NODIA: The concluding day of the World's First 10-Day Digital Live International Conference-ICAN4 witnessed a galaxy of prominent academics and industry professionals to sum-up the over-the-top event during a valedictory ceremony on July 10, 202. The conference was organized by Delhi Metropolitan Education in collaboration with Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.
Dr Susmita Bala, Associate Convener, ICAN4 congratulated the participants and members of the event for making it successful. “In the last 10 days, ICAN4 was the only word that echoed all around. We will hear about ICAN-5 from tomorrow onwards,” said Dr Bala.
Dr Ambrish Saxena, Convener, ICAN4 further remarked “DME Media School has worked day and night for the execution of International Conference ICAN. I thank everyone who gave their level best to make this World's First 10-Day Digital Live International Conference work!”
The conference’s final day heard motivational words from across the globe. Prof. K G Suresh, Vice Chancellor, Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication expressed his gratitude to DME Media School and said, “I am very delighted and fortunate to represent my University for 4 editions of ICAN now, and the credit goes to the entire management of DME Media School.”
Emphasizing the evolving field of research, Prof. Ujjwal K. Chawdhury, Pro-vice Chancellor (PR & Media) and Dean, School of Media, Communication & Fashion, Adamas University, Kolkata said, “These conferences and collaborations ensure enthusiasm among researchers and scholars. Engagement in applied research that can reform content and lead to evolution of multimedia presentations is extremely fruitful.”
Dr Vikrant Kishore, Course Director- Film and Television, Animation, School of Communications and Creative Arts, Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University said, “I'm excited to see the participation of more and more students in the editions of ICAN. It is a platform for students to explore, research and collaborate in a creative manner.”
Dr Aaron Atkins, Assistant Professor, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, USA stated, “It was a wonderful experience being here at ICAN4. Practical and ethical knowledge are the most important things and ICAN4 included it all. Students need to understand that technology is a tool and storytelling is an art.”
Ms Kathryn Lancioni, Author and Eminent PR Professional, USA, highlighted the gatherings from the conference and said, “We have looked at the different aspects of public relations and sectors it correlates with, I thank Dr Saxena for giving me this opportunity to talk about this topic with the audience."
Dr Jatin Shrivastav, Director, Institute for International Journalism, E.W Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University, USA, addressed the enthusiasm carried by the team and said, “I really liked being at ICAN4 and interacting with academicians and professionals from around the world. I especially appreciate the fact that the conference involved students in most aspects of the event; this brought a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to the proceedings.”
Dr Kiran Bala, Professor and Dean, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, K.R Mangalam University described the journey of the conference as enriching. “We got great insights on technology and media which we need to learn and adapt. At the same time, ICAN4 provided a great platform to academia and media professionals and keeping them amalgamated,” she said.
Providing insightful suggestions for the upcoming procedures, Dr Sapna M.S, Professor, Department of Journalism and Coordinator of Community Radio, MANASA, University of Mysore, Karnataka said, "I would suggest documenting all the research papers, so that we can use them in future.”
Redefining the impact of the conference, Dr Ruhi Lal Thakur, Head, PhD Program, Amity School of Communication Amity University, Noida said, “ICAN4 has indeed created a history in the industry of media. Indeed, it was a global intellectual programme.”
Talking of the reformation due to the pandemic, Prof. P N Vasanti, Director General, Centre for Media Studies, New Delhi highlighted the zeal and enthusiasm of the participants. She said, “Conferences are an important platform where scholars across the world participate. Though COVID has reformed the happening drastically, it couldn't impact the role this conference played in bringing people together."
Dr Anukaran Dutta, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Communication and Journalism, Guwahati University, Assam appreciated the efforts of the organizing committee and wished to see more conference like this.
Mr Akram Hoque, Founder and Editor, The Policy Times said,“I thank Dr Saxena for making us the Media Partner for an event like this. ICAN is a brand now. I can see the dedication and loyalty of the team as they work hard. I urge you to teach Journalism to the students as a mission and passion and not as a career, because it is the backbone of society.”
Dr Anita Parihar from Mumbai said, “ICAN4 gave me a platform to share my experience as a media researcher. Students need to understand that theory and practicality go hand in hand and they should have a vision of how they see themselves in the future. ICAN has helped provide that vision.”
Dr Monisa Qadri, Head, University Social Media and PR Consultant and Proctor Islamic University of Science & technology J&K said, “I believe that this edition of the conference has been very enriching. Different sessions allowed us to engage with different sectors of media and journalism, including AI. All the sessions made ICAN a meaningful learning experience.”
Dr Tabeenah Anjum, Senior Journalist & Media Educator, Internationally acclaimed visual storyteller, Rajasthan encouraged the participants and said, “It was encouraging to see active participation of media students. I am sure that these research papers will act as a background source of information for them.”
Dr Simran Sidhu, Head, PG Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Dooba College, Jalandhar, Punjab said,“I congratulate everyone's efforts for putting up this conference at such a wide level. I thank everyone for giving me an opportunity to speak as chair.”
Hoping for the next edition of the conference, Dr Padma Rani, Director & Professor, Manipal Institute of Communication, Coordinator- Media Research Centre, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka said, “Looking at the diverse research papers, it can be concluded that the information level of the conference was optimum. This has definitely set the level of ICAN 5."
Mr Aman Sahni, Vice Chairman, Delhi Metropolitan Education congratulated the organizing committee and everyone involved in it. “We as a team have turned our long seen vision of this virtual event into reality by smooth and insightful sessions by various representatives on diverse topics of interest,” he said.
Justice Bhanwar Singh, Director General DME, wished the team for the future endeavours and said, "Organizing the world’s first ten day long digital conference would not have been possible without the untiring determination of the team.”
Dr Ravikant Swami, Director, DME said, “For me, this time ICAN does not stand for Information Communication and Artificial Networks, instead it stands for International Cross Cultural Adaptation Nostalgia. My best wishes for the next edition of ICAN.”
At the end, Shriya Singh and Ishika Wadhwa, students of DME Media School and Ms Manmeet Kaur, Assistant Professor, DME Media School extended the vote of thanks. Dr Manasvi Maheshwari, Associate Professor, DME Media School hosted the session.
The valedictory session was followed by a cultural evening showcasing performances ranging from classical dance and vocal performances by acclaimed artists, art and poetry presentations by award-winning performers, and performances put together by students of DME Media School, K.R. Mangalam University and Gauhati University along with some independent performers.
Earlier in the day, the last Technical Session of ICAN4 was organised on the theme ‘Impact of digitalization on content, Blockchain and Events’. It was chaired by Dr Padma Rani, Professor and Director at the Manipal Institute of communication, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal and co-chaired by Ms Shikha Sharma, Assistant Professor, K.R. Mangalam University.
The session had fruitful discussions on topics like Relevance of augmented reality in animation and news, Future of short video publishing and Role of artificial intelligence during the COVID-19.
The session was moderated by Mr Pramod Kumar Pandey, Assistant Professor, Media School, DME and anchored by Abhishek Bajaj, a first-year student, DME Media School.
