Delhi has been the traditional seat of not just power but also of quality education. It has internationally renowned institutions like IIT Delhi, AIIMS, JNU, Delhi University, Delhi College of Engineering now DTU, NSIT, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Hamdard and a host of highly reputed R&D labs including National Physical Laboratory, Solid State Physics Laboratory, Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, to mention a few. But, with the changing time it has to revitalize its higher education system to cater for the needs of knowledge creation and its transformation into industrially relevant new product development, new technologies and knowledge services to support the growth of the knowledge economy. Keeping this in mind the Department of Training and Technical Education, Govt. of Delhi and Delhi Technological University (DTU) jointly organized a seminar today at Pragati Maidan on developing “Delhi as the Knowledge Capital”.
In his welcome address Prof. P.B. Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, DTU said, “Education alone cannot be the foundation of great universities and we have to relook how universities of tomorrow have to be developed to accelerate the process of knowledge creation, growth of intellectual property, quality research and innovations. This seminar endeavors to work out the road map for such a transformation.”
Inaugurating the seminar, Shri. Rakesh Mehta, IAS, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Delhi said, “The Govt. of Delhi has drawn a blue print of action on the recommendations of the National Knowledge Commission and has taken a number of initiatives to strengthen the higher education system in Delhi including the establishment of the Delhi Knowledge Development Foundation, Delhi Skill Mission and new and innovative universities including IIIT Delhi, National Law University, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University and DTU. Further, the Govt. of Delhi is also thinking in terms of establishing a Medical University and a few other specialized institutions of higher learning so as to equip Delhi with the necessary knowledge infrastructure.” A publication on “Research and Innovations @ DTU” was also released by Shri. Mehta on this occasion which contains information on the cutting edge research and innovations being carried out by DTU faculty and students in seven thrust areas including Green Energy Technologies, New and Smart Materials, Photonics and Optical Communication, Broadband Over Power Lines, Nano Scale Devices and Innovative Automotive Solutions.
Addressing the seminar, Shri. P.K. Tripathi, Pr. Secretary to Chief Minister Delhi said that DTU has acquired a new vision after upgradation and hoped that it will pave the way for the growth of quality technical education institutions in Delhi. He also desired development of knowledge cities in Delhi, each centered around a major university, and establishment of knowledge industries in the Capital.
Prof. Ashoka Chandra, Former Special Secretary to Ministry of HRD and currently the Chairman of the Knowledge Initiatives of the Ministry of ICT of Govt. of India highlighted the challenges before the top institutions in the emerging knowledge economy environment. Other speakers at the seminar included Shri. Rajendra Kumar, Secretary, Higher and Technical Education, Govt. of Delhi, Prof. K.L. Chopra, former Director IIT Kharagpur, Dr. P. Ananthkrishnan, Managing Director, Intellectual Ventures, Prof. C.S. Venkataratnam, Director, IMI, New Delhi and Dr. S.K. Chopra, former Special Secretary and Advisor, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India.
The seminar concluded with a panel discussion on “Strategic Framework for Transformation of Delhi as Knowledge Capital”, which was chaired by Prof. Ashoka Chandra and Prof. Sharma and was participated by Prof. D.K. Bandyopadhyay, Vice-Chancellor, GGSIP University, Prof. Ranbir Singh, Vice-Chancellor, National Law University, Delhi and Dr. A. Wali, Managing Director, Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer, IIT Delhi. Vote of thanks was delivered by Shri. V.K. Jain, Addl. Secretary, DTTE. The seminar was attended by a large number of invited delegates from academic institutions, R&D organizations, the Government, faculty and students.
