Digital Empowerment Campaign

This initiative is a part of our larger and long term goal of giving back to the community and making the planning profession better. Fostering the entrepreneurial spirit and guiding the budding planners is one of our ways of achieving our goal. Since the course is currently limited to the classroom and studio exercises, we would like to provide students with more options to explore and experiment. Our short term and long term plans are as follows:

  1. Entrepreneurship [Individuals (solopreneurs) and teams] – Startups and business opportunities are the backbone of college culture. Students from all fields look forward to being their own boss and thus have an indomitable spirit. However, the reality in planning institutions is much different. “Planning” being a course, unlike engineering and other mainstream courses, offers very limited and different options. This has resulted in a narrow vision confined to a few activities such as seminars, webinars and a few certification courses or activities being conducted by student organisations. We would like to bring the entrepreneurial spirit  to the planning field and help students with the required knowledge and digital resources to help them get started.

  2. Internships (with few unconventional options/ elements) – Introducing content – writing and research – based internships. This is meant to aid regular internships and, at the same time, allow students to explore other fields and options. These include content writing, urban journalism, course creation, graphics design etc. There are various types of writing styles, while college focuses mostly on the academic part, we would like to diversify this. The role of a planner should not be limited and strictly divided between a desk job and field work. There are a number of other aspects as well which people like to pursue, either as hobbies or as full – time activities. Thus, having something new will result in the overall development of individuals.

  3. Literature Study/ Research [the basics of search engines] – Literature studies and research are key components of the profession however we understand that the conventional way of searching information can be improved. This can be done by developing an understanding of how search engines work (we do not undermine the value of libraries, however we do propose the use of search engines) since information is being disseminated through electronic means. Use of specialized tools (such as those mentioned below) aids this research.

  4. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for text generation – Introducing students to use AI & ML. Content writing, research and literature studies have a significant impact when such tools are used and taken into consideration. The use of such tools might be challenging and a bit controversial at times depending on how the user decides to make use of technology. However, the existence and use of such tools cannot be ignored. These tools could also be upcoming challenges for academic institutions. Thus, these will be of equal interest for academicians as well.

  5. Independent Research [Sponsored/ Self Sponsored research, small booklets fulfilling any of the above purposes or something specific] – These are small booklets which we plan to publish in which due credits will be given to the contributors. These can be a part of internships or standalone work such as that of Think Tanks. Our website currently has over 1000 articles, however, not everything can take the form of an Article. The academic field does not recognize typical “articles” as of much value. Thus, having individuals/ teams research a specific problem/ issue and present it with the right audience will benefit them more than an “article” about the same topic.

  6. Market Oriented Courses – We wish to invite experts and help us create easy to digest courses with real – life applications. Long webinars and seminars do provide substantial information, but the online courses can be much more interactive, flexible and allow students to access them at their own pace. These courses will be aimed at addressing the real challenges faced by planners and at meeting the market/ job expectations. Employers are always looking to get maximum work done with a minimal workforce; thus, knowing about the latest advancements and requirements of the industry is crucial. Inviting experts for guest lectures is not always possible. This is where our Planning Tank Academy plays an important role. Currently the academy is in beta version with only a few short courses, soon we plan to add a lot more courses which focuses on skill enhancement.  Feel free to register for our existing courses to check out the platform and share feedback with us.

Tentative Launch – Q1 2022