Indian School of Business (ISB), organised the ‘India Conference on Innovation, Intellectual Property and Competition’ in Delhi on Friday.
The conference looked to offer a roadmap to manage innovations at various stages in the value chain, which called into play the various tools of the intellectual property system. The role of intellectual property — from producer to the end user, in relation to innovation — was addressed through a day-long conference.
In his keynote address, Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister for Commerce and Industrysaid that Government is working on having regular interactions with start-ups, who are at the forefront of innovations, primarily on regulatory aspects, which helps them in their business initiatives. “By getting over the regulatory challenges of the start-ups, innovations will prove more effective and sustainable”, he said. Prabhu also added that the Government’s initiatives on ‘Skill India’ are structured to create skilled manpower that would take over the challenges of the future. "Skill India also allows people to think innovatively.” he said.
Dean Rajendra Srivastava, Dean, ISB, in his opening address, said that there is a need to integrate insights from the West and the East to address the tussle between competition and protection.
The conference saw a industry experts speaking on a variety of topics on the various aspects of innovation ecosystem, such as IP Index, clusters, Chinese exceptionalism, piracy, healthcare innovation, app economy, trade agreements, intersection of technologies and inequality, among others. Around 150 delegates from industry, academia and the Government attended the inaugural edition of the conferenceorganised by ISB.
Talking about India’s public R&D, Dr Girish Sahani, Director General, CSIR & Secretary, DSIR said that the government R&D institutions were working towards innovation solutions to national problems. “CSIR is No.1 in R&D patents and this was possible because of the mindset change in scientists.” he said.
Speaking on innovation ecosystem in India, IIM Indore director Dr Rishikesha Krishnansaid that much of the innovation in India is dominated by the multinational companies. However there is immense scope for frugal innovations.
Professor Anil K Gupta, founder, Honey Bee Network and Executive Vice Chair, National Innovation Foundation, emphasised the need for making innovations sustainable and cautioned not to celebrate the frugality which puts the next generation into risks.
Geeta Gouri, former member, Competition Commission of India and Director (Tariffs), APERC, opined that creating new markets was also an important responsibility of the competition commission.
Vivek K Kamath, Managing Director, Merck Sharp and Dohme Pharmaceuticals (India), said that there is a need to focus on both large as well as niche categories healthcare intervention.