Innovation must for development says Dr. Chidambaram

Innovation must for development says Dr. Chidambaram
It is my privilege and its a great opportunity to participate in the inaugural function of this Conference said Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and DAE Homi Bhabha Professor while addressing the Innovative Technologies for Manufacturing 2008 (ITM) Expo organized by the All India Association of Industries and World Trade Centre, Mumbai.
Dr. Chidambaram said Innovation is the buzzword today. The principal theme of the World Economic Forum Annual meeting 2008 last month in Davos was “The Power of Collaborative Innovation.” Two of the Sessions I participated in were IT: Innovation Hotspots” and “Innovative India”. India’s potential is now globally recognized but we have a long way to go before we become a Global Innovation Leader. What are the strategies for achieving this goal? That is what I would like to discuss in my address”, said Dr. Chidambaram.
Dr. Chidambaram further said for many years that the two measures of development for a country like India are per capita Electricity consumption and Female Literacy and that these are better measures than the three parameters –per capita GNP, life expectancy at birth and adult literacy – used by the United Nations to define the Human Development Index. If India wants to become an economically developed country, it should become near 100% literate without gender discrimination and there should be a substantial increase, perhaps by a factor of 8 or so, in its electricity production. Female literacy inter alia strongly correlates with infant mortality and birth rate. And per capita electricity production is not only monotonically related to per capita GNP but also correlates strongly with human health. So these are the first steps we must take.

Dr. Chidambaram said India’s economic growth is rapid in the last few years and it will become a ‘developed country’ sooner or later. Of course, a ‘developed country” status is not a single-point destination. Even already-developed countries want to develop further The development level in any field depends on the level of technology in use in that field. This level varies for different field in India; so we have to keep pace with the developed countries in some (e.g. Nuclear and Space), catch up in some (e.g. small and medium enterprises) and leapfrog in a few (e.g. rural development.
Dr. Chidambaram further said Innovation is generally seen as the means to turn research results into commercial successful products and as capturing economic value from an invention. While not all innovations are research- based, in todays’ world, Technology is the critical dimension of the innovation capacity of a country. Innovations can be radical like the discovery of the transistor or the building of the first nuclear power plant. They can also be incremental improvement, based on core innovations, or may be new applications of old inventions. Most of the patents world-wide belong to the second category and some futurologists believe that this trend will get stronger. Breakthrough inventions are not only rare but are very expensive to introduce into the market.
One dictionary definition nowadays of Invention is : “something new which can be patented”. To be an important player in the strong and well-entrenched global Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) system – with its expensive patenting and patent dispute culture – is difficult but essential for India.

Dr. Chidambaram stressed that the modern American futurologist Alvin Toffler has said many years back: “Yesterday Violence was Power, Today Wealth is Power and Tomorrow Knowledge will be power”. What is the common thread in all this –Technology! So I paraphrase Toffler to say: “Technology is Power” Technology domination is, therefore, sought both by companies and by countries through the instruments of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and Technology Control Regimes (TCR).
‘That is why I have been saying that self-reliance should no longer be interpreted as self -sufficiency but as ‘immunity against technology denial’. In the context of today’s rapid globalization, self –reliance and technological co-operation. In fact, the latter is a must and today’s India must take and must give in equal measure in international co-operation. My Office, alongwith the Knowledge Commission, has recommended a multi -10 Gigabits/sec network of high speed computing and communication system on an open platform and the establishment of this Integrated National Knowledge Network has been approved in principle by the Government. While this is mainly intended to satisfy the needs of the Indian scientific and academic community, it will also be valuable for international scientific collaboration’’ said Dr. Chidambaram
Dr. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Professor IIT, Chennai while addressing the Innovative Technologies for Manufacturing 2008 (ITM) Expo said that whatever we progress and innovate has to percolate to the Rural India as Rural India contributes to growth of Urban India.
Dr. Jhunjhunwala further said first is the language how you communicate and in view of the global climate change India conserves 1/5th world energy and Rural India conserves 1/50th of world energy. What we need is to uplift the Rural India and let them also reap benefit of Innovation technology and prosperity.
Dr. Jhunjhunwala further said, we have succeeded in field of telecom which has given benefit to all success of society at all levels and similar success should be at manufacturing sector so that everyone can benefit and yield good result.
Mr. T.C. Venkat Subramanian, Chairman & Managing Director, EXIM Bank of India while addressing the Innovative Technologies for Manufacturing 2008 (ITM) Expo said that Studies do show that a large and rising share of growth – and with it living standards – over recent decades is the result of innovation. According to a recent McKinsey Global Survey, executives across the world now firmly believe that innovation is central to a company’s strategy and performance. In fat, some 70% of corporate leaders say innovation is among their top three priorities for driving growth. Innovation can be a critical driver of increased productivity and competitiveness and, ultimately, poverty alleviation. Eventually, innovation is not an end in itself but a means to productivity growth and higher living standards.
Mr. Subramanian further added that Indian manufacturers have focused on delivering low-cost products to previously untapped markets by innovating to lower costs and create new delivery mechanism – as with Tata Motors, which has manufactured a car, geared toward India’s middle class, priced at less than US$ 2,500. Thanks to its innovations in outsourcing, Bharti Tele-Ventures offers some of the world]s lowest telephone prices. And innovations in supply chains have integrated those at the bottom of India’s economic pyramid, as exemplified by e-Choupals, These cyber kiosks, established in thousands of villages, have given farmers the power of information - eliminating middlemen and resulting in higher productivity and better prices for farmers.

He added that a Company’s ability to innovate continuously gives it a competitive edge over firms of all sizes, implying that speed of innovation would be a critical management challenge for businesses over the next few years. Information technology will be crucial I helping their firms maintain this attribute as they grow, They will use technology , for example, to improve product design and lifecycle management and thus reduce cycle time. But IT has the potential to impact on innovation in indirect ways as well, in particular from better information flow with customers, suppliers and partners as well as other enterprise departments.
Mr. Vijay Kalantri, President, All India Association of Industries (AIAI) and Vice President World Trade Centre, Mumbai in his welcome address said The ITM Expo seeks to promote innovative technologies within the Indian Manufacturing sector to enhance productivity, provide quality, conserve energy, be cost effective, ensure industrial safety and be globally competitive.” In view of the India’s growth story we have to innovate and upgrade our technology to be competitive in world and domestic market and produce better quality.