Digii100x Maharashtra
Beyond Campus Boundaries:
Building High—Impact Education Ecosystems for Innovation, Talent, and Growth
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“What becomes possible when higher education looks beyond individual campuses?”
That was the central question explored in this roundtable at Digii100x Maharashtra. Academic and industry leaders explored how universities can connect with the wider ecosystem around them, creating stronger links between learning, research, industry, entrepreneurship, regional talent, and real-world challenges. The focus was on how campus capabilities can create greater value when they work with the people, opportunities, and needs beyond the campus itself.
Key Discussion Pillars
Creating Knowledge with Industry
- Connecting universities with industry to shape research, curriculum, and skilling.
- Creating pathways where industry problems inform learning and research moves into practical application.
Building Pathways from Ideas to Ventures
- Connecting student and faculty ideas with the people and support needed to build them.
- Bringing together innovation labs, incubators, mentors, investors, and industry to help ideas move towards ventures
Connecting Regional Talent with Opportunity
- Bringing institutions, employers, and government closer to regional workforce needs.
- Creating relevant credentials, work-integrated learning, and stronger pathways between local talent and local opportunities.
Applying Academic Capability to Real-World Problems
- Connecting universities with government, communities, and regional priorities.
- Using academic expertise to contribute to challenges across areas such as MSMEs, agriculture, healthcare, sustainability, and public services.
Featured Speakers
Aatash Shah
Senior Vice President & Business Head, UNext Learning
Aditya Malik
Director & Group CEO,
SNVA Veranda
Dr. Bhimaraya Metri
Director, Indian Institute of Management Nagpur
Dviwesh Mehta
Director – Harvard Business Impact Education, Harvard Business Publishing
Dr. Ganesh Rao
Director,
Pune Business School
Dr. Hrridaysh Deshpande
Former Vice-Chancellor,
Ajeenkya DY Patil University
Prof. Kannan M. Moudgalya
Founder and Director, EduPyramids Educational Services Pvt. Ltd.
Kiran Deshpande
Executive Council Member, SemiX IIT Bombay & Former CEO, Tech Mahindra
Dr. Rajesh Ingle
Vice-Chancellor, Deccan Education Society Pune University
Sagar Bahadur
Executive Director – Asia and Head of Regional Strategy, Acumen
Sujatha Kshirsagar
President,
Career Launcher
Sunil Dahiya
Executive Vice President – Skilling, Wadhwani Foundation
Vik Singh
Consul (Commercial) & Trade and Investment Commissioner – South Asia, Australian Trade and Investment Commission
Where These Conversations Happened
Digii100x Maharashtra was held on 17 July 2026 at Hyatt Pune, bringing together Vice-Chancellors, institutional heads, policy leaders, and international campus executives for conversations on the future of higher education.
One of the roundtable conversations centred on a key question: what becomes possible when institutions look beyond their individual campuses and connect their strengths?
Leaders explored how stronger connections with industry, entrepreneurs, regional talent, government, and communities can create better outcomes across learning, research, innovation, workforce development, and societal impact.
The discussion became the foundation for this playbook, “Beyond Campus Boundaries.” It brings together the ideas and practical directions that emerged from the conversation around how institutions can extend their capabilities beyond campus and create greater value across the wider ecosystem.
HEI Leaders
Institutions
Policy & Funding bodies
Move Beyond Campus Boundaries to Ecosystem Value
Connect institutional strengths with industry, innovation ecosystems, regional talent, and communities to create stronger pathways from knowledge to ventures, talent to opportunity, and academic capability to real-world impact.
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