Tuesday, June 22, 2010

India Innovation Summit- Day-2 Session-VI

The last session for the day was themed around: Good Practices on Making Innovation Happen.
The discussion was moderated by Naveen Kulkarni (Director- BD and Research Asia, Philips), on deliberation on some of the good practices of managing an innovation program. On the panel were: Anil Menon (President, Globalization and Smarket Connected Communities, Cisco), Pickhard Friedhelm (MD, Robert Bosch Engg and Biz Soln'), and Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan (IIM Bangalore).
Anil shared that at Cicso, with over 160 acquisitions done, 90% employees are retained and they look for talent in an acquisition and are very selective while doing so. He further opined that having a good competition makes you better. Creativity is often emotionally taxing and the reason large firms' aren't often innovative is that they are designed to survive shocks, have more to loose, and hence resist change. Their tendencies to slap confidentiality on everything and to keep filing patents without knowing good from bad is not always appropriate. At Cisco they don't spend too much time on making strategies, they start first and then if it succeeds, they make plans to scale. He summed it up well by saying that success is your degree of freedom which comes from what all you have tried (and failed at). Don't fear failure.
Prof. Krishnan picked three instances from India, viz: Tata Ace, Bajaj Pulsar and M&M Shaan. He said that innovation models in india are a mix of- top down, tech + biz confluence and need an ability to manage complex projects. He picked from AG Lafley (Former CEO of P&G)- "do the last experiment first", ie- Know what's not working early. Further the best way to make innovation work is influencing stakeholder systematically.
Pickard from Bosch defined innovation as something which is new as well successful. Pickard proposed that engineers are good at problem solving, don't ask them to identify problems, give them problems to solve. On a question on industry- academia relationship, he said that industry expects basic skills from students and rest gets developed on the job.
Naveen did a fantastic job in moderating the panel discussion and engaging the audience in Q&A session. Sighting instances from Philips India, he stated the role of de-centralized operations in managing an innovation program and the methodical Stage Gate approach.
The session followed by the valedictory session.
Two wonderful days, full of insight got over. I draw a lot of learning from these days and believe the same for you.
Take care and do share your comments.

India Innovation Summit- Day-2 Session-V

The theme for this session was: Potential for Business and Technological Innovation by Industries.
Focusing on the holistic growth of India, the session featured few of the socio-economic opportunities being explored. Subu Goparaju (Head Setlabs, Infosys) chaired the session.
First up was Anurag Gupta (CEO, A Little World), who showcased his novel micro-finance product- ZERO. Comprised of a mobile phone and a handheld device it's a novel solution currently powering some 60 lakh banking customers across India. The device is solar powered, has fingerprint and voice print recognition, and is a self sufficient unit. The bank is run by women inside the house and is fairly intuitive and safe. With one banking branch for every 35 villages in India, Anurag maintains that India has a huge room for micro-finance.
Ashish Gawade (CEO, BOPEE Innovations) was next. Sighting instances from the research work done by late Prof. CK Prahalad and Manashakti Centre of Peace of Mind, Ashish depicted the wealth that lies at the bottom of the pyramid and the need to enable/ mobilize it.
One of the distinct speakers at the session was Dr. Suresh Deshpande (President IAGES), who spoke about his experience in creating a robotic arm useful in laparoscopy operations. The ingenuity and the intent of Dr. Suresh was commendable while creating Swarm which is far economical than other solutions available in the market. For his emphatic talk and commendable achievements, he received a standing ovation from the audience.
The last of the speakers was Rajendra Pratap Gupta (International Heathcare and Retail Expert), the person who wrote the manifesto for BJP. He depicted the 1/3 rule that he coined sometime back, that pretty much applies to everything in India, ranging from mobile penetration to people in BPL and India's GDP. Through a series of suggestions, Rajendra deliberated on pressing issues including- agriculture, healthcare, poverty and distribution. A talk full of interesting facts.
Subu did a very good job in moderating the panel discussion and keeping the Q&A focused (often a tough task).

India Innovation Summit- Day-2 Session-IV

The theme for the first panel discussion on day 2 was- Is India Innovating?
It was more than a question. It was a challenge as I Vijaya Kumar (CTO, Wipro Ltd.) likes to put it. He maintains that while India often fails to innovate, Indians do, and it comes from the power of ecosystems. Due to the novelty and visibility factors of products, their innovation is easy to appreciate, while that's not the case with services, making it more obscure. He set the context of the panel discussion around the Innovation Clusters and how to improve the Ecosystem.
The first speaker was Manoj Kumar Mandelia (Founder, Canopus India), a student from IIT Kharagpur. Started by five students from the campus, Canopus focuses on Waste Water Treatment for SME industry and household. Leveraging its patent pending LOCUS technology, the approach uses microbial fuel cells and not just treats water but also generate electricity in the process. Realizing the dearth of treatment plans in India, the team geared up to designing those as well and are now scaling up. Manoj concluded his talk very nicely by depicting the way a great idea loses its advantage from mind-to-market and how often our academic system is responsible for our risk averse behavior.
The next was Paul Basil (CEO, Villgro Innovations Foundation), who presented a very strong case about the big business opportunity existing in villages of India. He stated that there are 600 million Indians dwelling in about 600,000 villages and there's a huge room for creating social enterprises out of these. Through a very engaging presentation, studded with images of ingenuous creations from across India, Paul very effectively brought home the point that a little bit of investment in rural areas can yield rich results. Some of Villgro's investments include: MyIdea Program for students, Seed Funding, Talent Mentoring Networks, InnoHub, Unconvention (innovation awards), Innovation Fellowship Programs, and Teaching Entrepreneurship at schools, among others. A very emphatic talk.
Next came Preetha Reddy (MD, Apollo Hospitals) who gave a very interesting perspective on innovation in healthcare, especially in India. The 4 Ps of health care being: Predictive, Preventive, Personalized, and Participatory. While there are access issues in India, both in terms of physical and financial, India leads the world in low cost, high quality healthcare services. For instance Yeshasvani Healthcare Insurance Scheme where rural people deposit Re 1 covering their surgery cost, and Apollo Reach are ways of bridging the gap. She also hinted at the US learning from India in terms of cutting waste and adopting process innovations in healthcare.
Talking of Innovation in India and missing out Reva, doesn't happen often. It was Chetan Maini (CTO, Reva Car Company), talking about the need to innovate and his vision for EV in India. Stating the ambition of Reva to be earth's favorite Electric Vehicle Mobility Solution company, he depicted highly innovative and contemporary approaches in the making. With 40% of workforce involved in R&D, the key drivers of innovation at Reva are- Strong IP Committee, Rich Consumer Insight, Thinking and Doing Differently, and Value Innovation coupled with High Tech. Chetan opined that often not having a benchmark helps innovation. Talking of the two new products- NXR and NGX-2, Chetan depicted novel additions such as solar roof, advanced telematics, intelligent energy management and low carbon footprint as key. He also illustrated the innovative selling and distributing approaches adopted in London while leveraging online media and teenagers. Chetan summarized it well when he said that in India there exist pockets of excellence, which now need to come together.
Last of the talks came from Arvin Baalu (Head of Engg- Harman India), where he mentioned about the work Harman India is doing to support new product launch, globally. That's like moving up the value chain.
In all a very well moderated session after which the audience broke for tea.

India Innovation Summit- Day-1 Banquet Session

Exhausted with a day full of stimulation around business, technology, academia and government, the audience needed something different. The banquet session did very much the same. Studded with the likes of Kiran Bedi (Retd. IPS Officer), Sudha Murthy (Chairperson, Infosys Foundation), Shashi Deshpande (Writer), and Raj Kumar Khatri (Commissioner of Industrial Development, Govt of Karnataka) the stage was set for some different strokes.
Moderated very well by Kris, the panel was the highlight of the day.
Narrating instances from her wee days at police, Kiran Bedi stressed upon the need to generate resources without complaining. She urged the audience to focus on what's available and what you want to achieve. Calling policing as 'legal social engineering', Kiran mentioned about galli schools that have evolved to become Navjyoti Community College, recognized by IGNOU. Another being Safe India e-Complaint which allows citizens to file police complaints over the internet. Yet another being India Police which aims at providing education to the children of cops. She appealed to the youth to add something before and something after money, ie. Ethics before making money and a purpose after. And then making money is not bad. In her highly inspirational and candid talk, she said that courage is the single most important element of success. She maintained that Business Schools for the Poor, Community Colleges, and Home Care Industry have a huge potential for propelling future growth.
In her down to earth style, Sudha Murthy confessed that being impractical is her greatest strength and biggest motivation. This impractical approach has helped her build compassion. For her, discipline and creativity aren't opposite, but one drives another. She urged youth to run after passion and not money, as life is a colorless picture and you can color it as you wish to. Having quizzed on work-life balance, Sudha said that one needs to lead a balanced life and discipline helps in doing so. Sudha opined that telling stories and giving real life examples are the best ways to inspire people. While doing so, never be judgmental, let the students derive conclusions.
Shashi furthered the sentiments by narrating her early career struggle as a writer and how persistence helped her reach to this level. She said that writers have a rather tough life owing to little social dealing and often one is left alone. It's only the self confidence that helps sail through. To her, being true to oneself and working for no external reason are important to a satisfying life. She also said that having a compartmentalized approach, one for work and one for family, has helped her largely.
Raj added his experiences too on how vital it is to be driven by the concerns of clients (citizens of the country) while sighting instances from managing the Global Investor Meet at Bangalore. Raj complemented the panelists very well and one could see the sparks flying on the stage.
A brilliant finish to a very insightful day. Thanks CII and all the organizer for such a fulfilling gift.

India Innovation Summit- Day-1 Session-III

The theme for this panel discussion was- 'Organization and the Creation of Innovation DNA'
Though the word DNA sounds quite loaded, the weight of speakers on this panel did the justice. Chaired by Ajay Nanavati (MD, 3M India), the session revolved around good practices of managing a structured innovation program in a corporate and enabler there of. Ajay started with this cute definition, 'Research is converting Money into Knowledge and Innovation is converting Knowledge into Money'. He outlined the Innovation DNA to be comprising of- a marketplace of ideas; visionary leadership; systematic approach; and collaboration, supported by human and technical skills.
The first speaker was- Andrew J Ouderkirk (Corporate Scientist, 3M), who spoke about the yin and yang of operations execution and innovation entrepreneurship in every successful organization. At 3M, a culture of innovation stems from: Access (to markets and platforms); Resources (including 15% time, funding and network); and Systems (for New Product Introduction, Metrics, and Stores). While depicting the Periodic Table of Technologies, Andy explained the way a technology evolves. This could be evolutionary (expert led), recombinatory (scouts and architects led), or revolutionary (scouts and architects led). These technologies result into a myriad of new products and that's how innovation get managed at the powerhouse.
Next was Rahul Bedi (Director- Corporate Affairs, Intel India), this time as a panelist sharing traits of inspirational leadership. Rahul maintained that at Intel, the two drivers of culture are- Egalitarianism (equality) and Constructive Confrontation (ConCon). The former makes it truly an open door (no door as he likes to say) company, and the latter allows people to debate objectively. He also warned that often visionary leaders might overshadow the company leading to over alignment and deselection of what's not on leader's side. That's what kills diversity. That brings back to the two principles Rahul discussed that shape Intel.
Idit Biton (CMO, Systematic Inventive Thinking), furthered the discussion with a brief introduction about her company, followed by illustrating some principles of creativity. While engaging the audience in real creative exercises, Idit introduced- Subtraction as one of the useful tools for idea generation. The talk brought freshness into the session, not just because of the presentation by a lady (first one since morning), but also because of her ability to involve the audience. A well received talk.
The session was concluded by a brief talk from VR Ferose (MD, SAP Labs India) on SAP Developer Network and some of the work SAP is engaging with partner organizations.

India Innovation Summit- Day-1 Session-II

The theme for this session was: 'Changing Demographic Profile of India- Role of Youth in Innovation'

The stage was set with people from across age groups. Moderated by Rahul Bedi (Director- Corporate Affairs, Intel India), the panel focused on role of youth in innovation. Rahul started with a candid Q&A with Kaushik Srivatsan (Grand Prize Winner, Intel International Science and Engg Fair). Young Kaushik won everyone's heart with his innocent responses to some real pressing questions and lived through his journey of reaching (and then winning) the grand prize. What stood out was the role of mentors and scope of such engagements.
Next was HK Mittal (Adviser and Head- National Science & Tech Entrepreneurship Development Board). Must be in his 50s, but quite young by spirit, Mittal narrated anecdotes and stories from Indian entrepreneurs in driving the point home that Indians are ingenuous. His was the most admired and engaging talk of the day. He revealed many instances of grassroots level innovations which came from the strength of Innovation Ecosystem and often driven by personal passion.
He was immediately followed by Suhas Gopinath (CEO, Globals), who became one of the world's youngest CEOs at an age of 14. Suhas took the audience through his schools days and interesting moments of his startups journey. What came out was a profound sense of applying creativity and having an ambition.
The last talk came from Shouvick Mukherjee (Head, Yahoo! R&D India) where he discussed about the early days of his working with Yahoo! and how David Filo (Yahoo's co-founder) used to be frugal in innovation spending, but rich in customer insight. In all a well received talk session. Was the time for audience to take another break and be ready for the next session.

India Innovation Summit- Day-1 Session-I

After a brief tea break, which allowed people to socialize a bit, the first session was quickly on. It was Ashish Chatterjee (Director, Asia Connect + Develop Head, P&G) who set the context on the Power of Networks. While introducing the Open Innovation model at P&G that really opened up the R&D front to over 2 million scientists worldwide, Ashish did very well in providing the structure to the discussion. He talked of three models of engagement, viz: Power of Networks; Collaborative Competition; and Open Source. Power of Networks could be leveraged via- Scouting Teams; Intermediates; or by tapping into Network of Networks. Collaborative Competition can manifest itself on the lines of accruing- direct collaboration, competitions through grand challenges, and for mutual benefits. He also depicted Open Sources instances such as Linux, Human Genome Project and Drug Discovery. A well set context.
The first talk of the panel was by Wolfgang Lehmacher (CEO, GeoPost Intercontinental). Talking about the extent of collaborative innovation at the company, Wolfgang depicted the enablers of innovation as- Local Autonomy; Lean Centre; De- Centralization; Policies, Processes and Incentives; and an Entrepreneurial spirit. He also gave instances of process, product and business model innovations.
Next was Girish Wardadkar (President KPIT Cummins) who illustrated the benefits of adopting an Open Source model of software development and deployment. He presented some very interesting stats from the company.
Now it was the turn of a pharma company to talk about innovation networks. Swaminathan Subramaniam (Director- Licensing and External Research, Merck & Co) laid out the challenges of R&D in the pharma space and how open innovation is getting increased acceptance. The models he depicted were: Leasing and Research Collaboration (19 scouts at Merck globally); External Discovery & Preclinical Science (Virtual R&D); Co-opetiton -I (AstraZeneca and Merck); and Co-opetition -II (Lilly, Pfizer and Merck). He also gave instance of Puretech Ventures where likes of Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Abbott, Lilly, Pfizer and Merck have come together to develop technologies and machines.
Next talk came from Deepam Mishra (CEO, i2 India Ventures), where he shared his experiences from the trenches in nurturing product development for India, leveraging breakthrough technologies. Allegedly, i2 Ventures exist in a space which is the confluence of market, people and technology, and best way for innovation is proactive deal creation. With a focus on Water, Energy, Waste and Agriculture, Deepam maintained that venture for India come from need driven ideas, aided by technology. The talk followed a round of Q&A, though the questions weren't well articulated, in fact most were suggestions. But in all a well received session. People left of lunch as it was well past 1 PM.

India Innovation Summit- Day-1 Inaugural Session

The Sixth India Innovation Summit, supported by CII and Government of Karnataka was another confluence of thinkers and doers in the space of innovation. This has been one of the few events in India where a rich mix of youth and experience could be seen. With about 500 attendees, over 20 speakers and two days, the event lived up to its promise. Here's a quick summary of what transpired. For the event log, you can also visit Twitter (CII Summit archives, 140 char at a time, as my friend Hema likes to call it).

The session began after a 20 min delay with Aroon Raman (Chairman, CII Karnataka State Council) setting the context of what to expect from the Innovation Summit. He opined that innovation is one of the world's oldest professions and that it's inherent in human mind to search. The primary objective of innovation in the 21st century would be to address practical problems and have/ share real experiences. With this pretext, he welcomed all to make the most of the opportunity of interacting with a galaxy of stars on innovation and (un)learn.

It was followed by a brief talk by Kris (CEO, Infosys) on the four elements of development in India- Education, Employability, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He maintained that with over 600,000 professionals working in the city and a very supportive government, Bangalore is fast emerging as not just an IT hub, but also as an Innovation Hub.

The key note of the session was from Ravi Venkatesan (Chairman, Microsoft India). Ravi identified the top technology priorities of Microsoft, viz: Cloud Computing, Natural User Interface; New Devices, Many Screens; and Democratic Access (to IT). Through a series of AVs, Ravi depicted the power each of these technologies possess, and how India is becoming the test lab for such disruptive technologies/ experiences. These include Microsoft Hohm, Windows MultiPoint Server, Medical Bayesian Server, and Project Natal, among others. He also said that, while for the past 20 years the government has allowed the industry to flourish in an untamed fashion, now it is the time for government to intervene and shape policy agenda to enable innovation.

The sentiments were echoed by Murugesh Rudrappa Nirani (Minister of Large and Medium Industries, Gov of Karnataka) as he highlighted the investment done around holistic development in the state. In all it was a very well received opening session.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Themes for the Event

Here's a quick (tentative) overview of what one should expect at the CII Innovation Summit '10.
Day-1
  • Inaugural Session- Key notes by Ashok Nayak (HAL); Dr. K Radhakrishnan (ISRO); and S Chandrasekhar (CII Karnataka State Council).
  • Session 1: The New Models of Innovation- Talks by Ashish Chatterjee (Procter & Gamble); Dr. Swaminathan Subramaniam (Merck & Co); Wolfgang Lehmacher (GeoPost Intercontinental); and girish Wardadkar (KPIT Cummins).
  • Session 2: The Changing Demographic Profile of India- Talks by Rahul Bedi (Intel); HK Mittal (National Science Tech and Entrepreneurship Development Board); Suhas Gopinath (Blobals Inc); and Shailesh Rao (Google)
  • Session 3: Organization and Creation of the Innovation DNA- Talks by Ajay Nanavati (3M); Andrew J Ouderkirk (3M); Dr. Md Yunus (Grameen Bank); and Idit Biton (Systematic Inventive Thinking)
  • Banquet Session: Innovation Beyond Business- Talks by Kris (Infosys); Dr. Kiran Bedi (Former DGP); Boman Irani (Indian Film and Theatre Actor); and Anil Kumble (Former Indian Cricketer).

Day 2

  • Session 4: Is India Innovating- Talks by I Vijayakumar (Wipro); Arvin Baalu (Harman); Chetan Maini (Reva Car Co.); Raul Basil (Villgro Innovations); Manoj Kuman Mandelia (Canopus India); and Preeta Reddy (Apollo Hospitals).
  • Session 5: Opportunities for Biz and Tech Innovations by Industries- Talks by Subu Goparaju (Infosys); Anurag Gupta (A Little World); Capt. Raghu Raman (National Intelligence Grid); Mahapara Ali (SBI); and Dr. Suresh Deshpande (IAGES).
  • Session 6: Valedictory Session- Talks by Kris (Infosys); VP Baligar/ Dr. Raj Kumar Kharti (Govt. of Karnataka); Katta Subramanya Naidu (Govt. of Karnataka) and Aroon Raman (CII Karnataka State Council)

You can also follow the event on Twitter- #CII_Innovation.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Here comes - Sixth India Innovation Summit 2010

After five very successful years of leading the Innovation Thought Leadership baton, the India Innovation Summit is back in Bangalore. Championed by CII and supported by a range of companies, the Innovation Summit has emerged to become one of the most sought after events of the year. Over the years the event has seen speakers and audience joining in from all over India as well from abroad.
This year's summit is happening over 17th and 18th June at Hotel Taj Residency here in Bangalore. Keeping in perspective the growing prominence of India and other emerging economies on the innovation landscape, the theme is aptly chosen- "Making a Difference in an Emerging Economy".
Panel discussions are around topics pertaining to- New Model of Innovation, Innovation in Social Sector, and Indian Style of Innovation, among others.

As you can see over here the topics are pretty relevant and debatable. Would want you to make the most of the opportunity. To register for the event, click here.

See you there.