The two day International Conference on Strategizing for Future: The Post Covid Economic Order jointly organized by VIPS and University of Buraimi in association with University of Arad and University of Bucharest contemplated the challenges posed by the pandemic COVID 19 and the strategies to stimulate growth and revival from the imminent recession. The conference witnessed the presence of many eminent national and international dignitaries from academia and corporate as well as research scholars and faculty members who presented their research papers.
The report of this two-day event in the order of the way the sessions were held: –

TThe Inaugural session started with a welcome address followed by virtual lamp lighting ceremony. The introductory remarks were presented by Dr Sc Vats, Chairman VIPS and Prof Ved Prakash, Chief Guest of the conference. Prof Ved Prakash gave deep insights into the evolving landscape of higher education post Covid in Indian context. He requested researchers to ponder upon better philosophy on how Higher education could cope up with the challenges post covid. The Guest of Honor, Prof Daud Salim Faruquie, Executive Director of an Oxford based research think-tank named Oxford Evidence and Interventions (OXEVIN) in the United Kingdom also the founder of Foundation for Evidence-based Development in India (FEDI), spoke about the need for empirical and evidence based research especially post covid as the levels of stress and anxiety have a propensity to bring subjectivity in drawing inferences. He emphasized the need for removal of opinions from facts and improve the reliability of research using objective and empirical evidence based methodologies.

Dr. Poonam Khurana, Conference Convener, introduced the theme of the conference to the audience. Prof Abood Al Sawafi, Vice chancellor, University of Buraimi congratulated the two institutions and wished the conference all the very best in enhancing the scope and extent of issues affecting the world in its post covid revival. Dr. Ibrahim Rashid Al Shamsi, Dean, College of Business, University of Buraimi addressed the audience with insights in the Post COVID economic scenario and congratulated the team for the tremendous efforts. First Keynote speaker, Mr. Rajiv Gujral, Founder and Managing director, Micrographics India gave us a global perspective to history of pandemics and the way the world had coped with pandemics in the past and how the future is likely to unfold once the pandemic is over. Second Keynote speaker, Dr.Vasile Doru Marineanu, Clinical psychologist, Romanian Ministry of Defence and Adjunct professor, University of Bucharest, gave us idea about the Role of Telepsychology in Reducing the Mental Health Burden from COVID-19 especially in the Romanian military. He shared an interesting and insightful video describing his work in detail.

The inaugural session concluded with the virtual release of the conference proceedings published by Foundation for Evidence-based Development in India which contained the outstanding contribution of various scholars, academicians and professionals. Dr. Shad Ahmad Khan, Conference Convener from UoB offered the vote of thanks.

The keynote speakers for the plenary session were Dr Alina Costin, Associate Professor at “Aurel Vlaicu” University of Arad, Department of Pedagogy, Psychology and Social Work and Prof Ravinder Rena, a profound academician and distinguished scholar in economics, currently working as Professor of Economics and Internationalization Project Leader at the NWU Business School, North-West University, South Africa.
Dr Alina Costin shared her experience of pandemic in Romania. She also gave a glimpse of a tour to Romania virtually and an idea about the University Education there. Additionally, she talked about challenges to be addressed for improving the quality and efficiency of online teaching.
Prof Ravinder Rena, discussed about the economic trends post COVID and how there was a need to identify true and authentic facts in research. He also talked about the gloomy prospects of a quick global recovery from the economic devastation of the pandemic. He also threw light on many challenges for governments across the globe and how the world needs to grasp the full scale of the wreckage and the challenge of reconstruction.

The Conference attracted more than 90 research papers authored by more than 150 researchers. A total of 73 selected papers were finalised for presentation in the technical sessions which were chaired by renowned academicians from India and abroad. 50 papers were presented in four technical sessions.

• Technical Session I: Psycho-social Health and Covid 19 chaired by Prof. Kavita Singh, Faculty of Management Studies: 14 papers were presented.
• Technical Session II: Emerging Business Paradigm Post Covid 19 chaired by Prof. Ravinder Rena: Professor of Economics and Internationalization Project Leader, North-West University, South Africa: 12 papers were presented.

The Conference attracted more than 90 research papers authored by more than 150 researchers.
A total of 73 selected papers were finalised for presentation in the technical sessions which were chaired by renowned academicians from India and abroad. 50 papers were presented in four technical sessions.
• Technical Session III: Socio-Educational & Digital Ecology chaired by Prof. Daud Salim Faruquie, Executive Director of an Oxford based research think-tank named Oxford Evidence and Interventions (OXEVIN) in the United Kingdom: 10 papers were presented
• Technical Session IV: Business Trends and Perspectives Post Covid-19 chaired by Dr. A. K Saini, Dean, USMS, GGSIPU: 14 papers were presented

The papers were evaluated on the criteria of Originality, Significance, Research Methodology adopted and Presentation by the author.

The guest of honour for the valedictory was Prof. Ngboawaji Daniel Nte, Chair, Department of Intelligence and Security Studies, Novena University, Nigeri and Dr. Mario Boris Curatolo, CEO, Management Business Consultant, Switzerland.

Prof. Nte addressed the participants giving the idea about Challenges of Online education including Power, Telecommunication, Policy implication. He discussed the complexities of Online education across the globe.

Dr. Mario Boris Curatolo, addressed the participants and demystified the DILEMMA Post- COVID: TO RE-OPEN OR NOT TO RE-OPEN. He concluded by stating that the pandemics are a test of resilience.

Four awards were given for best papers in each technical session presented at the conference.
Technical Session 1: Psycho-social Health and Covid 19. Best Paper Anna C. Bocar, Shad Ahmad Khan, Ferdinand Epoc for the paper titled “COVID-19 – Work from Home Stressors and the Degree of its Impact: Employers and Employees Actions”.

Technical Session II: Emerging Business Paradigm Post Covid 19. Best Paper A study of Gen Z’s Environmental Locus of Control affecting the sustainable apparel consumption behaviour: A mediating role of Intention to purchase” by Dr. Nupur Arora and Parul Manchanda.

Technical Session III: Socio-Educational & Digital Ecology. Best Paper “Social Networking Sites and Civic Participation: Analysing the Mediating Role of Online Bridging Social Capital” by Ms. Ashmeet Kaur, Dr. H.K. Dangi.

Technical Session IV: Business Trends and Perspectives Post Covid-19. Best Paper “Predicting Stock Prices Using Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Model: An Application of Artificial Neural Network for Select Nifty 50 Constituents” by Ms Nidhi Malhotra, Ms Khusbhu Bhati.

Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies (VIPS) was founded in the year 2000. VIPS is an ideal educational Institution with the clear objective of “Man Making, Character Building, Nation Building” as envisaged by Swami Vivekananda

The University of Buraimi (UoB) is a premier university in the Al Buraimi Governorate in the Northern part of Sultanate of Oman. Founded in the year 2010, the university is a product of a European-Omani consortium and offers programs under Omani and European control.

UoB offers a conducive learning environment equipped with more than 65 classrooms, 27 computer laboratories, and 37 specialized laboratories in a newly established campus that leads to a total capacity of 7000 students, with more than 120 faculty members.

• Dr. Anuj Aggarwal – Co-Convener (Assistant Professor, VSBS, VIPS)
• Dr. Swati Narula – Co-Convener (Assistant Professor, VSBS, VIPS)
• Dr. Shrikanth Krupasindhu Panigrahi – Co-Convener (College of Business, UoB)
• Dr. Ferdinand Epoc – Co-Convener (College of Business, UoB)
• Dr. Ravisha Chutani – Facilitator (Assistant Professor, VSBS, VIPS)
• Ms. Aashu Aggarwal – Facilitator (Assistant Professor, VSBS, VIPS)
• Ms. Priyanka Gupta – Facilitator (Assistant Professor, VSBS, VIPS)
• Ms. Ashmeet Kaur – Facilitator (Assistant Professor, VSBS, VIPS)

Registration:
https://forms.gle/BrdzpijzehojSr3S7
Call for papers:
https://vips.edu/call-for-papers/
The delegates are requested to upload their abstracts at:
https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=csfpceo2021.
One copy of abstracts may also be sent to:
csfpceo2021@vips.edu.
For more details:
https://easychair.org/cfp/csfpceo2021
https://vips.edu/icsfpceo2021/