Summary
IIM Shillong successfully hosted the first edition of the International Conference on Leveraging Emerging Technologies and Analytics for Development (LEAD-2024), themed
The LEAD-2024 logo, unveiled during the event, symbolizes the conference’s vision and commitment to integrating artificial intelligence, analytics, and sustainability principles
IIM Shillong successfully hosted the first edition of the International Conference on Leveraging Emerging Technologies and Analytics for Development (LEAD-2024), themed "Empowering Humanity." The event brought together distinguished academics, policymakers, and industry leaders to explore innovative solutions for global challenges through the intersection of technology, analytics, and development, supported by leading sponsors such as AMTRON (Platinum Sponsor), ICSSR (Silver Sponsor), Numaligarh Refinery Ltd., Globus Infocom Limited, IEIC, and Omnicode Systems Pvt. Ltd, the conference underscored the importance of partnerships in advancing global goals.
The LEAD-2024 logo, unveiled during the event, symbolizes the conference’s vision and commitment to integrating artificial intelligence, analytics, and sustainability principles. It reflects the alignment of LEAD-2024 with several key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including No Poverty (SDG 1), Quality Education (SDG 4), Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (SDG 9), Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions (SDG 16), and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17).
The conference was inaugurated with the ceremonial lighting of the lamp, symbolizing the triumph of enlightenment over ignorance. The ceremony was graced by dignitaries including Prof. Viswanath Venkatesh, Verizon Chair at Virginia Tech; Prof. Somnath Mukhopadhyay, Professor at the University of Texas at El Paso; in the presence of Prof. D. P. Goyal, Director, IIM Shillong and Co-Chairpersons of the LEAD 2024 Prof. Parijat Upadhyay and Prof. Pradeep Kumar Dadabada.
The pre-conference began with a Round Table Discussion featuring Mr. Jeewitesh Prabhakar, Partner at EY specializing in business transformation; Ms. Mathangi Sandilya, Accenture’s Global Technology Lead for Comms, Media & Technology; Shri Manjit Nath, Head of the State e-Mission Team, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY); Shri Jagjit Singh, Chief Logistics Officer, Tata Steel; and Shri Biswajit Hazarika, General Manager (Information Systems), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. Their discussions set the stage for insightful dialogues on leveraging technology for transformative impact, moderated by Prof. Basav Roychoudhury, Professor and Dean (Research), IIM Shillong. The pre-conference concluded with a session by Mr. Anand, Technology Advisor,Amtron who highlighted the role of emerging technologies in regional development. The discussions were enriched by contributions from industry leaders, ensuring a practical perspective alongside academic insights.
On the first day, delivering the keynote address Prof. Viswanath Venkatesh, Verizon Professor, Virginia Tech - Pamplin College of Business, Virgina, and a globally acclaimed scholar in business information technology emphasized the importance of rigorous research with practical impact, while highlighting innovative methodologies. Prof. Somnath Mukhopadhyay, a renowned academic in marketing and management sciences, shared valuable insights on integrating analytics for effective decision-making and management innovation, Ms. Nupoor Singh, Editor, Business & Management, Economics, Law, Statistics, Political Science, Springer India, addressed challenges in ethical research, plagiarism concerns, and the implications of generative AI. Prof. Kirankumar S. Momaya Professor, Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, I.I.T.Bombay and Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness (JGBC), Springer, underscored India's rising global competitiveness and the opportunities for impactful research in emerging technologies.
The second day saw a thought-provoking keynote by Prof. SuprateekSarker, Rolls-Royce Commonwealth Commerce Professor (Information Technology), McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia., who elaborated on the transformative role of digitalization in humanitarian action, sustainability, and health. His detailed analysis of platforms like Twitch and Slack highlighted how user engagement drives service evolution. Prof. Jason Bennett Thatcher, Milton F. Stauffer Professorship in the Department of Management Information Systems, Fox School of Business, Temple University, presented a masterclass on multidisciplinary research, addressing the necessity of integrating insights from multiple fields to tackle complex global problems like misinformation.
The Best Paper Awards were presented to three outstanding contributions:
1st Prize was awarded to the paper on “Constructing a Multi-Item Scale for Measuring Citizens' Perception Towards Success of e-Gov Services in a Smart City in India: Exploring Age and Gender Dynamics”, which explored the critical role of e-Governance in shaping citizen experiences in smart cities.
The 2nd Prize went to “Rhombus Context-Based Gradient Estimation for Information Retrieval Using Digital Media”, a pioneering work that advanced information retrieval techniques in the digital media landscape.
The 3rd Prize was awarded to “Industry 4.0 Technologies Adoption and Organizational Performance”, offering valuable insights into the transformative power of Industry 4.0 on business performance.
The conference spanned critical themes such as artificial intelligence, sustainable development, and management practices, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue to address challenges such as climate change, economic inequality, and digital transformation. The unveiling of the Book of Abstracts and the official release of the LEAD-2024 Conference Proceedings highlighted cutting-edge research contributions from global scholars and also featured contributions from Dr. John Hadjimarcou, a distinguished academic in international marketing and sustainability, who, though unable to join in person, addressed the gathering virtually, offering inspiring perspectives on sustainability in marketing strategies.
The LEAD 2024 Conference reinforced IIM Shillong’s commitment to fostering meaningful collaborations and generating actionable insights at the nexus of technology, analytics, and sustainable development. With diverse themes such as artificial intelligence, health tech, and digitalization, LEAD-2024 served as a platform for pioneering ideas and transformative solutions.
Last updated on 21 Dec 2024
