When Sham Roy and Yogesh Chad ha attended the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations virtually in January 2021 as CONE delegates, they spotted an opportunity for Indian youngsters to reap the benefits from such a ‘high-impact’ platform. The conference over, they formed a team and submitted a bid book in May 2021. After nearly a year-long wait following competitive bidding and a series of interviews, they found that they had won.
The result: India has bagged this year’s bid — for the first time in 30 years — to host the HPA IR ACO NF 2022. The event will be held from August 20-24, 2022 at the IIIT-Delhi, in New Delhi. There will be graduates, undergraduates pursuing masters, working professionals, researchers, thought leaders and entrepreneurs — about 40-plus speakers and 500-plus participants worldwide in the 18-24 age bracket in the online and offline modes.
What it is about
Founded in 1991, the Harvard College Project for Asian and International Relations (HPA IR) — an independent non-profit organization at Harvard College — has found a niche for itself in spotlighting key economic, political, and social issues that confront the Asia-Pacific region. It engages leaders and managers in various spheres to interact with students and young professionals.
A well-knit undergraduate community within Harvard University, HPA IR anchors two global conferences in a year: CONE in Boston and the Asia Conference (ACO NF), which is held in a selected Asia-Pacific city. The mission is simple: to connect the captains of today with the leaders of tomorrow.
Highlights
What is the format like? And what can a participant look forward to in New Delhi? According to Roy and Chad ha — co-presidents, Host Country Organizing Committee (India), HPA IR ACO NF 2022 — there is much engagement and interaction across a subject spectrum. Nisha Mukherjee, Associate Marketing and Communication, Host Country Organizing Committee (India), adds that there will be panel discussions and fireside chats (with moderators) under what can be called formally and informally structured sessions. Another feature is ‘Keynotes’, where the speaker shares his or her thoughts on an assigned topic; it also has a brief ‘Q&A’ session at the end. There will also be ‘HPAIR’, where delegates will be invited to speak about their ideals.
Roy says that the heart of the program lies in ‘Impact Challenges’ or what is known as the ‘apex of HPA IR’s academic programming’, drawing from the lessons and skills gained from the conference. Here, there will be distinct cases for participants to work on and offer solutions, the idea being to help participants network with industry professionals, experts and other participants from around the world.
On the lighter side, there will be a ‘Desi Night’ to highlight India’s food, culture, and heritage from every State while the ‘International Night’ will focus on the delegate country culture.
What should pique participant interest are the topics and subject areas. The first is ‘Art, media and culture’, as art has acquired new dimensions in the new age. Then there is ‘Science and technology’ where, with the digital age enveloping almost every geographical boundary, companies need to be more agile as well as innovation and technology-driven. ‘Global markets and economy’ will look at the opening of new sectors such as digital security and data science. Another key area of focus is ‘Energy, environment and sustainability’, with the global race having commenced to adopt cleaner technologies and green alternatives. ‘Governance and geopolitics’ is a standout area, as the era of digitalization is leading to greater transparency in governance and policy. At the same time, overcoming the digital divide is a major challenge. Finally, ‘Social policy and justice’ will highlight the democratization of data in a digital economy, creating more opportunities for people from varied economic and cultural backgrounds, says Mukherjee.
Speakers
This is an event that has seen personalities such as Ban Ki-Moon, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Kevin Rudd, the former Prime Minister of Australia. This year, participants can look forward to listening to Geoff Ralston, Partner and President at Y Combinator; Mina Hsiang, United States Digital Service (USDS) Administrator; Aditya Ghosh, Co-Founder, Akasa Air, and former President and Director, IndiGo Airlines; Kunal Shah, Founder of CRED; Deepak Bagla, CEO and MD, Invest India; Lesly Goh, Senior Technology Adviser and former CTO of the World Bank; and Manish Malhotra, fashion and Bollywood costume designer, among others.
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