Needed: An Ecosystem to Nurture Ingenuity

Context: Drafting a new Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy should take a cue from a pandemic, which is fostering innovation— technological, financial, and behavioral.

Mixed picture of Innovation in India:

• Positives: 

• During 2005-18, India’s ranking for total publications in the US National Science Foundation database jumped from 10 to three.
• In purchasing power terms, per capita, Research and Development (R&D) expenditure doubled in the last decade.

• Negatives:

• Declined R&D spending as a percentage of GDP --from 0.81% in 2005-06 to 0.7% in 2014-15.
• Lowest count of research professionals; Full-time equivalent research professionals per million population — 218 in 2015. 

Categories of innovations and technologies.:

• Transitional technologies (technically proven but need local adaptation);
• Innovations for resilience (to combat climate risks).
• Foundational technologies (applicable across many sectors, but need policy direction and public-private co-financing);
• Breakthrough technologies (significant disruptive potential but with major risks).

Six Ideas from above innovation categories:

• Green buildings and materials challenge: Combining the need for low-cost homes, low-carbon cement, and low carbon cooling.

• Sustainable housing is not just a social priority but now a public health imperative. 

• A prize model could bring vast energies and resources from the private sector.

• National Bioenergy Mission: With clear targets of agricultural biomass to be procured and the proportion of municipal solid waste converted into liquid fuels.

• Nature-based, climate-resilient infrastructure: Innovations in protecting or increasing mangroves in coastal cities, or planting a “green wall” as a bulwark against desertification could be promoted.

• Circular economy of critical minerals:

• Necessary for India if it seeks to locally manufacture.
• Kickstart a robust secondary market for e-waste.

• Green Hydrogen Mission:

• Hydrogen can substitute for coal in heavy industry but is energy-intensive to produce.
• Leverage the falling costs of renewables and economies of scale to push forward hydrogen usage.

• Carbon Dioxide removal challenge:

• To keep temperature rise to under 2oC, 100-200 billion tonnes of CO2 would have to be captured and stored by 2050.
• Needs a breakthrough innovation as without a high carbon price, capturing CO2 and storing it does not have a market today.

Way Forward: 

• Commercializing Innovation: will need supportive ecosystems:

• Technology Information portal for R&D activities and funding.
• Increasing capacity of the Indian Patent Office (IPO) with a simplified patenting process.
• Open innovation platforms for joint ownership of patents.
• Innovation prizes and risk guarantees to the crowd in the capital.
• Reformed public procurement.
• Updated product certification standards; more accredited testing facilities.
• Accelerator and incubators for start-ups to take innovation from lab to field.