Spotlight on Events

The Science and Innovation Network (SIN) in India have been very busy recently with a host of events involving topics ranging from creative economies to frugal innovation.

Mark Sinclair, head of the SIN India team, was in the UK at the launch of ‘Our Frugal Future’; a report that explores the policies, institutions and industries driving research and innovation in India.

For more information about the report you can read an overview of the NESTA project or our recent blog. The launch event saw a packed house that brought together leading thinkers on innovation in India. There were a number of presentations and lots of tweets from the attendees, a summary of which can be seen on the NESTA website where there is also a copy of the report available to download and a list of NESTA’s top ten frugal innovations from the study.

All of which make very interesting read!

At the same time SIN India, in partnership with the Creative Industries Knowledge Transfer Network (CIKTN) and AcceleratorIndia, organised RiffStream#Mumbai.

During the day there were many great discussion about mobile, broadband and media challenges and opportunities in India. The event ended on an optimistic note, with many delegates showing keen interest in not only UK-India business discussions, but also in sharing market insights, making introductions to local networks, and exploring joint innovation for mobile content.

Catherine Brain will be writing a blog about the event soon, in the meantime you can read more information about the event, which includes a video of interviews with some of the attendees, and there are photos of the day on the UK in India’s flickr site.

And, as if to demonstrate just how much is going on in India, that night in Delhi some of the SIN team attended RCUK (Research Councils UK) India’s showcase of UK-India arts and humanities research Jalsa. RCUK India, working on behalf of the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), organised an exhibition of AHRC funded UK-India Arts and Humanities research ranging from history, religion, travel and music.

Hosted by the British High Commissioner to India, Sir James Bevan, the event brought together key research funding agencies and individuals from arts and humanities, both from the UK and India. More details about the event can be seen here.

Also that week we had the final few days of the EU S&T awareness campaign, which saw about 4000 people in total attending one of the 36 events that were spread all over India. The final day in Delhi saw presentations from Mark Sinclair, Helen Bailey, Deputy Director RCUK India, and Sally Goggin, Director of Education at the British Council India.

It was a busy day with lots of interesting conversations among the attendees. Photos of the day can be seen on the flickr site. You can also see a detailed round up of the first week of the campaign on our blog here.

For information about upcoming events please see our What’s on pages or sign up to our newsletter to have the information delivered straight into your inbox!