Hitachi organized "Social Innovations for Future-Solutions for India" to address rapid urbanization issues

Brightest and sharpest minds shared their vision and ideas about India's future

Delhi, November 28, 2014 - Hitachi India Pvt. Ltd., organized the 'Social Innovations for Future-Solutions for India' in partnership with NDTV on 21st November, 2014 at The Oberoi, New Delhi. This event was graced by Hon'ble Minister of Urban Development, M. Venkaiah Naidu. The objective of the forum was to bring the brightest minds of the industry together and deliberate on the prevalent issues of rapid urbanization and discuss the role of Social Innovation in addressing those concerns and finding viable solutions. Social Innovation as a topic was discussed broadly with delving the focus deeper into the areas of Healthcare and Urban Transportation. Various issues being faced in these verticals were explored by the esteemed panelists along with some possible solutions. The event also saw representatives from the Government and bureaucrats take part and it was also in harmony with the current government's vision of developing smart cities and infrastructure.

After the grand success of Hitachi Social Innovation Forum 2013 held in New Delhi, Hitachi realized the potential role Social Innovation can play in the fields like rail systems, healthcare, infrastructure systems, power systems, and water systems etc.

"We are extremely happy to host 'Social Innovations for Future - Solutions for India'. The unplanned expansion of megacities and escalating urban population in India has given rise to new set of challenges. There is an urgent need for development of social infrastructure, particularly in the areas of healthcare, water, urban mass rapid transportation systems and IT. Therefore, we have brought together industry leaders, domain experts, thought leaders, policy makers and senior representatives from related industries to a series of panel discussions focusing on different aspects of the subject." said Mr. Ichiro Iino, Managing Director, Hitachi India Pvt. Ltd.

Details of the sessions at Social Innovations for Future - Solutions for India:

Session: Social Innovation

Panelists:

• Mr. Pramod Bhasin, Chairman, The Skills Academy, Non-Executive Vice Chairman & former President and CEO of Genpact
• Mr. Sunil Wadhwani, Founding Donor, Wadhwani Initiative for Sustainable Healthcare
• Mr. Niranjan Hiranandani, Co-Founder at Hiranandani Developers Pvt. Ltd. and President at the Maharashtra
  Chambers of Housing Industry.
• Ms. Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Indian economist, Chairperson, Board of Governors, Indian Council for Research on
  International Economic Relations

Highlights:

• Need for India to create an atmosphere that is conducive to massive private investments, both domestic and foreign, in the area of Urban Infrastructure development
• How will India foster innovation in different spheres of Water, Transport, Healthcare and IT for a futuristic and
  sustainable Urban transformation?
• How does Social Innovation proposition provide infrastructure solutions that combine products, services and
  sophisticated IT facilities focusing on sustainability objectives and conservation of precious natural resources?

Session: Integration of Urban Transport Systems

Panelists:

• Mr. Shankar Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development
• Mr. OP Agarwal, Director General, Institute of Urban Transportation
• Dr. Geetam Tiwari, MoUD Chair and Professor for Transport Planning, Department of Civil Engineering, Institute of Technology Delhi
• Mr. Abhaya Krishna Agarwal, Partner-Infra, E&Y
• Mr. Alistair Dormer, Hitachi Rail Global CEO

Highlights:

• What type of Transportation Systems shall be selected and integrated to meet the various demands of the city, in terms of passenger carrying capacity and availability of the space to accommodate such Transportation System?
• What are the benefits of integrating land use and transport planning?
• Through better infrastructure & new technologies, how can India lower congestion costs?

Session: Financing of Railway Projects

Panelists:

• Mr. Manoj Sinha, Minister of State, Ministry of Railways
• Mr. Rajiv Datt, Managing Director, Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd (IRFC)
• Mr. Rakesh Saksena, MD, Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation
• Mr. S. B. Nayar, CMD, IIFCL
• Mr. Shin Oya, Senior Representative, JBIC
• Mr. Alistair Dormer, Hitachi Rail Global CEO

Highlights:

• Challenges & opportunities that can take the railways from creaking to world class; how the PPP model needs to be spelt out to attract FDI & getting it closer to what the world understands as a PPP model, ensuring that it has the right clearances & approvals before it is put out to bid.
• Possibilities of enhancing investment in Railway projects through creative financing and alternative financing
  schemes.
• With the Modi government announcing 100% FDI in Indian Railways, does the sector have a brighter future?

Session: Healthcare - Proton Beam Therapy & Optical Topography

Panelists:

• Dr. Balram Bhargava, Professor, Department of Cardiotherapy, AIIMS
• Dr. AK Chaturvedi, Director Radiologist, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research Centre
• Dr. G Venkatasubramanian, Additional Prof. of Psychiatry, Dept. of Psychiatry-National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences
• Dr. Nobuyuki Osakabe, CTO, Healthcare Company, Hitachi, Ltd.
• Dr. Joerg Schnackenberg, Hitachi Medical Corporation "Optical Topography Business"
• Dr. Arabinda Kumar Rath, CMD, Hemalata Hospitals & Research Centre

Highlights:

PROTON BEAM THERAPY

• Planning treatment for radiation therapy for different body parts
• Variable energy and potency of proton beam
• Reduction in treatment time leading to better life quality

OPTICAL TOPOGRAPHY DIMENSIONS

• Brain mapping and data analytics
• Application of optical topography in psychiatry, neurosurgery and rehabilitation
• Developing the technology further and exploring new avenues for its application

Session: Healthcare - Oncology, Breast Cancer & Imaging

Panelists:

• Mr. Lov Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
• Dr. Pramod Kumar Julka, Professor, Department of Radiotherapy, AIIMS
• Mr. Rajesh Srivastava, CMD, Rockland Group of Hospitals
• Dr. Ako Ito, Chief Surgeon, Hitachi General Hospital
• Ms. Bharti Gupta Ramola, Executive Director/Markets Leader, PwC India

Highlights:

• Why is cancer treatment so forbiddingly expensive? The cost of treating cancer very often results in making it out of reach for millions.
• Besides high costs, what are the other stumbling blocks to providing effective cancer cure?
• Can technology be made available to deliver cancer treatment at optimum costs to the last mile?