Wiley has a long-standing commitment to educational transformation and innovation, helping learners build skills towards job readiness in emerging technologies and supporting them throughout their lifelong learning journey. The WGIC saw deep and thoughtful conversation amongst renowned industry and academia veterans, members of the Wiley Innovation Advisory Council (WIAC), along with the Wiley Executive Leadership Team, helping to identify the skill gaps facing the industry and the growing need for skilling and reskilling. In addition, the group focused on the scope and quality of research output in India and how facilitating innovation in this area can create new business and job opportunities.

The event was held at the ITC Gardenia in Bengaluru and featured a series of InnovationNXT talks by stalwarts including Prof CNR Rao, Bharat Ratna Awardee and honorary president of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research; Gopichand Katragadda, ex-chief technology officer at Tata Sons and CEO, Myelin Foundry; Sriram Rajagopal, CEO and founder, Diamondpick; Mohan Krishnaraj, VP and global head, User Experience, Harman International; Jo Vempati and Ramakant Vempati, co-founders, Wysa; as well as Wiley representatives, including Peter Wiley, chairman emeritus.

Rao said, “Good education and quality research are the keys for the future of mankind eventually driving innovation. The progress of any nation depends on innovation and to drive innovation, we need special curriculum or learning solution that facilitates young minds to think differently and to do things differently. It is time we create an ambience through our educational institutions that promotes creativity and innovation which is innate to us. For a better India, educational institutes have to just identify those minds, provide them with necessary facilities and opportunities to promote innovation, and encourage ideas - which should be the future of learning.”

 “Wiley has a long history of advocating for advancements in technology and innovation. With India’s economy growing at an incredible rate and with the second largest population in the world, it’s clear that we need to harness new technologies and equip students with the skills necessary that will allow them to excel in their future careers,” said Vikas Gupta, managing director, Wiley India. “Technology such as artificial intelligence is poised to greatly change the way we work and live, and following the recent announcement of India’s National AI for All strategy, such work has never been more important. I’m so incredibly thankful to all of our keynotes and attendees for joining together for the inaugural Wiley Global Innovation Conclave.”

“Wiley has always been a pioneer and propagator of technology and innovation. After creating the Wiley Innovation Advisory Council last year, Wiley is working with industry and academia to build the future workforce for India, as well as the education curriculum,” said Peter Wiley, chairman Emeritus for Wiley. “We will soon introduce learning solutions to bridge the higher education gap in India to enrich the learning experience of students and help them develop skills that are necessary to succeed in the workplace.”

The event also served as the official launch of the Wiley Innovation Black Book on Exponential Technologies, a resource guide comprised of 18 co-authored, thought-provoking pieces by industry experts, sharing their vision on the impact of exponential technologies across industries in future forward scenarios.  The book will be available on Wiley.com.