Indore: MSME’s digital transformation to enhance its competitiveness, says IIT Indore director

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Noting that the MSME sector is the backbone of our economy, IIT Indore director Prof Suhas Joshi on Friday said the digital transformation will play a critical role in ensuring its competitiveness in the global market.

“Academic institutions like IITs and organisations like DRISHTI CPS play a key role in providing technical expertise and support to MSMEs to help them adopt digital technologies,” he said while addressing a “National Roundtable for MSMEs on Digital Transformation - Progressing Towards Industry 4.0 at IIT Indore.

The programme was organised by IIT Indore DRISHTI CPS Foundation in an international collaboration with Royal Academy of Engineering, UK.

Mentioning DRISHTI CPS as a bridge between industry and academia, he also suggested participants to engage in productive discussions and share their experiences and insights to further the cause of digital transformation in MSMEs.

Aligning with the government's vision of Zero Defect Zero Effect, the programme was dedicated to promote the digitalization of MSMEs through discussions and deliberations among participants.

The event aimed to understand technology bottlenecks, and missing skill sets and connect start-ups with MSMEs and OEMs.

“Through this roundtable programme, DRISHTI CPS intends to achieve its goals of promoting digital transformation in the MSME sector and assist companies in the development of technology, identify and provide skilling in necessary skill sets for the seamless adoption of industry 4.0, and facilitate projects for participating start-ups to provide them access to MSMEs and OEM markets,” a press release issued by IIT Indore.

The participants included more than forty MSMEs from the Indore-Pithampur-Dewas region, twelve senior professors from IIT Indore, IIT Bombay, IIT Jammu, IIT Kanpur, and other premier institutions, twelve start-up founders working with MSMEs as well as PhD scholars.

The chief guest, Dharamveer Solanki, plant head at Cummins Turbo Technologies Limited, Dewas emphasized the importance of digital transformation in driving growth and competitiveness in the MSME sector.

Prof Bhupesh Kumar Lad, project director, said “IITs have been at the forefront of technology development. Entities like DRISHTI CPS Foundation will help take these technologies developed to the actual users like MSMEs and the end customers. Such programs give the opportunity to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to collaborate and find solutions to drive digital transformation in MSMEs.”

The programme involved a series of joint brainstorming sessions on the difficulties faced by MSME in their path to digital transformation and DRISHTI CPS at IIT Indore can help them solve these.