Data and analytics focused upon at webinars in Amity University

Amity University Uttar Pradesh is organizing a series of industry oriented webinars for its students to share professional expertise and knowledge for their future endeavours. Taking this initiative forward, Mr. Divas Verma, Data Science Research Fellow, McKinsey & Company talked about ‘Analytics in Retail’. Sharing with students how fashion houses traditionally operated, Mr. Verma shared with students on what Analytics is and its importance for the retail industry. “In a traditional scenario, fashion houses and brands have kept vital information like sales, inventory in house indicating their working in a silo. This often resulted in many retailers lacking in critical pieces such as trends and pricing insights further pointing towards their lag of technology adoption. Lot of opportunities can be created if a data ecosystem is made,” said Mr. Verma. Talking about a global online brand Stitch Fix that is into creating customized clothing for its customers, he briefed students how the organization was using data science and analytics in a big way.
“Building the appropriate data ecosystem is a core piece of advanced analytics journey. One can create smarter marketing strategies based on customer feedback and activity and also use data driven methods to improve customer journey on online channels. Further AI can be integrated into online applications to improve recommendations, said Mr. Verma with the students. He also responded to  a number of student questions guiding them about how future aspiring entrepreneurs could collect data from.
With economic uncertainty and the fear of an impending recession looming large due to the COVID-19 outbreak, another guest lecture was organized on ‘COVID-19 and the Indian Economy’ to offer clarity in these precarious times. The lecture was delievered by noted economist Dr. Charan Singh, Chief Executive of EGROW (Foundation for Economic Growth and Welfare). Dr. Singh stated that the situation right now is very dynamic and unfolding without anybody knowing the path that the global economy will be taking. “The stimulus package in India will be based on how we deal with this virus in the coming few weeks. There is a way to recover out of the lock down. If the organized sector wants to work 7-days a week, including all the remaining holidays in the year, they should be allowed to do so. This will give us a chance to recover. Our public conduct will change in the future with a lot of expenses being incurred on gloves, hand washes, sanitizers and other protective gear being used. Use of public transport too will reduce giving rise to the production of small cars and two-wheelers giving new vistas of opportunity to the automobile sector. E-learning platforms too have the opportunity to come up in larger numbers and share resources in vernacular languages,” shared Dr. Singh.
In another webinar Ms Seema Malik, Principal, Salwan Public School said that everyone is living in a world of collective intelligence and her 4Cs of 21st century teaching-learning skills included communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. “Collaboration includes working together, solving disagreements, using people's strengths, spreading ideas faster and goal setting. Due to COVID 19, schools are closed or shut down only physically but we have entered into the world of online teaching, virtual classes. Through this networking and collaboration we are able to leap forward. We did not fail in the situation but began working on brand new perspective. We are now beyond mails, skype and sharing messages but are also delivering lectures. This will increase the future employability. Students are getting project based learning and are becoming more creative. The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn,” stated Ms. Malik.
Students were also given an insight on “New Trends in the world of work” by Mr. Kinjaal Choudhary, Senior Partner, D360ONE Consultants LLP who stated that people should not be demoralized by what they are reading in Facebook, Whatsapp etc, as there is too much information of which many are misleading. According to Mr. Choudhary, future placements will also not be getting affected but it will take few months to regain full confidence in the market. “Economic growth will be less than 2 %. We need to be optimistic and it is not like the doomsday.
According to Mr. Choudhary, three visible trends are there and to begin with in the area of Technology – One could not have imagined this virtual scenario a couple of months back. There is a shift in all organizations that are working on virtual environment. Universities are having online classes and may be online exams also happen in near future. Everyone is learning to adapt it. There are millions of people connected through social media which has some pros and cons.  And whatever is happening in Milan or New York is instantly known by people in Mumbai or New Delhi. But fear psychology has come due to this connectivity. Secondly,human work  is being replaced by technology. Whether it is Chat bot, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Assistance, 3D printing, human work is slowly and surely getting replaced due to technological advancement which is now boosted due to current situation. Further, social distancing will be going to be there everywhere be it is in airlines, restaurants, classrooms where people sit with elbow to elbow distance,” said Mr. Choudhary.
He also shared that global economic scenario will also undergo a change with the economic power shifting from western Europe or USA to China and India. “China will gain significantly, as will be in dominating position is many areas like banking, manufacturing etc. India will continue to have economic influence due to large population base and English speaking talent pool,” stated Mr. Choudhary.