Ignite 2026 focuses on design thinking, policy

Hyderabad: India’s first consumer research conference, Ignite 2026, here on Friday, spotlighted the intersection of public policy and design thinking. Jayesh Ranjan, special chief secretary, urged researchers and practitioners to feed citizen-focused ideas into the state’s long-term growth plan under Telangana Rising 2047.

Discussions centred on human-centred design and evidence-led thinking at a time when governments and businesses are seeking better ways to respond to citizens and consumers.

Shipra Bhutada, founder and curator of Ignite 2026, said the conference was bridging a long-standing gap between problem solvers and institutions. “Events like Ignite are filling a much-needed gap by fostering connections between industry leaders, problem solvers, and academics, finding solutions that create strategic differentiation through evidence-based design, and creating solutions for problems that need to be solved,” she said.

The one-day conference brought together more than 120 participants, including researchers, designers, entrepreneurs, students, and business leaders. Sessions ranged across citizen-centric governance, empathy in urban planning, and the use of technology in research, with speakers from industry and academia sharing experiences from their work.