What Kills Innovation? | Rising Kashmir

The majority of innovations in our educational institutions die due to non creative environments. Because we’re too focused on obtaining excellent grades, we don’t give our students enough time to think about real-world problems

The transition of invention into an innovation has followed a number of multidimensional frameworks since the dawn of industrialization. The entrepreneurial definition of innovation, according to the pioneer of innovation studies, Joseph Schumpeter, is when any new product or process effectively generates an entrepreneurial profit. However, according to the current definition, the conversion of an invention to an innovation occurs when any new process, product, or service successfully delivers any form of economic or societal value. The path that an invention follows from idea to market for value generation may appear simple and straightforward, but there are various aspects to consider. It entails institutions, funds, incubation assistance, market research, intellectual property, and, the effective policies. The successful conversion of an idea or invention into the value creation depends upon effectiveness of all the mediated factors.  Thousands of inventions die during this transition, and the majorities of them are restricted to granular patents, prototypes or ideas only which never find market.

Numerous researches have been undertaken around the world to understand and enhance creativity, which is frequently referred to as the first phase of an innovation process. The majority of researches find that human creativity is not limited to extraordinary people, and that anyone, regardless of specific abilities, can be creative. Almost all research on human creativity, however, emphasizes the importance of a person’s working environment. The majority of innovations in our educational institutions die due to non creative environments. Because we’re too focused on obtaining excellent grades, we don’t give our students enough time to think about real-world problems. As a result, their creativity is never able to come up with any novel ideas.Individual creativity enhancement is a separate subject, but creating a motivating institutional atmosphere for employees and students can undoubtedly aid in the generation of innovative and valuable ideas.

The incubation is the following stage where innovations die. In this phase the technological advancements are generally limited to concepts or prototypes that, sadly, never reach the market, despite the fact that many unique technologies have intellectual property rights such as patents.According to a Forbes research, 90% of patents fail to reach the market and are only found on patent filings. As a result, a robust policy framework is required at the incubation level in order to increase either the quality of patents or to grant patents strictly based on the scope of practical commercialization. In Kashmir, the method of incubation itself need reformation, and more work will be required to educate society about the entire process of incubation, as most of our students have no notion that how any new idea may turn them into entrepreneurs through incubation support.

Finances are the third crucial factor that kills innovations. India’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy of 2013 focuses on developing robust innovation capabilities in the country, and various programs and schemes were launched as a result, whether on a micro or macro scale.However, the research indicates that there is either a lot of ambiguity in obtaining financing to promote new tech businesses or that individuals have no understanding of such schemes at all. In the context of Kashmir, we require effective knowledge dissemination regarding various funds and schemes through which individuals, particularly students, can nurture their ideas into successful innovations.

When discussing innovations in the current context, we cannot overlook the role of various institutions in developing a culture of innovation, as it is dependent on the effectiveness of institutions. The triple helix model of innovation proposes how universities, government, and industry can collaborate to improve the culture of innovation and development in any place by creating and disseminating beneficial knowledge. Again, in the context of Kashmir, such collaborations have never existed.Because we are already in Industry 4.0, the old ways of teaching will no longer work since skills cannot be imparted in classrooms alone. Instead, we need to expose our students to real industry problems regardless of their subject domain because anyone, regardless of his or her field of study, can be an innovator. Lastly, it is the institutions that build a policy framework, and until now, the policies crafted have always been robust, but more emphasis on implementation is required.

(The Author is M.Sc. Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, NIT Srinagar. Email: [email protected])