GUWAHATI, Dec 3 - The three-day second international Conference on Smart Villages and Rural Development (COSVARD), 2019, which got under way at the Assam Administrative Staff College here on Monday under the joint auspices of the University of Melbourne, Australia and Assam Engineering College (AEC), has brought together subject matter experts, practitioners and senior public officers involved in the development of rural communities from several countries.
A press release issued by the organisers here today said COSVARD provides a global platform for researchers, policy makers and industry professionals to share relevant knowledge and examples from practice associated with new forms of rural development. During its second edition, 23 research papers have so far been presented and two more will be presented tomorrow by experts from various countries to disseminate relevant scientific knowledge for necessary development of the rural communities in the State and to facilitate development of smart villages in the State.
A team of experts participating in COSVARD 2019 from the University of Melbourne, Australia includes Dr Hemanta Doloi, Prof Mark Burry, Associate Professor Robert Crawford and Dr Sally Donovan. Dr Atul Bora, Principal of Assam Engineering College is the local host of COSVARD 2019.
Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharyya released the �Policy Framework for Smart Villages in Assam� at the inaugural session of the COSVARD, 2019. The framework is a product of the collaborative research work of the University of Melbourne and AEC. The policy framework comprises ten key areas � employment and income, education, agriculture, housing, energy, waste management, water and sanitation, transport, health and environment. It is viewed as highly important for devising implementation policies for empowering rural communities and building smart villages.
This policy framework for smart villages in Assam has been developed based on the empirical research conducted across 37 villages in Majuli. It provides some unique sets of recommendations that support the uplift of rural communities in Assam. The research conducted by the Smart Villages Lab at the University of Melbourne under the leadership of Dr Hemanta Doloi, an Assamese academic, in collaboration with AEC under the auspices of the Government of Assam�s �Smart Villages� initiative, tells about some of the world�s best practices in developing rural communities. It is aimed at improving the living conditions of over 2.8 crore people living in 26,000 Assam villages. The technical session started yesterday with a keynote address by Prof KC Iyer, IIT Delhi on rural development, construction and project finance.
The day two of the conference started with a keynote presentation by Prof Nagesh Kolagani from Centurion University, Odisha on developing and deploying mobile and web-based public participatory GIS, participatory modelling and AI/ML solutions for use by farmers.
AEC Principal Prof Bora, who is also Director, Technical Education, made a keynote presentation on a roadmap for multi-skilling, employability and sustainability, the release added.
