Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Member, National Innovation Council, & CMD, Biocon
In today’s knowledge-driven economy, innovation is the prime driver of progress. India’s ability to generate wealth and create social good will come to naught unless we monetise innovative ideas by unshackling entrepreneurship. For innovation to flourish, we need to fund ideas to take them to market. Without capital, even the most transformative ideas can die before they take wing. …
Let’s start with academia’s role in generating ideas. While government funding supports this phase of the innovation value chain fairly adequately, it falls short in nurturing ideas and growing them to a proof-of-concept stage where business can intervene. The notion of incubating start-ups within academic institutes is still nascent. The regulatory reforms that permit researchers to unconditionally assume dual roles as academicians and entrepreneurs is yet to be fully implemented. Academic entrepreneurs have virtually built the entire US technology sector and are continuing to do so despite the economic recession. India urgently needs to emulate this aspect of the US innovation ecosystem. Rest