Ministry of Science & Technology26-February, 2011 20:43 IST

Dr Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, said, 2010-2020 has been declared as the decade of Innovation in the country and 14 national innovation universities will be established to take forward this goal. A National Innovation Council has been constituted which has been tasked to formulate a roadmap for Innovations by creating a framework for evolving an Indian model of inclusive growth, develop and champion innovative attitudes and approaches, identify ways and means to scale and sustain innovations, facilitate innovations by SMEs and encourage academic and R&D establishments for innovations. The Council will also promote the setting up of State and Sector specific Innovation Councils which will help to implement strategies for innovation. Speaking at the 6th Bry-Air Awards for Excellence in Heating, Ventilating, Air-Conditioning, and Refrigerating (HVAC&R), here yesterday Dr. Ashwani Kumar said that a vast part of the global innovation system is pursuing new process of innovation led by the technocratic push. In India, innovation is also seen as a means of creating sustainable and cost effective solutions for people at the bottom of the pyramid – also known as “disruptive innovation” which is being employed as a strategy for inclusive growth. The aim is to re-define innovations to go beyond formal R&D parameters and facilitate innovative solutions that lead to inclusive growth for the people and by the people.

Inviting inputs from Industries and business community the minister said, “This will help Government to interface more effectively with scientists, businesses and innovators for creating an inclusive and sustainable innovation system consistent with our vision to move the economy to a competitive edge. We would like to set in place a clear mechanism for a close interface between academia and industry, a better integration of private enterprise with higher education and research institutions and a significant increase in research grants. We plan to provide more support for young researchers to adopt the “innovation” route to growth. Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research” (INSPIRE) is another innovative Programme launched by the Department of Science & Technology to attract young and new talent to science. The basic objective of INSPIRE is to communicate to the youth, all the excitement that the creative pursuit of science brings and attract young talent to its fold. Such initiatives help build the required critical human resource pool for strengthening and expanding our R&D base.

 To promote commercialization and economic returns of innovation and research, Government is expediting plans to upgrade Indian Patent Offices and expanding support for individuals and organizations seeking to file patents both in India and abroad through state-of-the-art patent facilitation centres. In this, the role of the Patent Facilitation Cell (PFC), established by Government in 1995, has been critical. It has created awareness about Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) at the national level, provided technical and financial help for protecting inventive works of Indian scientists, playing the role of a watchdog and also, inculcating a culture of using patent information as a vital input to R&D”, DrAshwani Kumar said. Giving details about Ministry’s flagship programmes he said, “The Technology Business Incubator (TBI) is a flagship Programme of The National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) of the Department of Science & Technology (DST) and focuses on tapping and incubating potential ideas and innovations through a well-defined venture /enterprise creation process and by effectively utilizing the requisite expertise, facilities and other infrastructure available within the institution and the adjoining region. Around 55 Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Parks and Technology Business Incubators have been set up across the country by NSTEDB in various technological areas. It is estimated that all these incubators help to promote about 500 enterprises every year. Out of this number, 60% are technology based start-ups.” 

The Bry-Air Awards recognize and honor innovation—that critical link between pure scientific research and productivity which gives countries their competitive advantage and delivers to consumers, products and resources that guarantee better standards of living. The HVAC&R industry today is playing vital role in every aspect of development in the country. Global demand for HVAC equipment is set to rise 6.2% annually through 2014. India and China are the fastest growing economies and would contribute to about 40% of new growth.