CERA-17 aims to provide platform for bringing together teachers, researchers, professionals, managers and policy makers not only to discuss recent advances in off-line and on-line computer application techniques including use of associated fields of optimization, modeling, simulation, expert systems, artificial intelligence, neural network etc., but also to discuss the absorption of these areas in the academic curriculum and industrial practices and to deliberate on the directions needed to be taken up for future course of R&D and training in this vital areas.