An Integrated Community Engagement & Project Management System (Icepms) A Single-Window Digital Ecosystem for Research & Development in Higher Education Institutions in India

Abstract India's higher education system has never lacked policy mandates for community engagement. What it has consistently lacked is a working mechanism to connect community-identified problems with academic institutions positioned to address them. This paper proposes the Integrated Community Engagement & Project Management System (ICEPMS) — a single-window digital ecosystem that bridges this gap by linking community demand directly to higher education delivery. The paper develops a five-stakeholder conceptual model through systematic analysis of national policy documents, international frameworks, and established scholarship on community-based participatory research (CBPR) and service-learning. The proposed system enables citizens, Gram Panchayat members, NGOs, and journalists to report local problems digitally; allows administrators to convert those problems into credit-mapped academic topics; enables colleges and students to execute Community Engagement Projects; records performance transparently; and facilitates funding from CSR departments and government officers based on verifiable institutional performance. The paper discusses the role of artificial intelligence as a supportive accelerator within the system. ICEPMS aligns with the mandates of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the UGC Guidelines for Fostering Social Responsibility and Community Engagement in Higher Education Institutions in India 2.0 (2022), and institutional Community Engagement Project frameworks. By providing operational infrastructure for existing policy intent, the paper contributes a practical framework for community engagement in Indian higher education.