Innovation is the key to sustain growth: Pitroda

Updated on: Monday, March 28, 2011

"We need wild people doing wild things", says Sam Pitroda.

This is how technology czar Sam Pitroda sums up the need for innovation as he pegs an investment target of USD 20 billion for building public information infrastructure in the country.
"We need to set up hundreds of innovation centers. We have written to the chief ministers asking them to set up state-level innovation councils on the lines of the National Innovation Council," Pitroda, Advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations, told.

He said individual ministries have also been requested to set up departmental innovation councils. "A culture of innovation must be developed."

Noting that the country has at least 40 industrial clusters like Surat which is famous for diamonds and Agra known for leather industry, he said "unfortunately none of
these clusters are innovating anything.

"One way, to move in the direction of innovating things, is to connect the educational institutions in these areas with these industries," he added.

"We need to do things differently. We need wild people doing wild things."

India faces the challenges of 21st century but it still lives with a mindset of 19th century, he said. "We need innovations in all aspects of life, namely health, energy,
governance, infrastructure, etc. There is no other way to face tomorrow."

To a question on the potential of youths, he said one needs to plant the seeds of innovation early.

"The ways kids learn today are completely different from the way we did. With the advent of information revolution and the easy access to the internet, the job of a teacher in providing content has become redundant," Pitroda said.

"There is a huge teacher-student disconnect in today's times," he lamented.

On being asked about the challenges he faces in pushing the ideas with bureaucracy, he said, "at least we are trying. Doesn't matter how much we achieve... We just need to try. We just need to keep pushing."

Innovation is the key to sustain growth: Pitroda

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