Today innovation is synonymous, and naturally augmented, with any new solution that is offered to the market. This phenomenon is ubiquitous, whether in India or the US; across all domains, be it EdTech, E-commerce, Business to Consumer (B2C) or Business to Business (B2B). It has become practically impossible for corporations or enterprises to survive without an innovative offering, and that too it must be a periodically recurring activity and not just a one time affair. Instances like Kodak missing the digital revolution, Nokia missing the smartphone revolution and IBM missing the PC revolution are compelling cases we have observed, even though they all were pioneers in their respective areas which they have completely missed out, but their competitors did not.
In a world devastated by CoViD-19, innovative offerings, especially those in digital domain, have a huge opportunity to create a niche market for themselves, which otherwise wasn’t feasible at all, provided the solutions are truly innovative in terms of affordability, ease of use and other fundamental expectations getting fulfilled. For instance, telemedicine advanced, e-commerce prospered, digital education platforms did well; however, not everyone in the segment fared equally. Some excelled while others collapsed, and the sole differentiator was whether or not the offering was innovative enough – if it was, then reward followed, else it couldn’t survive at all.
Even before the pandemic, end users universally had become more demanding than ever before. No longer were they interested in mere imitation of the past and, hence, have not pardoned even global conglomerates like Apple, when features in the newly launched models bore minimal changes, but were not significantly modified from the preceding models. Likewise, customers have demonstrated respect and admiration for “technology based start-ups” which have innovations at their core.
Drones have been used for sanitization of CoViD infected areas. A group of 21 students at Agni College of Technology (ACT), Chennai, has founded a company Garuda Aerospace Pvt Ltd — with an initial investment of 5 crore, sells drones to Government agencies.
In a CoViD-19 ravaged planet, digital solutions have emerged as saviour in multi-dimensional ways. It is difficult to imagine how the world would have behaved with CoViD, if digital solutions were around. So, it would be a fair assumption to make that innovations helped the world combat the pandemic like an armor and reduced the impact which otherwise would have been much more severe – at least education is continuing wherever resources are there, medical treatment is possible wherever connectivity is there and essentials are getting delivered at our doorstep wherever coverage is being provided by market participants.
A reflection of such changing dynamics of innovations is simply evident in te survival and extinction of enterprises, be it the rise of Facebook or downfall of Orkut, or the rise of Amazon vis-à-vis the mounting losses of retail chains like Big Bazar in India which was once a pioneer of retail revolution in the country. Corporations had made smart moves by making the right acquisitions at the right time, like the historic acquisition of YouTube by Google or that of WhatsApp by Facebook. Companies have understood, either they need to lead the innovation curve or else partner with those in the pipeline to lead it in near future. In other words, either they themselves need to be the benchmarks of innovation or else if they are not then they need to join hands with those who could be benchmarks of the future.
IISc’s Project PRAANA team developed a prototyping of an ICU-grade ventilator. The ventilator uses only components made in India or easily available in the domestic supply chains. The team took about 35 days to go from the drawing board to a proof-of-concept system, and then a working prototype in another two weeks
What is interesting about this transformation is that our next generation, the students, are witnessing it very closely. More often than not, they have significantly high exposure to modern age utilities like Whats App and other social media platforms, OTT, various apps like Amazon etc. which on one way help them keep pace with the world and on the other help them create their own outlook and form an opinion towards benchmarks. Consequently, when they themselves get an opportunity to be innovative, they know what the starting point should be and a reflection of it is evident in INSPIRE Awards – MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and Knowledge) competition, a flagship programme of the Government of India, jointly implemented by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India, an autonomous body of the DST.
Year on year, lakhs of students studying in classes 6 to 10 and aged between 10-15 years, undertake a herculean challenge to be an innovative solution provider by being cognizant to societal problems around them and spotting science and technology based innovative solutions for the same. And there is a regular elevation not just in terms of participation but also in the quality of ideas that are being generated through the competition. For instance, during 2020-21 a whopping 6.53 lakh ideas and innovations were received from school students and there is a commensurate and continuous evolution in quality of ideas as well.
IIT Bombay’s latest invention, a portable UV sanitizer that can sterilise wallets, purses and other small items that are used daily
Most important part is that technological solutions for integration of the future, and modern day concepts like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT) etc. are attempted by students, which is a very good sign for the nation. It wouldn’t be wrong to assume that students are raising their own benchmarks as they are well aware of the fact that they need to have an innovative dimension in their solutions, else they would not survive the competition. This propels them to come up with something improved, something better and a newer benchmark every time.
Historically, having a decent benchmark has always been observed as a positive sign for the world. The rich Indian mythology have enough stories of popular faces, who valued benchmarks, day in and day out, be it Arjun in terms of accuracy of hitting the targets with a zero margin for error and the likes. So, the larger point is that we have grown up hearing stories of people who created a mark for themselves by being perfect in the art they were considered best at. In our day to day, we like to deal with professionals who excel at the work they do, whether it is doctors who treat us or professors who teach us.
India has for the first time made it to the top 50 countries in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2020, ranking 48.
Being a benchmark commands an unparalleled and a natural respect from others, and our students understanding this fundamental principle, gives us enough signs for a brighter future that India is poised to achieve. We must encourage students to constantly identify the prevailing solutions, more importantly, challenge them regularly and eventually arrive at an improved solution which is also easily accessible and affordable. Such students have a huge opportunity through participation in the annual INSPIRE Awards – MANAK, and we are committed to collectively make India innovative with participation of every citizen and student who aspires to be an innovator. This, irrespective of the fact where they are located or the hurdles they face.
The country is committed towards a solemn promise that no deserving innovation will ever remain unattended and the supply side of India’s innovation pipeline shall be constantly brimming with not just a huge but a diversified list of innovations.
Can be reached at vipin@nifindia.org
Opinions expressed in this article are of the author’s and do not represent the policy of The Edition. The writers are solely responsible for any claim arising out of the contents of their articles.
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