What an idea

Updated on: Monday, January 11, 2010

An engineering student, Paul D' Souza had a tough time in college. In fact, instead of focussing on his exams he ended up thinking of ways in which he could help people through his technical knowledge.

What concerned D' Souza was that visually challenged people have limited access to literary online material, although they use the Braille display devise instead of a regular computer monitor to read the text output. "Refreshable displays come for $3000 for a single line display. But what if a person wants to read the entire page at a time?" D' Souza worked around the idea and invented a multi-line refreshable Braille display. It was recognised as one of the best that reached the final round of ‘Shaping the Future,' a contest conducted by National Geographic Channel.

A panel consisting of faculty members from various IITs felt that D' Souza's innovation has the capacity to revolutionise the manner in which Braille display devises operate. One does not need sophisticated laboratories or huge budgets to become an innovator. "Anyone with a good idea can become an innovator. However, the idea has to be socially relevant and economically viable," informs KL Chopra, former director, IIT Kharagpur.

The National Knowledge Commission defines innovation as a process by which ‘varying degrees of measurable value enhancement is planned and achieved in any commercial activity. This process may be breakthrough or incremental, and it may occur systematically in a company or sporadically... in order to improve market share, competitiveness and quality , while reducing costs.'

According to Chopra, "Today's society has realised that innovation is the key driver of economic growth. In the last decade, the Indian government too has increased its efforts to promote innovation . Consequently, it generates economic value, new jobs in the economy and cultures of entrepreneurship."

However, not everyone who has resources can be an innovator and not every innovator has the resources. To bridge this gap, the government and the corporate sector have started mooting the concept of national level competitions. The science and technologies department and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) along with Agilent Technologies started India Innovation Initiative last year with the objective of creating an innovation eco-system in the country. This initiative sensitises, encourages and promotes commercialisation of innovations.

Rajesh Sheshadri, senior vice-president , content and communication, National Geographic Channel, said, "Through this competition, we want to provide a platform to innovators. A person may have a great idea but it needs to be in the market." But there are so many ideas floating in the market. Which of them makes it to the winners' list? Says Chopra, "An innovation that is economical and likely to have an impact on society. However, one that is sustainable and environment-friendly and has an edge to become a viable market entity is a secure bet." Accepting that most of the innovations in India are related to IT, he says, "We need people to innovate in the areas related to food, environment, transport, and so on." As to a support system for innovators Anil Wali, IIT-Delhi, says, "Apart from suitable ecosystem and support structures (eg incubators) provided by academic/research institutions, there are various support schemes of the government under which innovators can seek needbased support."

Times of india

What an idea

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