I am often asked: if an innovation does not scale, is it any good? Such questions are a product of a mindset that does not recognize the legitimacy of niche specific needs. Let us take the case of District Dhimaji, Assam ( where ULFA was born) where iron content in water is very high. The…
What can a District Collector do to promote innovations: an open letter Dear District Collector I have had the chance to meet many of you at LBSNAA foundation program during the last five years. LBSNAA Mussoorie and IIMA are likely to get into a longer term cooperation soon to promote inclusive and empathetic innovations in…
A tribute to inspired teachers Every year India honours school teachers for their outstanding contribution based on their applications. Should any teacher really be applying for such honours? Shouldn’t it be the responsibility of parents, fellow teachers, educational administrators and others to nominate such outstanding teachers who go beyond the call of duty and nurture…
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=648945252 just returned from china, met some very interesting example of partnership between informal sector grassroots innovator like liu (who failed three times in scaling up his innovations, or maturing them) and then got in touch through local adminstration with Zhu, an entrepreneur. Now this briquette stove will be scaled…
Sustaining Frugal green innovations: a new paradigm of empathetic and evocative ecosystem Frugality is not just about affordability. Even I had not stressed enough about circularity (that is, cradle to cradle approach of not developing a waste oriented economy) in my earlier talks and writings. It has of course been a core issue in the…
Frugal innovation is not just about affordability There is a global interest in frugal innovations, particularly emerging from the grassroots level under the constrained environment of material resources. We have received more communications in the last two years than in the previous two decades from various European and other governments as well as corporations. Curious…
Innovations in Haryana: Shodhyatra Part II While visiting government schools during 33rd shodhyatra, impromptu idea competitions were organized. In Buwana village, Sachin shared a problem about tall and the short children not being able to sit equally comfortably on desks of the same height. He suggested desk with adjustable heights. This problem has…
We are very happy to invite you to the third GANDHIAN YOUNG TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AWARD (GYTI) function organised by SRISTI and honey bee network on March 29. 2014 at IIM-Ahmadabad at 4.30 pm . There will also be an exhibition of Innovations by the award winners on the occasion. As you may kindly be aware…
Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, BharatRatna, Former President of India unveils the foundation stone of National Inclusive Innovation Centre for Development (NIICenD) at Gram Bharati, Gandhinagar district tomorrow feb 19 at 11 am, meets with local community representatives, faculty and students, gives away the Ignite awards to 44 students form 17 states at RJM…
Manifesto for revitalizing MSMEs For any developing country, most jobs are generated by micro, small and medium enterprises. And yet, the policy and institutional framework often is very weak. The reasons are not far to seek. Given heterogeneity of resources, domains, financial conditions and other interests, a unified leadership seldom emerges. Within a region, sometimes…