Gartrner hype model to set Research priorities for catching up economies

In absolute terms India spends more on R&D than Australia, Finland, Israel and many other countries higher on Innovation score. One of the reason is the spend is distributed on larger portfolio with no synergistic relationship. Research and academic institutes take Government funds to work on start-of-art technologies, most of them are at the `Peak of Inflated Expectations' whereas Industry want technologies at `Plateau of  Productivity'.

Taking the 2014 Gartner Hype cycle chart, the sexy projects are Bio-computer interface, Smart robots, Data Science etc. Closed projects include projects on Mobile Health Monitoring, Machine to Machine communication, Big Data etc. And there is no technology for transfer in market  ready areas like Speech recognition, Consumer Telematics. It is not that no research was done in these areas, at the peak of inflated expectations many institutes worked on these projects and declared them as successfully completed. The missing link- no funds to commercial enterprises to develop the research results.

Let us hope the government funding to commercial enterprises for pilot plants, prototyping at pre-commercial stage would get a boost in the coming years.

What should replace Planning Commission- Major Projects Authority?

Narendra Modi invites ideas from public on new institution to replace Planning Commission that many agree outlived its purpose. Considering our biggest weakness is on EXECUTION, one institution that is worth emulating is UK's Major Projects Authority.
The MPA is supported by a clear and enforceable mandate and has the authority to:

• develop the government’s major projects portfolio, and in collaboration with departments provide verified, timely data, with regular reporting to ministers
• require, review and approve integrated assurance and approval plans for each major project or programme, including timetables for HM Treasury (HMT) approvals, and validated by the MPA and HMT
• carry out assurance reviews where there is cause for concern and ensure that departments co-operate to take action to address any issues raised
• escalate issues of concern to ministers and accounting officers
• intervene directly where projects are causing concern, providing additional assurance or commercial and operational support
• make a starting gate review, or equivalent, mandatory for all new projects/programmes to assess deliverability before project delivery gets underway
• work with departments to build capability in projects and programme management, including the nomination of suitably senior and experienced officials to act as reviewers on high risk projects and programmes at least once every 12 to 18 months
• require publication of project information consistent with the Coalition’s transparency agenda
• collaborate with departments to publish an annual report on the government’s major projects

Express IT Awards

Express I.T. Awards promises to set the benchmark for the information technology industry, discovering and celebrating its finest talents and efforts. Award categories:

I.T. INNOVATION

This award felicitates IT companies that have developed highly innovative IT solutions or products towards solving business needs or challenges/issues and the solution or product has demonstrated market potential.

MOBILITY SOLUTIONS

This award felicitates enterprises that have developed innovative mobility solution(s) that have helped achieving business objectives such as customer satisfaction, increased sales, process efficiency etc.

I.T. ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The IT sector has a lot of start-ups that are bringing fresh business ideas. This award category felicitates such start-ups, recognizing their talent and business genius.

See details: Last date: September 12, 2014 

BootUpINDIA boost to software product start-ups

BootUpINDIA is result of a an intense discussion that took place at iSPIRT.

Bootstrapping is a different pathway to growth that needs to be nurtured. These entrepreneurs need to be celebrated, encouraged, treated as success stories, and not as second-class citizens because they haven't raised funding. Yet the reality is that media and incubators in India tend to overplay the Venture funding pathway. As a result bootstrapped companies end up being disadvantaged.

BootUpINDIA has been designed to redress the ecosystem bias against bootstrapping.BootUpINDIA is an Awards++. Its a one-year booster to the selected software product startups. In this first phase applications invited from those bootstrapped companies that cater to Indian SMBs.

BootUpINDIA is powered by the most credible names in the bootstrapped world: Sridhar Vembu (Zoho), Pallav Nadhani (FusionCharts), Bhanu Chopra (RateGain), Paras Chopra (Wingify), Girish Rowjee (Greytip), Saras Sarasvathy (Entrepreneurship Professor at Darden) and Sramana Mitra (avid blogger and evangelist). Its wonderful to see them become ecosystem builders for this noble cause.

Last date 15th September 2014

Nominations open for IESA Technovation Awards 2014‏

The primary objective of the awards is to “Celebrate Excellence in ESDM” by bringing visibility and public recognition for the 

Winners who are doing trailblazing work and making noteworthy contributions as part of the Electronics and Semiconductor
industry. 

Award categories:
Technovation Sarabhai Award : for outstanding contributions by an Individual leader to Indian semiconductor or electronics industry.

Most Promising Startup: The winner will be a compelling Electronics or Semiconductor product or IP start-up.

Most Innovative Product: The winner will be most innovative Semiconductor or Electronics product.

Contact: Debanjan Sinha at tv@iesaonline.org / +91-80-41473250

last date: 7th November 2014

CII Industrial Innovation Award

Do industries innovate? New technology ventures are the stars on the horizon but more patents, & innovations continue to originate from large established firms. Romanticizing juggad innovations , preoccupation with social innovation, inclusive innovation, frugal innovation etc clouded the picture , left many wondering about non-citation of programmed innovations from India in the media. Time to celebrate innovations brought into the market by in-house R&D units.

CII has taken the challenge of assessing industrial innovations both in manufacturing and services. CII Industrial Innovation Awards 2014 will analyze the impact of an innovation in the context of the example cited by an applicant. Answer to the following question will be looked for:

• How did the innovation create a competitive advantage? What is the nature of the competitive advantage?
• How did the innovation helped in growth?
• Did the innovation help in increasing market share?
• Does the innovation continue to improve financial performance?
• Did the innovation enhance operational effectiveness?
• Did the innovation help to significantly improve customer engagement?
• Did the innovation transform the industry sector you are operating in?
• Did the innovation change the way things are done in the industry?
• How the innovation was developed and applied?
• Do strong leadership and effective innovation management support your innovation pursuit?
• Does the innovation enable a long-term advantage for the company and how?
• Does the innovation enhance your intellectual property? How much and how long?
• Does the innovation demonstrate thought leadership?

See Details: CII

INNO INDIGO Joint Call 2014 - Clean Water and Health

Within the framework of the INDIGO Partnership Programme (IPP), a EU-India joint call for proposals on « Clean Water and Health » is now open. Deadline for submission:

15 October 2014 (12 :00 CET / 15 :30 IST)

Type of funded projects:

Indian-European collaborative research and technological development projects in the field of “Clean Water and Health” with a specific focus on:

• Development and applications of membrane technology in water purification/sanitation
• Membrane bio-reactor applications at domestic and industrial waste water management
• Reuse of municipal/industrial waste wate

Scope of the projects:

Projects can have a maximum duration of 3 years and funding is around € 100.000 - € 200.000 per partner/per country, depending on national regulations.

According to the respective national regulations the following funding can be applied for:

• Mobility
• Workshops
• Research costs
• Personnel costs

Who can apply?

Applications may be submitted by academics, higher education institutions and / or non-university research establishments. SMEs are also eligible depending on national regulations.

Consortia that wish to apply for funding of a research project within the above mentioned topics have to consist of at least three partners: two from two different European countries contributing to the call, and one from India.

Countries contributing to the Call are: Belgium, Estonia, Germany, India, Portugal.

Partners from other countries than those participating in the IPP Call can join a consortium but have to secure their own funding. In particular, for candidates from France and Latviawilling to participate as additional partners, please note that the Latvian Academy of Science and the French Embassy in India can provide support.

Application Process

The application procedure has one stage. Applications are submitted electronically using the PT-Outline Web Tool: https://www.pt-it.de/ptoutline/application/IPP1

Contact information:Ms. Shailja Vaidya Gupta

Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology (DBT)

Email: shailja@dbt.nic.in

Phone: +91 11 24 36 37 48

Golden Peacock Awards

Golden Peacock Awards Secretariat is now inviting applications, for the following Annual Institutional Awards (4th cycle) for the year 2014, from all Corporates/ Industries including multinationals, SMEs, Public, Private and Government Enterprises of India and abroad, as given below:  GLOBAL Awards:                   1. Golden Peacock Global Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance (GPGAECG)                 2. Golden Peacock Global Award for Sustainability (GPGAS)  NATIONAL Awards:                  1. Golden Peacock Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance (GPAECG)                2. Golden Peacock Award for Sustainability (GPAS)            3. Golden Peacock Innovation Management Award (GPIMA) The last date for submission of completed applications for the above Awards, is 5th September 2014.   The Application form cum Guidelines can be downloaded from www.goldenpeacockawards.com.  The Awards Jury is chaired  by Justice (Dr.) Arijit Pasayat,  former Judge, Supreme Court  of India and former Chairman, Competition Appellate Tribunal & Authority  for Advance Ruling (Customs, Central Excise & Service Tax).  This year’s above Awards, under various sectors, will be conferred in Mayfair at a Special Golden Peacock Awards Ceremony, during IOD India's "14th LONDON GLOBAL CONVENTION on CORPORATE GOVERNANCE & SUSTAINABILITY" and GLOBAL BUSINESS MEET, being held on 28 - 31 October, 2014 in London (UK). Contact :   Dr. A. N. Saksena (former Financial Advisor, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Govt of India) Director General Golden Peacock Awards Secretariat INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS M-52 (Market), Greater Kailash Part-II, New Delhi – 110048, INDIA Board Nos. : +91-11- 41636294, 41636717, 41008704, Fax:  +91-11-41008705 Email: info@goldenpeacockawards.com Web: www.iodonline.com , www.goldenpeacockawards.com

Technology offers from SAC, Ahmedabad

ISRO's Space Application Center (SAC) is offers several technologies on license in the following areas:

• Antenna
• RF and Electronics
• Communication and navigation
• Remote Sensing
• Radar Imaging.

See list of technologies transferred here. Most of them are backed by patents.

 Contact:

Head, Technology Transfer and Industry Interface Division
Planning and Projects Group
Space Applications Centre (ISRO)
Jodhpur Tekra, Ambawadi Vistar
Ahmedabad - 380015, Gujarat 

E-mail: ttid@sac.isro.gov.in 
Fax:   +91 - 79 - 2691 5817