Next Steps: Nurturing unplanned innovations The response to the column last week was very enthusiastic and I am convinced that the idea of Innovation Park should not be given up. Several colleagues wrote back offering resources, ideas, skills, infrastructure and in some cases, just the spirit. We still have to find locations in Ahmedabad (land…
Should we create an innovation park, or should I/we give up? I normally don\’t start a dialogue on a negative note ever. But permit me to say that i have failed to get powers that be, excited about creating an innovation park in Ahmedabad. Should I give up this dream of fertilizing the mind and heart of…
Innovations in food and food for innovations Now that results have started coming in from the techpedia.in initiative of SRISTI, I think new benchmarks can be created to measure productivity of technology youth. For last fourteen years, SRISTI has been organizing shodh yatras in rural areas. The 28th yatra was in Mizoram about which I wrote last week. I will share…
Four kinds of innovation leaders: Pioneer –see far in future: visionaries networker institution builder Pioneering ideas can come from below as well Executioner—excel in present motivation by practice, intangibles resource mobilization transparency / accountability Vendor selection for product develop and manufacturing phase through uncovering information about…
For just a drop of water: Sanskar of sanitation and conservation The recent 28th shodhyatra in Mizoram has been quiet cathartic for me personally. I had been aware of the need to conserve water and proper practices we should follow in our daily life. But i must confess when i washed hands with soap…
anna\’s suggestion about compulsory nod of panchayats on all bills is an interesting one. But it needs some modification. Swiss constitution has a provision that of any issue gets signed by 100,000 voters, then government is obliged ot have a referendum on that. It does not trust the wisdom of representatives on that. May be…
the suggestion that Railways should raise 25 per cent fare to meet the cost of modernisation needs rethinking. People should ask whether the committee considered the role of a) reducing procurement cost, b) did it look at the dynamics of vendor selection in tenders above 1000 crores, to ensure that we allow new cost efective…
Rebuilding institutions of higher learning: expansion, inclusion and excellence In the recent Indian Science Congress, Prime Minister bemoaned the fact that China had overtaken India on various indicators of performance in higher education. It is ironic that while China is ruled by a single party and India is a democratic country, yet the institutions of…
Civilizational crosscurrents of learning across the borders Recent visit to China once again convinced me about the enormous potential that exists for changing the course of global development by synergising Indo-china cooperation for the larger social good. There are so many problems which both the societies are facing which can not be resolved without active…
Innovation support eco-system: what can state governments do Yesterday, in a meeting organised at Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Chief Minister announced a state level fund to support innovations by farmers. ICAR, PPVFRA, Haryana Kisan Ayog, and several other institutions were involved in honouring farmer breeders of crops and horticultural varieties and innovative practices. Not surprisingly,…