19th International Conference on Public Policy & Management hosted by IIMB’s Centre for Public Policy concludes

Bengaluru, August 30, 2024: The XIX International Conference on Public Policy & Management, which was hosted by the Centre for Public Policy (CPP) at IIM Bangalore from 27 to 29 August, featured marquee speakers from the national and international arenas, facilitating interaction between policy makers, implementors and researchers through insightful sessions on different dimensions of public policy research and practice. The conference covered contemporary topics on public policy, such as, Emerging Technologies and Policy Implications; Policies on Climate Change and Sustainability in Industry and Agriculture; Policy Challenges in Gig and Platform Economy, and Innovations in Public Policy.

The interdisciplinary conference comprised academic sessions, topical policy debates, workshops, panel discussions and practitioner-oriented discussions. There were 252 participants from all over India, and 33 papers were presented. The Young Scholars Initiative (YSI) South Asia Working Group collaborated with CPP for a poster session and 21 scholars were invited to present their work at the conference. The Best Poster award was won by Harikrishnan K. S. from IIT Kharagpur, and his work was themed on, ‘Equalization in public provision of education: Evidence from India’.

The sessions comprised insightful and thought-provoking talks led by experts representing diverse sectors. Suman Bery, Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog, delivered the inaugural address on, ‘Reaping India's Demographic Dividend’; Parameswaran Iyer, Executive Director, World Bank spoke on, ‘Public Policy: The Challenges of Implementation and Approaches to Address Them’; Dr. V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, discussed ‘Challenges in Generating High Employment in the Era of Rapid Technology Development’; Prof. David Van Slyke, Dean of Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University shared his thoughts on, ‘Partnership and Relational Contracting: Rethinking the Governance of Innovation’, and S. Mahendra Dev, Editor, Economic and Political Weekly, delivered the valedictory address on, ‘Future of India: Challenges and Policies for Growth, Inclusion and Sustainability’. He also handed over the Best Poster award to Harikrishnan K. S. 

Prof. Ashish Verma, Transportation Systems Engineering, Convenor, IISc Sustainable Transportation Lab, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, led the pre-conference Prof. M. R. Krishnamurthy Memorial Lecture on 26 August on, ‘Understanding and Harnessing Linkages between Sustainable Transport and Livability for Building Brand Bengaluru’. Prof. Arpit Shah, faculty of the Public Policy area of IIMB, conducted the pre-conference workshop on, ‘Research Using Spatial Data’. The Young Scholars Initiative (YSI) South Asia Working Group collaborated with CPP for the workshop and poster session of the conference. Selected scholars were invited to present their work at the conference. 

The organizing committee of this year’s conference comprised Dr. Gopal Naik, Senior Fellow, Chairperson and Jal Jeevan Mission Chair Professor at the Centre for Public Policy, IIM Bangalore; Prof. Anil B Suraj, Chairperson, N.S. Ramaswamy Pre-doctoral Fellowship as well as the Committee on Diversity & Inclusion and faculty of Public Policy at IIMB; Prof. Soham Sahoo, faculty of the Public Policy area of IIMB; Prof. Rajalaxmi Kamath, Chairperson, Internal Committee and faculty of the Public Policy area of IIMB, and Prof. Arpit Shah, faculty of the Public Policy area of IIMB. 

The CPP conference also featured IIMB faculty who moderated sessions or addressed the audience. They include, Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore; Dr. Gopal Naik; Prof. Anil B Suraj, Prof. Manaswini Bhalla, Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Management and PGP in Business Analytics and faculty of the Economics area of IIMB, and Prof. Arnab Mukherji, Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy & Management (PGPPM) and faculty of the Public Policy area of IIMB. 

The series of expert talks and academic sessions conducted during the CPP conference analyzed India’s domestic weaknesses and strengths as well as challenges and opportunities through the lens of public policy, highlighted the key new drivers of growth and expected outcomes, thereby building a roadmap for India’s development aspirations.