New ideas, 'out-of-the-box thinking' and blue skies research: these have become buzzwords among young scientists and researchers. Their importance is evident from the spurt in innovation over the last few years. These innovations stem from the imagination and efforts of individuals and entrepreneurs driven by the passion to expand the reach of human knowledge or solve intellectually challenging problems.
Science and technology have emerged as key innovation drivers. The commercialization of scientific ideas is increasingly popular in the west. The cultural barrier between academia and industry is fading as more researchers commercialize their research by licensing intellectual property (IP) or setting up companies. What is the Indian scene like?
The bottlenecks
Experts feel that India, one of the largest emerging economies, presents an interesting opportunity for scientific research and innovation. Historically, publication of scientific research has been considered the epitome of academic success in India, while spin-out companies and science parks, commonplace in the west, are markedly absent.
"This is due to the lack of a flexible system and the current disordered structure," says Gerrard George, Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (RJCEI) at Imperial College Business School, London. Indian academics lack confidence in their own ideas. "Money is not the problem since there is plenty of funding," he feels.
However, the dearth of spin-out companies from academic institutions could be due to the lack of good infrastructure and the inability to meet international standards. This is compounded by "the near absence of active technology transfer offices, which fund and protect the intellectual property of academics and spin-out companies," says Bina Rawal, head of medical affairs at Wellcome Trust, London. Rawal also rues the absence of clinical research in Indian hospitals, important in translating discovery efforts into commercial clinical products.
According to academic entrepreneur Graham Richards, a founding member of Isis Innovation, the technology transfer firm of Oxford University, Indian academics have a lot of potential but lack adequate infrastructure and an innovative culture.
The culture is also not mature enough to sustain commercialisation or attract venture capitalists, says Raj Parekh, a partner at the venture capital firm Advent Venture Partners.
The Turnaround
However, as the Indian economy booms, infrastructure is improving. There is a keenness among young Indian researchers abroad to look for opportunities back home. Initiatives such as the joint venture program between Wellcome Trust and India's Department of Biotechnology (DBT) will see 45 million pounds invested over the next 5 years to fund young researchers in scientific institutes across India. This, Rawal believes, will recruit the best talent in research institutes across India.
Public-private partnership is an upcoming model where the institute functions independently of the state or central government. The Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) in Hyderabad is one such example where researchers are encouraged to come up with innovative ideas and are supported with grants to kick-start their research with scope for subsequent commercialization. The National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore boasts of an innovative 'one stop shop' organization called C-Camp, an integrated multi-disciplinary technology research enterprise, which is expected to result in path-breaking scientific discoveries and the translation of these into tangible technological advances.
The Indian government's promise to raise the R&D budget to 2% of GDP is an optimistic indicator in the current Indian economic structure, which has the potential to support cutting edge research and development and nurture it into technological ventures.
The venture capital industry has been the most active in the recent past in funding technology companies. However, George believes that venture capital firms in India have been more active in the growth stage rather than in seed stage investments.
But this trend is changing too. Angel investors, which provide seed funding, are emerging. An array of funders such as I2India Investments, the Indian unit of the London-based Imperial Innovations (the premier technology transfer company of Imperial College), Wellcome Trust's Affordable Healthcare Technology Fund, and institute-bred contract research organisations such as Cosmic Discoveries at ILS Hyderabad are just a few. Another interesting funding model involves businessmen with significant pools of money looking to invest in biotech and life sciences start-ups.
The need, however, is to create a technology transfer hub with a strong innovation facilitator and incubator where all these funding bodies can be easily accessed.
The author is a postdoctoral research scientist at Astex therapeutics, Cambridge science park.
