One of the recommendations made by the ISB students was the use of technology effectively to combat corruption and improve governance. This was voted for presentation at the World Bank’s Brussels Meet and will help enrich the Agenda by representing the voice of leading business schools and future business leaders. Further, the recommendations generated from this global consultation will enable the leaders of today to hear the ideas and perspectives of the leaders of tomorrow.
Speaking about his group’s proposal, Shivanand Sinha, student Class of 2007 at the ISB , said, “India is a technology capital of sorts today and hence we focussed on how to use technology effectively. We debated on the innovative ways of combating corruption by empowering the common man by giving him a two way communication device – the mobile phone”
The ISB students came up with the following three recommendations-
-Private sector to set examples and be role-models to public and civic groups on fighting corruption
-In this regard, we have numerous examples in India such as Bangalore Agenda Task Force for urban governance and E-Choupal providing market information to rural farmers
– Leveraging technology as a medium of disintermediation to fight corruption
– Disintermediation helps discourage corruption and intermediation propitiates corruption
– Electronic pathways, such as cell phones, has a huge potential in providing in whistle-blowing instances of corruption
– Empowerment of the private sector entity
– Form associations to voice concerns of administration and state-capture corruption
– Provide incentives to private enterprises to be part of associations
– Harness the “Power of one”
Moderating this conference, Harish Bijoor, Professor of Rural Marketing at the ISB said, “In the world of business today, we encounter a reasonable level playing field. However, the ultimate leveller of development gains is corruption. To that extent, the debate on corruption is the most essential debate to participate in. This World Bank initiative is completely laudable as a bottom-up policy making initiative.”
The conference connected over 30 leading business and public policy schools around the world, in twelve sequential two-hour sessions. The ISB was the only B- School from India to be invited to participate in this consultation programme. The ISB Students connected with students from Russia, Vietnam and Indonesia during this consultation conference.
Organised by the World Bank , this conference is being run parallel to and complement the high-level conference on Fighting Corruption: New Frontiers in Public-Private Partnerships, organized jointly the World bank and the Government of Belgium, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Brussels.