PANEL_DISCUSSION_ON_‘PROMOTING_TRANSPARENCY_IN_SMART-CITIES’
On
December 15th 2015, a panel discussion was held on promoting
transparency in Smart cities. It was jointly organised by GCNI and GITAM
Institute of Management. The 10 smart cities where transparency is being
promoted include- Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Lucknow,
Mangaluru, Pune, Raipur, Ranchi and Vishakhapatnam.
The event was graced by renowned
dignitaries from different walks of life Sri G.Sambasiva Rao Managing Director, Sravan Shipping
Services Pvt. Ltd & Vice President
AP Chamber of Commerce & Industry,
Sri Winston S.K Adams, Secretary, Vizag
Information Technology Association, Sri A.V. Monish Row, Vice President,
The Vizagapatam Chamber of
Commerce & Industry, Dr. Deepak Madala, President,
THE- AP, Sri Sohan Hatangadi, Freelance Consultant, Sri. MuraliKrishna Gannamani, CEO
& Managing Director, Phoenix IT Solutions Limited, Ms.
Shabnam Siddiqui, Director, Center of Excellence,among others. UN
GCNI is the largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiated in the world
offering a unique platform to engage companies in responsible business
behaviour through the 10 principles focusing on human rights, labour standards,
the environment and anti corruption etc. It was formed in November 2003 and registered
as NPO to function as the Indian Local Network of the UNGC. At present the
India Network ranks among the top 3 out of the 102 local networks in the world,
and has emerged as the largest corporate citizenship and social responsibility
organisation.
The
Collective Action project of the UNGC- SIEMENS INTEGRATED INITIATIVE aims to
provide a platform for anti corruption dialogue between private and public
sector and sensitize businesses towards ethical behaviour. The Center of
Excellence develops pragmatic approaches around UNGC principle 10 and provides
enabling platforms to business, policy makers, civil society, industry
associates, UN agency and academia. It aims to improve organisational decision
making through a stakeholder management framework that integrates transparency
and integrity. It offers knowledge repository, research/surveys, deliberation/dialogue,
need/risk assessment, expert panel, training/capacity, networking/collective
action, compendium of positive anti corruption policies and practices, enabling
environment/policy change and sustainability.
The
Panel Discussion held at GITAM Institute of Management saw the following
observations:
·
The problem of
implementing transparency in a country like India is corruption in the system.
·
Without accountability,
no work can be finished.
·
A lot of research has
to go into the project.
·
It is people who can
really bring the change by finding a solution which fits the problem.
·
The key is empowering
every citizen with knowledge.
· Enable everybody to
understand how the government works to ensure the proper usage of money Adopt smart security,
smart traffic. The System should be channelized properly in order to achieve
transparency.
·
The attitude and mindset has to be changed not
only of the general public but also the government officials.