Public and private partnerships can go a long way in developing applications for industrial and commercial use. Several initiatives have been launched at various levels to focus on research and development with a view to tapping the resources in various segments. The India Innovation Initiative is one of such novel effort.
The Initiative is a joint effort of the Department of Science and Technology and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). A few other companies and organisations are also associated with the initiative.
The idea behind it is to identify entrepreneurs and find out innovations that could be applied in projects in the industrial sector. The forum has started looking for potential innovators in the 18-plus age group. The candidates could be students, innovators from R&D institutes and laboratories, industry professionals or individual entrepreneurs.
The proposals on innovations will be considered by the organisers on a regional basis and four regional fairs will be held for preliminary selection. Each region will shortlist innovations based on creativity, innovation, implementation strategy and relevance.
About 500 innovations are expected in each region, according to the organisers. The proposals will be selected by a ‘novelty search'. Only those innovations that are patented or have high potential of being patented will be selected for the regional fairs. About 40 innovations selected from the regional fairs will be selected for the National Fair by an expert panel.
The innovators will receive cash prizes, awards and other support, according to the organisers.
