Chennai, Apr 18 (Agency) The Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) organized the Industry Conclave-2022 on April 16 and 17 to showcase the cutting-edge research and innovations of the Institute to the Government, Industry and Corporate firms. A virtual space dedicated to exhibiting Research Projects, start-ups, and Projects from the Institute’s Center for Innovation (CFI) and other projects was also created for the occasion. The objective of the conclave was to bridge the gap between industry and academia and facilitate Institute collaborations with industries for research projects, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and start-ups.
This event was also intended to help IIT Madras students and researchers gain an industry perspective. Addressing the inaugural session virtually, Kaviraj Nair, CEO at Office of Institutional Advancement, IIT Madras, said the core focus of IIT Madras is science and technology. The institute has some of the best brains in the country engaged in path-breaking research on topics which are socially relevant. High-impact research leading to social transformation, inspires our corporate stakeholders and donors to invest in such project, he said. Dr. Gulshan Rai, Chief Information Officer, Prime Minister’s Office, said, “From the perspective of cybersecurity, the collaborations between academics, industry and government play an important role in resolving the weak infrastructure of digital frameworks.” “The rapidly growing gap between the digitization and the cybersecurity measures poses a unique situation where technology is moving fast and digital security is weak.
Deploying a good secure IT infrastructure does not only entail using firewall and anti-virus due to which 90% of institutions stay vulnerable to digital attacks”, he said. “It is only with the aid of academic institutes like IIT Madras that we can resolve the issue of unmanaged infrastructure by designing short courses or a dedicated curriculum in cybersecurity”, he added. An industry-relevant competition was also held for IIT Madras students, which served as an essential starting point for their venture into the professional sector. The Conclave addressed the recent developments in industrial sector through lectures by industry professionals. It was also intended to facilitate the exchange of recent developments in some high-demand sectors such as cyber security, start-up space and data science through talks from experts and innovators in respective fields.