Digital preparedness in pandemic times lead to company recoveries

CII Jharkhand organised its second edition of ICT Conclave over Virtual Platform

Jamshedpur, Dec. 30: CII Jharkhand organised its second edition of ICT Conclave over Virtual Platform. The objective of the ICT Conclave 2020 was to inspire the stakeholders towards building an even stronger culture of ICTE in their organisations. This conclave acted as a forum wherein the participants got the opportunity to interact with the ICTE professionals, thought leaders to learn the best practices.

The conclave covered important topics of discussion including Role of IT in HR – Future of work, worker and the workplace, Role of IT in Sustainable Business Practices – Run the planet, before it runs out and Role of Cyber Security in Remote Working Protocol – Security first culture a must.

It came out of the discussion at the conclave that companies that entered the pandemic with greater digital preparedness and investments, are emerging stronger across sectors. Organizations that invested in their people and showed humanity, are attracting talent. SME’s that are utilizing digital platforms to reach out to customers beyond domestic shores, have been some of the quickest to recover.

The growth of Industry 4.0 and spread of digital have thrown up new possibilities for accessing talent, changing the operating model and build for a more sustainable tomorrow. To do so, organizations will have to build in people, profit and planet thinking into their DNA. At the same time, they will need to overcome the risks posed by cyber-security, legacy systems and technology debt. Adoption of the Cloud, leveraging data and introducing AI are a must irrespective of size, industry and geography.

Sustainability is the new normal. Covid 19 has arrested some of the sustainability trends like shared mobility and reduction in plastics. Hygiene, masks and re-surgence in plastics across the world are just some of the trends that are impacting the environment. The risks of climate change are very real and could range between 200-400 bn USD Per annum in India alone, if the risks of climate change are not arrested. Climate Change and its consequences are clearly staring us, in the not so long run. Organizations will have to factor in the penalties and the risks. Collectively, externalizing the costs, is no longer an option.

There has been a spike in phishing attacks, Malspams and ransomware attacks as attackers use COVID-19 as bait to impersonate brands thereby misleading employees and customers. End users, who download COVID-19 related applications, are tricked into downloading ransomware disguised as legitimate applications. Organisations need to embrace cyber security first thinking. It is estimated that security software will see third-order benefits from a growing remote workforce and IT spending on security software will increase significantly.

With the move towards digital transformation, the focus needs to continue on boosting the existing cybersecurity framework to be prepared against new breed of cyber-attacks. This can be done by having innovative solutions based on stricter data security laws, stricter policies around cybercrimes, more awareness amongst industry and consumers, and collaboration with technology security service providers.

Against this backdrop, the ICT Conclave 2020 discussed and deliberated on the steps that organisations need to undertake to capitalize on the emerging IT trends in the new normal.

The important dignitaries who addressed the ICT Conclave 2020 included Dr Omkar Rai, Director General, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India; Mr Jayanta Banerjee, Global Group Chief Information Officer, Tata Steel Ltd; Mr Dipankar Chakrabarti, Co-Chairman, CII Eastern Region ICTE Subcommittee & Executive Director-Technology Optimization Lead, PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Limited; Mr Sanjay Sabherwal, Chairman, CII Jharkhand State Council & Managing Director, Metaldyne Industries Ltd; Mr Sarajit Jha, Convener, CII Jharkhand ICTE Panel & Chief- Business Transformation and Digital Solution, Tata Steel Ltd; Mr Ryan Lowe, Partner – People Advisory Services, Ernst & Young India; Ms Paromeeta Mathur Banerjee, Head of Client Service, Insights Division, Kantar, Malaysia; Mr Jayant Singh, Regional Head (Strategic Engagements) – Eastern Region, Tata Communications Ltd; Ms Anastasia Kuskova, Director-Transformation and Sustainability, Eurasian Resources Group, Netherlands; Mr Sundar Ram, Modernizations and Innovations Lead, Amazon Internet Services Pvt Ltd; Mr S Anantha Sayana, Chief Digital Officer, Larsen & Toubro Limited; Mr Sujit Janardanan, Head of Marketing, Google Cloud India; Mr Hemant Mehrotra, Project Delivery & Consulting Leader, IBM Security Services, India/South Asia.

Over 100 delegates participated in this important forum.