'Knowledge mgmt needed for giving Indian cos competitive edge'

New Delhi, Jan 11 (UNI) Experts today underlined the paramount importance of knowledge management for enhancing the competitiveness of Indian industry as also the importance of strategies to leverage the strengths of Asian economies in the emerging knowledge paradigm.

''Knowledge is increasingly becoming a valuable asset along with the traditional factors of production such as labour and capital,'' noted Dr Ajay Dua, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy&Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, while inaugurating the first international conference on 'Knowledge Management for Productivity and Competitiveness' here.

Noting that the 21st century is characterised by economies that are dominated by knowledge-led development, he said India is the emerging leader in the knowledge economy, given its stupendous growth rate primarily due to knowledge workers.

The two-day conference is being jointly organised by the National Productivity Council (NPC) along with SPIM (US) and supported by DIPP; Ministry of IT and Communication; Asian Productivity Organisation, Tokyo; Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee and Madras and the International Management Institute, New Delhi.

Dr Dua commended the work of NPC as a national-level body to promote productivity culture in the country, including in the new areas of knowledge economy.

NPC Director General N A Viswanathan said the deliberations of the conference would augur well for India's dream of becoming a knowledge economy and reaching the status of a developed country by 2020.

The objective of the conference is to present a status report on the knowledge management efforts taking place in the country, to help prepare implementation guidelines on the identified areas and encourage execution of projects by stakeholders.

The conference will also help identify specific subjects for further research and facilitate development of specific implementable modules adaptable by the industries and organisations in the Asian region.

UNI