Photo for representational purpose.
Credit: iStock photo
Bengaluru: Although India has a lot of talent in science and technology research, it is not being translated into innovation and product development due to lack of coordination between research institutes and industries, said Prof V Ramgopal Rao, Group Vice-Chancellor at BITS Pilani
He addressed this issue while delivering the S V Narasaiah Memorial Lecture at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Prof Rao’s lecture was titled -- Synergizing academic research and innovation for product development: A Blueprint for Atma Nirbhar Bharat. “Although India ranks No 1 in number of institutions and stands second in number of students enrolled in higher education institutions, we are 40th in for innovations, 54th in percentage of GDP allocated for R&D. India's growth rate is 11 per cent in scientific publications as compared to the world average of 4 per cent. We need to focus on impact and translation of knowledge into wealth,” he lamented.
“Indian research is ‘solution looking for a problem’ rather than ‘solution to a problem’. NEP is good but it is not yet implemented in the right spirit. Ease of doing research is lacking. It takes one year to get any equipment for research. He suggested that an idea factory approach would help foster innovation by bringing together unlike minds, different disciplines and different attitudes.
Prashanth Sakhamuri, the managing director of HHV and son of S V Narasaiah said, “He never cared much for his own pockets due to his leftist political leaning, his main aim was to advance India’s technological capabilities through collaboration with research institutes like IISc.”
S V Narasaiah born September 28, 1924 who started out as a journalist and activist and later founded the Hind High Vacuum Pvt Ltd (HHV) at IISc in 1965 an industry leader in vacuum technology and thin-film optics.