International Conference on Emerging Trends in Business Intelligence

The School of Management, Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, organized an International Conference on 13 and 14 February 2023 titled “Emerging Technologies and Business Intelligence” in association with the Faculty of Management, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Poland.

In the digital era of business, a huge amount of data gets generated, having large arrays of databases regulated by business needs. Using this data to make business decisions is very difficult as abundant data is very complex to handle and process. Often it is unknown what insights are hidden in those databases. Software systems, including BI, must be designed and developed to be flexible, customizable, and scalable to cope with today’s business demands and frequently changing requirements. Common functions of BI technologies are prescriptive analytics, complex event processing, online analytical processing, analytics, predictive analytics, process mining, reporting, business performance management, data mining, benchmarking, and text mining. Although business intelligence technologies have several functions, their main function is to support a company’s decision-making process and to help knowledge workers, such as managers and research analysts, make better and faster decisions. Functions of business intelligence technologies shall vary by industry. The conference deliberated upon the central theme of Business Intelligence and its impact on business practices.

A delegation from Wroclaw University comprising of the following members attended the conference:

• Prof. Rafal Weron, Professor & Head of the Department of Operations Research and Business Intelligence.
• Prof. Katarzyna Sznajd-Weron, Professor of Social Simulation and Statistical Physics
• Prof. Anna Kowalska-Pyzalska, Professor, Faculty of Management
• Prof. Yash Chawla, Assistant Professor of Innovation and Marketing Management
• Prof. Dimitris Soitros, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Management

CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

A Pre-Conference Workshop on Survey Research – 11th February 2023

A pre-conference workshop on Survey Research shall be conducted by Prof. Yash on 11 February 2023. The participants of this workshop comprised of students, faculty and research scholars who learnt different dimensions of survey research. Prof. Yash adopted an algorithmic approach to survey research and made the session very interactive. He also gave a live assignment to the participants and evaluated the same at the end of the session.

Inaugural Session – 13 February 2023:

The Conference inaugural session was held at Andromeda Lecture Theater presided over by Dr. R. W. Alexander Jesudason, Pro Vice Chancellor, HITS. Dr. Pon. Ramalingam, Registrar, HITS, felicitated the guests and Dr. Yash Chawla, Conference Chair of ETBI Series delivered the Special Address. In his address, Dr. Alexander Jesudason traced the growth and evolution of technologies in business and the current scenario of intersection of AI, ML and BI in the Industry 4.0 scenario. He appealed the participants to be cognizant of the latest developments and ride the wave of technology. Dr. M. K. Badrinarayanan delivered the welcome address and Dr. S. Usha proposed the vote of thanks.

Learn from the Experts - Masterclasses with Mentors:

The Conference provided an opportunity to have master classes with the faculty members of the University of Wroclaw who delivered technical sessions on their areas of research for selected participants on a particular topic of their expertise.

Research Group Discussions:

The faculty members and research scholars from the domains of renewable energy, mathematics, computing sciences and information technology, management and commerce interacted with the Wroclaw Delegation. They discussed on their areas of research interest and potential areas of collaboration for joint research. The HITS members who participated in the deliberation included – Dr. A. K. Parvathy (EEE), Dr. A. Vallikannu (ECE), Dr. G. Muthukumaran (ECE), Dr. Sundarrajan and research scholars from the Department of Mathematics, Dr. Periadurai (Mathematics), Dr. Hariharasudhan (SLAAS), Dr. P. S. Sreeja (MCA), Dr. Ruth Naveena (Mathematics), apart from the faculty and research scholars from the School of Management.

Cultural Showcase:

The student team of the School of Management presented a cultural showcase for the visiting delegates which was well received and appreciated.

Find your Tribe: Parallel Track Paper Presentations:

The Conference attracted the attention of researchers from different parts of the world. Of the several abstracts received, about 41 papers were selected after a rigorous review process. These papers were presented both in offline and through online mode which enriched the deliberations in the conference. A book of abstracts was also released in the conference.

Day 2: 14 February 2023

Fireside Chat: Panel Discussion with Industry Experts and Research Experts:

On 14 February 2023 a panel discussion was organized for interaction with industry experts, two-panel discussions were slotted in the event, with an industry expert and researcher from both sides were invited to share their views.

The session was moderated by Dr. Yash Chawla. The following panelists participated and deliberated in the session:

• Ms. Jessy Mathew, Founder Director at JJ2 Consultancy UK limited, Director - Al Amal Al Watania LLC - Al watania consultant and Accurate training services, Oman. (participated in Hybrid mode – online)
• Dr. Ceronmani Sharmila, Professor & Head – Department of Information Technology, HITS
• Dr. Viral Nagori, Faculty in Digital Platform and Technology, Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad
• Dr. Akshath Agarwal, Faculty in Neural networks and Image Processing, Amity University, Delhi

The panel discussed on pertinent implications of the BI on the industry. While the panelists brought forth the different facets of BI and its support in a company’s decision-making process and to help knowledge workers, such as managers and research analysts, make better and faster decisions. They also discussed on the human intelligence vs machine intelligence and the areas of intersection.

Poster Presentation Competition:

As an encouragement to the undergraduate students to participate in the conference, a poster presentation competition was organized. Dr. Yash Chawla, Dr. Akshath Agarwal and Dr. Viral Nagori, adjudged the contestants and selected the winners. The winning teams were awarded with prizes during the valedictory session.

Visit to the Centers of Excellence and Industry Collaborative Research Center:

The Wroclaw Delegation visited selected centers of excellence and industry collaborative research centers viz., Center of Excellence in Satellite Technology, Center for Automation and Robotics, ALSIM Simulator and Royal Enfield Training Center. They appreciated the active research and industry collaboration eco system of HITS.

Valedictory Session:

The valedictory session was held at Good Shepherd Hall presided by Dr. S. N. Sridhara, Vice Chancellor, HITS. In his Valedictory Address he insisted on the importance of inter-disciplinary approach in contemporary research where cutting-edge technologies like BI are redefining the business scenarios and decision-making processes. He appealed to the participants of the conference to continue working on such emerging domains and come out with useful publications. Dr. M. K. Badrinarayanan proposed the welcome address and Dr. S. Usha proposed the vote of thanks.

All the sessions were live online to facilitate the participants from other geographies to participate on hybrid mode online.