.
The conference was inaugurated by Prof. G Raghuram, Director IIM Bangalore; Dr. Dwarkanath, President, Airbus India; Vinay Dube, CEO, Jet Airways; Dr. Raghunath S, faculty and Conference Chair, IIM Bangalore and Dr. Christophe Benaroya, TBS France.
Providing an overview of the aviation sector in India, Dr. G Raghuram, Director IIM Bangalore, said: “Sensing the growing opportunity of the aviation sector in India, IIMB along with TBS is providing a General Management Programme for Aerospace and Aviation Executives (GMAE) for professionals to combine technical skills with managerial acumen to take up leadership roles in this sector.”
Dr. Dwarkanath, President, Airbus India, said: “Over the next 20 years, air traffic will increase by 4.5 per cent a year and the centre of gravity is going to be in the Asia Pacific. At Airbus, ‘Make in India’ is at the heart of our strategy and we continuously work on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big data and Blockchain in order to bring quick solutions. The unique aerospace MBA program, offered by IIMB and TBS, aims to work along with the right set of people that can take the Indian aviation and aerospace industry to greater heights.”
In his keynote address, Vinay Dube, CEO, Jet Airways, also observed that the Indian aviation industry has great growth opportunities. He mentioned that transportation can drive the economy and building airports will play a significant role in this growth story. “Let’s not try to reinvent the wheel, but adopt from countries with a developed aviation sector to manage the increased demand in this sector.”
Dr. Christophe Benaroya, from TBS France, said: “As much as policies are important for the sector, working with the right set of talent, managers and ability to incorporate the management culture in the industry plays a key role.” He added that the industry requires more start-up contribution, innovation and fresh talent, not limiting itself to engineers.
Dr. Raghunath S, faculty at IIMB and the Conference Chair, explained that the programme offered jointly by IIMB and TBS seeks to address the very needs that Dr. Benaroya had listed.
There were panel discussions on ‘Next Growth Opportunity’, ‘Managing Talent in the Industry’ and ‘Driving Real Insights Through Additive Manufacturing (AM), IOT and Big Data’.
A special panel on ‘Start-ups: Their Role & Contribution to Aerospace & Aviation Industry’ drew attention to the fact that the big firms were mentoring start-ups by giving them real time projects. Therefore, for start-ups in the sector, identifying the right team and stakeholder to take the technology forward, turnaround time, and budgets for the technologies are some of the key challenges.