Celebrating the essence of creativity and innovation at Apeejay Dwarka campus

Institute Innovation Council of Apeejay School of Management (ASM) and Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication (AIMC) recently organised World Creativity & Innovation Day. Prof K G Suresh, Adviser, Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication, in his inaugural address, observed that academics should come forward to inculcate a culture of problem solving by leveraging creative and innovative potential of the students, especially in professional institutions. He said that creativity and innovation are not limited to creative and performing arts but all walks of life. Taking a broad view of creativity, Prof Suresh mentioned that faculty members can foster creativity and innovation by encouraging students to adopt critical thinking approaches in their day-to-day life and work.

Mr Vikram Upadhyaya, Chief Mentor and Accelerator Evangelist, GHVH Pte. Ltd., graced the occasion as Guest of Honour. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Upadhyaya observed that “identifying the problem is the biggest challenge in the creative and innovative pursuits”. He said that the students in B-schools and Media schools should be taught to identify problems and then come up with solutions by ditching the traditional mindsets. He mentioned that several entrepreneurial ventures fail because the enthusiastic promoters try to solve those problems which are nondescript. “Faculty members need to train the students to look at the big picture and anticipate the formidable changes in future so that they can attempt solving large problems through creative and innovative ways” added Mr Upadhyaya. Responding to the question whether AI can kill creativity and innovation, he mentioned that the young people should be encouraged to leverage the new technologies without any inhibitions.

Summing up the discussions, Dr Rahul Singh, Director, Apeejay School of Management, said that creativity and innovation are intertwined with teaching and learning. He emphasised the importance of integrating creativity and innovation in all academic processes to augment learning outcomes of the students. Dr Singh mentioned that the faculty members should focus more on cross-disciplinary discussions and create opportunities for the students to engage in ideation, brainstorming, and problem solving to build a creative and innovative ecosystem in academic institutions. ‘It is important to train the students to value diverse perspectives, Dr Singh added. Further, Dr Singh mentioned that the faculty members need to challenge assumptions so that new knowledge can be generated and disseminated, which in turn may inspire the students’ communities to think out of box and experiment with untested ideas.

Dr Srirang Jha, Convener, Institute Innovation Council, Apeejay School of Management, proposed a vote of thanks. Dr Pragya Arya, Dr Shalini Vermani, Dr Ishita Adhikari, Dr Ahmad Zaman Khan, Prof Nikita Dhankar, and Dr Praniti Paheli also shared their views on promoting creativity and innovation in higher education institutions. Dr Rahul Singh and Prof Sajal Mukherjee felicitated Mr Vikram Upadhyaya with green mementos.