Karnataka State Innovation Council

Sam Pitroda, as Chair of the National Innovation Council of India, wrote to the Chief Ministers of each State in 2010 suggesting they set up their own Innovation Council to “drive the innovation agenda… and harness the core competencies, local talent, resources and capabilities to create new opportunities” in their State. To date, 22 States and Union Territories have set one up. We wanted to know what the Councils were up to and what scope there was for British organisations to work with them. And what better place to start than in Bangalore – the capital of Karnataka and India’s science hub?

So, last week I met with Professor H P Khincha, the Chairman of the Karnataka State Innovation Council (KSIC). We exchanged notes over coffee in Professor Khincha’s office in the Department of Electrical Engineering, at the Indian Institute for Science. By the end of the meeting, we both resolved that we would find ways to cooperate as the work of the KSIC develops. While we work out what that might be, here’s some highlights of the KSIC’s existing work – I hope this will give a flavour about what the Innovation Councils are about and inspire ideas for how the UK could connect with them:

• Innovation Karnataka – a collaboration with Google to celebrate innovation in the State and create the right policy environment for innovators. They recently published a report which highlights some areas of opportunity for Karnataka as well as some leading innovators like Kanaja (a Kannada a language encyclopaedia) or mDhil (a mobile based game to provide health information).
• Intel Youth Enterprise Programme – a scheme for undergraduate students to take ideas forward, develop innovative solutions for problems and prepare business process.
• The Tod Fod Jod Initiative to inspire primary and secondary school students in innovation by breaking down and rebuilding common devices.
• Listing all the patents applied for and granted in the State with a recognition event (and Rs 25,000 prize) for each successful applicant
• Ignite meetings – where researchers in Karnataka meet up with Government of Karnataka officials and discuss how research could contribute to solving specific problems the Government is tackling.
• Techpedia – an online tool connecting student projects to find solutions for MSMEs and social enterprises in the state
• Town Hall Meetings – where researchers meet the public and invite innovative ideas from anyone.
• Innovation Warehouses – being set up in Bangalore and Hubli to be the activity centres for some of the other schemes outlined above.Looking to the future, I understood KSIC would be looking to build upon the above programmes, as well as participating in the Global Inventors and Innovators Convention in Bangalore on 7th August this year.My overall take from the meeting was that, for KSIC at least, the focus of State Councils is not on funding large scale activities (indeed, the KSIC only has a budget for its own administration). However, they can play a very useful coordinating role in bringing together other innovation players with more resources such as Governments, R&D Companies or Research Institutes. I’d be interested to hear from anyone with ideas about how KSIC could work with people in the UK, and would be happy to make an introduction to Professor Khincha too.