The IORG Vision

The Macquarie Dictionary defines a visionary as "one who is given to novel ideas or schemes which are not immediately practicable" (page 1939). However, in principle, there is nothing too "novel" about the Indian Ocean Research Group (IORG). Rather, as in previous cases, it is a response to an important need to provide an over-arching social science policy-focused research umbrella for the region, and thus it must be seen as evolutionary. There have been a few notable attempts in the past to provide a research umbrella for social science policy-oriented research in the Indian Ocean Rim, especially the Indian Ocean Centre for Peace Studies (IOCPS) and the Indian Ocean Centre. Both of these initiatives were headquartered in Western Australia and both were very ably led by Kenneth McPherson. Despite setbacks, the spirit and hard work that have gone into the making of such initiatives and the worthwhile research produced by them over the years, will continue to inspire us. With Complementarity, Cooperation and Collaboration as its key guiding principles, the IORG aims at developing a revamped Indian Ocean academic network built on at least two pillars - Panjab University in Chandigarh and the University of Western Australia in Perth. Even though these institutions are two key building blocks, we should especially emphasise the inclusivity of the IORG. As time goes by, we are hopeful of an increasing representation of researchers from all Indian Ocean states and from other Indian and Australian institutions. From a research perspective, we decide to initially identify a small number of key projects which we felt would attract researchers and be of theoretical and practical relevance. We also wanted to emphasise the consulting potential of the IORG. In addition, some ideas, such as the Indian Ocean lecture, were borrowed or adapted from other organisations in other ocean settings. The real challenge facing the IORG, of course, is to finally turn the vision into a reality. In order to effectively achieve this requires regional support. We are especially grateful for the support already provided by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, and by the Australian Government through the Australia-India Council. We are also grateful for the support provided by Panjab University and by the University of Western Australia. We are especially grateful to Panjab University for allowing us to host the Inaugural Conference in Chandigarh. Thanks are also due to many other governments, universities, NGOs and businesses in the region for their support for the Launch of IORG. Finally, we must thanks all the participants at this meeting, because, without a functioning community of scholars, this vision will never become a reality.    Dennis Rumley Principal Coordinator Sanjay Chaturvedi Principal Coordinator