CSIR Diamond Jubilee Technology Award

The CSIR Diamond Jubilee Technology Award, given annually was instituted in
commemoration of CSIR’s Diamond Jubilee in 2003.Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh awarded the CSIR Diamond Jubilee Technology Award 2006 to “Tejas Networks India Limited,” a Bangalore-based next-generation company.Tejas Networks also won 8th IETE Corporate Award for Excellence in Telecommunications Systems. It was founded by Sanjay Nayak,Dr. Kumar N. Sivarajan and Arnob Roy.Tejas pioneered the development of cost effective, software-differentiated, next generation SDH/SONET products that enable telecom carriers to converge traditional voice-based networks with the new data-dominated networks

Suzlon Energy

Suzlon Energy, promoted by Tulsi R. Tanti with his brothers in now in the global league. Read the article 'The Ascent of Wind Power' in Newyork Times.

India improves competitive position

India ahead of Brazil, China and Russia in the World Economic forum's 2006 Global Competitiveness rankings. Current rank at 43 is not a big thing- but ranks pretty well in Innovation at 26, again anticipated. Check the press release.

Copyright and Emerging technologies

Lawquest and CII Mobile taskforce have brought this white paper on issues related to copyright on content of mobile phones. The whitepaper is authored by Poorvi Chothani, Partner, LawQuest. Report covers wallpapers, iTunes,ringtones, music videos, games etc. The paper is hosted by Contentsutra.

Speedy disposal of Patent litigation

After the harmonisation of patent laws the heat is now on implementation - rather speedy implementation. The procedure followed in Indian courts is known, see how US courts handle patent disputes. Read the story from Newyork Times on Judge T. John Ward of federal court in Marshall, Tex, where quick trials and plaintiff-friendly juries have made this court one of the busiest for patent cases in USA.

ESQUBE Communications Solutions Pvt Ltd

Red Herrings list of hottest communications startups in Asia includes Esqube
Communications, Bangalore.
"It could be daunting for a startup to have Skype, GoogleTalk, and Yahoo as competitors. But Esqube Communications has turned these challenges to its advantage to build low-cost and low-bandwidth voice, video, and voicemail solutions in the Internet telephony space. These products also work on a mobile platform, a feature that the likes of GoogleTalk lack. Esqube is pinning its hopes on its toll-free VoIP product, meant to replace 1-800 service. However, having one high-profile customer (Rediff.com) will not suffice; Esqube needs to bring in more customers and either partner with or license its technology to established players sooner rather than later".
This start-up was creation of Dr. H S Jamadagni, CEDT, IISc, Dr. T V Sreenivas, ECE, IISc, Dr. K V S Hari, CEO (on leave from IISc) and Dr. V Chandrasekar, ISB, Hyderabad

Click for details of this faculty start-up firm.

British invention show

The British Invention Show 2006 takes place at Alexandra Palace in London from 18 th -21st October 2006. Kane Kramer invites Indian innovators to participate in this British & International Innovation of the year awards, exhibition and IP Transfer event.
Contact:
Kane Kramer - Organiser
T. +44 (0)1462 451111T. +44 (0)1462 459999
debrosse@thebis.org
www.britishinventionshow.com
www.thebis.org

Technology for Globalising Indian firms

Indian MNCs seem to be on the horizon, their aggressive acquisition is covered by Technology Review, and regularly reported by IBEF & Economic Times.
How does this globlisation dream impact on technology strategy of the firm? Dig into it-
Download the white paper 'Technology for globalizing Indian firms".
See IBEF-ICRA Management Consulting Services (IMaCS) study report "Going Global:Indian Multinationals" , Download executive summery.

Value Proposition in Knowledge Economy

Prof. Rebecca Henderson of MIT portrayed Strategy as consisting of Value creation, Value capture and value delivery. She explained that to create value, a firm needs to :
Understand how customers needs evolve, Understand how technologies evolve , Develop world class products and services that meet customer needs.
I have explained this from Indian firms Technology Management perspective in the form of a tutorial.
Download the tutorial, read and comment.

Startups In India

Startups.in/India is about start-ups and carries interesting stories revolving around the operation, success & failure of startups around the world. A must visit for all interested in (software) start-ups. Some of them would be big stories tomorrow.

Re-emerging economies

An interesting aspect of Economic times article is the phrase- Re-emerging economies- referring to China & India. Read it.

Technorati Profile

Patent infringement cover

Taking insurance against patent infringement? It started in India, print edition of Business line of 12th sept carries a news item by Radhika Menon on this.
The insurance c overs only the legal expenses and our local insurer get it reinsured abroad. To learn more about it download article ' Covering Patent infringement risks in technology transfer agreements'. India Insure Risk Management Services Pvt. Ltd. is one such firm offering these services.

The Millennium Technology Prize

The 2006 Millennium Technology Prize was presented to Professor Shuji Nakamura on 89/2006 in Helsinki for his invention of new sources of light. President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen handed Professor Nakamura the prize of one million euros and ”Peak”, the prize trophy.

According to Professor Nakamura, we have only just begun to explore the vast number of opportunities presented by applications using LEDs and lasers. ”I hope the award of this prize will help people to understand that this invention makes it possible to improve quality of life for many millions of people. This is not just a source of light that makes enormous energy savings possible, it is also an innovation that can be used in the sterilisation of drinking water and for storing data in much more efficient ways.”

As LEDs can be powered by solar panels, lighting can be provided in remote areas of developing countries. In his speech, Professor Nakamura said that he will be donating part of the prize money to organizations that promote the use of LED lighting in such locations.

Writing a Compelling Executive Summary

Research by Dr. Alok Aggarwal, Chairman, Evalueserve Inc.suggest Venture Capital market in India seems to be getting overheated with over 50 investors searching for viable and scalable ideas. There can be no better time for innovators to live their dreams. Start to learn how to write a compelling executive summery. This one is from Garage Technology Ventures

TR Young Innovators

See the list of young innovators selected by Technology Review for the year 2006.
Intel engineer Ram K Krishnamurthy developed cool computers .
Bell researcher Ashok Maliakal designed a completely new dielectric material comprising nanoparticles of titanium dioxide encapsulated in polymer shells.
Prithwish Basu, a scientist at BBN Technologies in Cambridge, MA, has developed algorithms that dramatically reduce the chance that a wireless network will drop connections or fail, all while decreasing the energy consumed by battery-powered radios.
To make mobile devices more secure, Anand Raghunathan and his team at NEC Laboratories America have given them a supplementary processor, dubbed Moses. The processor performs all of a device's security functions, such as encryption and user authentication.
Sumeet Singh has completely automated worm and virus detection, putting defenders on the same footing as attackers.

India geared up for unprecedented manufacturing growth

India's potential to further boost its already dominant role in global generics production, as well as an offshore location of choice for contract manufacturing, presents an opportunity worth an estimated $48bn (€38bn) in 2007. See summery of KPMG report.

3M's Seven Pillars of Innovation

The one 'old' company that still inspires innovators is 3M. Larry Wendling, vice-president of 3M's corporate research labs at its St. Paul (Minn.) campus, gives a seven-point list to Business Week.
1. From the chief executive on down, the company must be committed to innovation.
2. The corporate culture must be actively maintained.
3. Innovation is impossible without a broad base of technology
4. Encourage networking -- formal and informal -- among its researchers.
5. Set individual expectations and reward employees for outstanding work
6. Quantify efforts.
7. Research must be tied to the customer.

Dee Kapur

In The Design of Things to Come: How Ordinary People Create Extraordinary Products (Wharton School Publishing), authors Jonathan Cagan, Craig Vogel and Peter Boatwright present a new generation of products that transform consumer lifestyles. The authors also profile a new generation of innovators, looking at how they inspire people around them and turn their visions into reality.

One of them is Dee Kapur, who headed the Truck Division of International Truck and Engine of Ford.When Kapur started in automotive design, he was as fascinated with styling as he was with engineering. While directing the Truck Division at Ford, Kapur, along with marketeers Bob Masone and Allison Howitt and head truck designer Pat Schiavone, was viewing an old two-seat roadster with saddle leather interior. The car exuded high class, and at the same time, the leather reminded him of the saddles cowboys used. And those cowboys happen to be customers of pickup trucks. Wouldn't it be great if a pickup had a similarly luxurious interior, one that still connected to the cowboy aura? That leap led to the development of a limited-edition F-150 pickup with saddle leather interior, co-branded with the King Ranch in South Texas.The King Ranch accomplished a number of things inside Ford as well as with the F-150.

Kapur sums up his approach to managing innovation in three steps:

1. Make innovation and boldness part of the culture -- everyone needs to know what you stand for.
2. Role-model innovation as often and in as many forums as
you can.
3. Institute a management process that fosters innovation.