Technology and Innovation 12th Plan Yojana April 2013

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HE AB ILITY toinnovate and deployglobally competitive

technologies has beenrecognized as the nextkey driver of gobal economicchange in the emerging knowledgeeconomy. While science isscholarship driven, technologyand innovations are market andcompetition driven, respectively.Currently, Indian Research andDevelopment landscape is largelyinfluenced by the character of

publ ic funded research andselection of R&D priorities ismostly supply driven. The privatesector investments into R&Dhave been marginal. Therefore,demand driven component of R&Dgoals has been limited. Policy,strategy and tools are requiredto stimulate larger investmentsinto demand driven R&D goals.Energy sector invests far too lowinto R&D, although industrial turnover in the sector is extremelyhigh. Promotion of Public-PrivatePartnerships into R&D and cleanenergy is a critical component ofIndias competitiveness in globaltrade and industrial growth. Newstrategies and tools are required to

Technology and Innovation

XII FIVE YEAR PLAN

T K Choudhury

The larger share of public investments

into R&D could also be leveraged by

focusing of R&D for public and social

good priorities of the country

stimulate engagement of privatesector into R&D and enhance theshare of private sector investment

from the current 26% of IndiasR&D spend to at least 50% duringthe 12 th plan period.

The larger share of publicinvestments into R&D couldalso be leveraged by focusing ofR&D for public and social good

priorities of the country. There isan un-tapped opportunity for Indiato emerge as a global leader inaffordable innovations under PPP

by focusing on R&D for publicand social goods in the areas ofagriculture and food security,water, energy, affordable healthcare, education, environment,renovation of urban infrastructure,S&T inputs to rural developmentetc. Residual idealism among theyouth and vast talent base offer anopportunity for the R&D sector inthe country to gain leadership inaffordable and social innovations.The Twelfth Five Year Planshould lead to the creation of aninnovation ecosystem most suitedto the developmental phase ofthe country. Such an ecosystemshould be complete with new

The author is Deputy Adviser (S&T), Planning Commission, New Delhi.

T


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responses to risk averse natureof the society, delivery modelsfor innovative deployment oftechnologies, business modelsfor financing deployment ofinnovations and adjustments ingovernance and managementmodels for supporting strategicgoals of innovations. The approachfor R&D sector should address allstages of life cycles of ideas; fromcreation to commercialization andvalue creation. This would callfor paradigm shifts in approachesof planning for R&D in Indiaduring the Twelfth Five Year Plan

period.

A paradigm shift in approachfor the Science and Technologysector is required to focus on anoutput directed development pathstrategy rather than the presentinput driven model. Such changesare essential for making a tangibleand traceable change in the socio-economic scene of the country.While basic research would need

necessarily an input-led growth pa th , dif fer en ce s in app ro achthrough output directed modelwould be required for connectingknowledge and wealth generatingactivities of the country. Supplyside approach for promotion ofadvanced basic research should

be fu rth er en ab led wi th toolsfor demand-side planning for

innovat ions and technologydevelopment.

The s t ruc tu re and workculture within the R&D sectorin the country are supportive oftransactions of knowledge formoney and technology transferideologies. Success of this modelhas been limited so far. In theselection of R&D priorities and

goals, strategic approaches and time

bound delivery of outputs are notgenerally factored into. Wheneverthe participation of the user sectorin selection of R&D prioritieshas been ensured, the usabilityof the R&D outputs increasessigni cantly, a relationship modelinvolving all stake holders engagedin the conversion of conceptsinto commercial realities has

been far more successful than thetransaction models deployed inthe R&D sector in the country.Several countries have successfullydeveloped relationship modelsto connect R&D outputs tonational goals and economic

development processes. Israelis highly successful in creatingwealth out of innovations. Theapproach of the Twelfth Five YearPlan for the R&D sector shouldadopt such global best modelsfor leveraging R&D outputs fornational economic development.Below are some strategic concernsthat needs to be addressed forstrengthening the eco-system andthe proposed approaches for theway forward:

Enrichment of knowledge base

Na tu ra l evol ut ion of Basi cresearch in India during the lastthree decades is inspired by thedirections and priorities of theindustrialized world, but withoutthe matching linkages amongacademy-research and industry.Various factors have limitedthe global competitiveness ofIndia in basic research. Variousfactors have limited the globalcompetitivess of India in basicresearch. Although there are somegeneral improvements during theEleventh Five Year Plan periodwith respect to publications and

pat en ts on accoun t of seve ra l

measures. Indian basic research has been mostly supply driven ratherthan catering to the increasingdemands; both in terms of quantityand quality. Indian systems forsupporting basic research has sofar not adopted adequate measuresfor promoting institutional jointcollaborative research with activeschools in the global scene infuturistic frontier areas of science.The multidisciplinary approachtowards solving India relevantspeci c problems as challengesneeds to be undertaken in asystematic manner.

The approach therefore should be to (i) reduce the arti cial divide between academic teaching andresearch institutions in India, (ii)spot, attract, nurture, and encouragesparks and talent in scientificresearch from under graduate to

post graduate research througha lifelong learning approach,(iii) Identify areas of nationalinterest, gaps for promotion of

basic research and improving thequality of science education, (iv)focus on oriented basic researchfor meeting the national prioritieson food and nutrition security,affordable health care, water,energy and environment securityetc., (v) Incentivize the sharing andcollaboration of multidisciplinaryapproach t o en r i ch ing t heknowledge base through the globalintegration, and (vi) participatein GlobalResearch Consortia increating mega facilities for basicresearch.

Univers i ty, indus t ry, andS c i e n t i f i c E s t a b l i s h m e n tCollaboration

India has the third largest

education system in the world. A


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conducive research sector requirescutting edge research universities,industrial R&D Centers anda ne twork o f Governmen tLaboratories with well-maintainedinfrastructure and liberal funding,working together towards de nedobjectives. Further, effectivemechanisms of collaboration needto be created for universities andindustry bodies so that researchoutput and innovat ions caneffectively be commercializedand transformed into marketable

products and services for last mile bene ts.

The approach therefore should be to (i) encourage universities andresearch centers to focus expertiseand resources on key industrialfocus areas , ( i i ) encourageows of knowledge, created by

universities and scienti c researchestablishments, into industry, (iii)help universities create industry-ready talent pools, with practice-

relevant skills, (iv) use universityexpertise to upgrade industry talent,(v) encourage universities andindustries to apply faculty expertisein specific, operations-relevant

probl em ar eas, (v i) synerg izethe expertise in universities andresearch establishments inareas such as manufacturing,ICT, and industrial management

to enhance the ef ciency and productivity of existing industries(vi) identify, develop, and scale

programmes and projects (suchas new research parks) that drawon and synergize complementarycapacities within research institutesand the private sector (vii) draw onindustry practitioners experienceand expertise to develop and

advance research objectives at

scienti c establishments, teachingcurriculum development andupgrades at universities, and (viii)utilize industry infrastructure forupscaling of technologies.

Incentivizing R&D in Public and

Private SectorThere is an urgent need for

attracting larger investments of private sector into R&D. Whereasthe private sector investments intoR&D in most gobally competingeconomies are in the range of 1.2to 3.0% of GDP, the correspondinginvestment of the Indian privatesector never exceeded 0.2%.While public funded institutionsare generating technology leadsfrom Public funded R&D, thelevels of util ization of suchtechnology leads by commercialenterprises have been limited. The

present models of research funding by and large in the country do notfacilitate the venture fundingof translational research in the

private sector, whereas severalglobal models do so. Currentscal incentives for attraction ofinvestments into R&D by wayof tax bene ts have lead only tomarginal results and the linkages

between academia-research andindustry remain under developedand weak. The investments into/

by the Public Sector Undertakings

for R&D have also been muchlower than desired. The State ledstimulus for innovative productsthrough procurement guidelines,t echno logy acqu i s i t i ons o rfacilitating FDI in research in thecountry has not been exploredadequate ly. The systema ticencouragement to the Indiandiaspora also has not been fully

exploited . Stimulati on of the

entrepreneurial environment,reduction of the stigma on failure,a strong angel and venture capitalsupporting system to back upinnovations and access to assuredmarket for products of innovationare some key elements of a welldesigned innovation ecosystem.The Twelfth Five Year Plan

programmes of R&D sectorshould look beyond the generationof technology leads, patents andintellectual products. It shoulddesign and position sufficientincentives for not only R&D butalso for the utilization of R&Dresults leading to an economicoutcome.

Conclusion

There is therefore a needto create a vibrant landscapeof Public-Private Partnershipand an enabling framework forattracting investment from theindustrial sector, both publicand private sector into R&D

system and incentivize the samefor linking development withtechnology sector. This wouldinclude: (i) creating early trialmarkets around national prioritiesand allowing private firms torecoup investments in R&D (ii)helping private companies accessthe best technical resources increasing the chances of R&D

success, reducing uncertainties,and incentivizing investment,(iii) enabling public and privatesector companies to overcome riskin commercialization and valuecapture and (iv) making regulatoryframeworks less complex, andmore facilitative, for technologicalinnovat ion in the industr ialsector. q

(E-mail:[email protected])

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Technology and Innovation 12th Plan Yojana April 2013