|
New Delhi: The National
Innovation Council is poised to launch its India Inclusive
Innovation Fund, with an initial corpus of Rs.500 crore, to
finance innovative enterprises focused on people at the bottom of
the pyramid.
The fund will aspire to a corpus of Rs.5,000 crore but will be
launched with an initial corpus of Rs.500 crore with contribution
from the government, banks, institutions and multilateral
agencies, said Sam Pitroda, chairman of the National Innovation
Council and Adviser to the Prime Minister, in his foreword to the
council's annual 'Report to the People 2012'.
The National Innovation Counicl (NInC) has been focusing on
innovations in micro small and medium enterprises by facilitating
industry innovation clusters to drive job creation and
productivity. The NInC is in the process of compiling learnings
from seven industry clusters in order to replicate it across
industry clusters in the country, Pitroda said.
The council has also been working to implement broadband
connectivity to 2,50,000 panchayats in the country to "democratize
information and enhance citizen participation in governance". In
order to test connectivity and local application, pilot projects
are on in 58 panchayat locations.
The council is also working with the law and justice ministry, the
judiciary and the home ministry on ICT intervention in courts,
police stations and prisons to improve access to justice and
reduce pendency in the legal system.
It is also taking steps to nurture innovation in the education
system by intervening in curriculum, talent-spotting of innovators
among students and award of innovation fellowships. The human
resource development ministry will be launching 1,000
scholarships, under the National Innovation Scholarship Scheme,
from 2013, he said.
The council is also launching a "Tod Fod Jod" workshops across
schools to excite young minds and to encourage students to
dismantle and reassembly everyday products to understand the
concepts behind them in a practical and fun manner.
It is also working with the HRD ministry to create a Meta
University, as a global first, that rides on the National
Knowledge Network to promote multi-disciplinary learning. The
ministry has already facilitated setting up such a university in
Delhi in which the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jamia Milia
Islamia, Delhi University and the IIT Delhi are participating.
To drive innovation at the university level, the council is
facilitating creation of innovation eco systems through university
innovation clusters. The NInC is also working with the HRD
ministry to set up 20 design innovation centres located in
existing institutes, an Open Design School as well as a National
Design Innovation Network. The ministry has identified institutes
where five new Design Innovation Centres will be located and
started in 2012-13.
As part of efforts to set up State Innovation Councils and
sectoral innovation councils, aligned to the government
ministries, 22 states have set up such councils, while 23 sectoral
innovation councils have been set up. The NInC is now focussing on
setting up city innovation councils.
It has also conceptualized the initiative of 'One MP One Idea'
where MPs will award the top three innovations in their
constituency and spur innovative thinking at the grassroots.
By playing the role of a catalyst, the council aims to trigger a
movement towards innovative thinking that will "transfer the
nation to a nation of problem solvers and solution providers".
He said there is need to sensitise stakeholders on the need for
innovation and create improved mechanism of collaborating among
government, industry, R and D institutions, academia and the
community at large to drive innovation.
The core idea of the council is to innovate to produce affordable
and qualitative solutions that address the needs of the people at
the bottom of the pyramid, eliminate disparity and focus on an
inclusive growth model, Pitroda said in the foreword.
|
Comments
|
Quick links