Ideas unlimited

It8217;s called 8220;intrapreneurship8221; 8211; unlocking the intellectual resources and innovative energies from within an established organisation. If the brave new scheme floated by the prime minister8217;s office and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research CSIR, to let government-employed scientists set up their own firms, goes through, it could indeed unleash a tidal wave of much-needed scientific entrepreneurship in India. While it is common practice in the United States for professors, students and researchers to turn their research breakthroughs into profitable products and stay part of the organisation, in India, scientists working in state-aided organisations have to sever all links and join the private sector 8212; a risk that many are reluctant to take.

So by allowing fluid movement between the government and the industry, the proposed scheme could dramatically amp up innovation in science and technology within the country. Creativity thrives on the edge, the productive friction between different sectors. By immersing themselves in industry environments, it is possible for researchers to generate insights that would not have emerged from within the walls of a single domain, especially one as non-conducive to light bulb ideas as a government department. The bureaucratic impulse runs counter to the nimble entrepreneurial spirit. Now, instead of being cloistered in state-run labs, scientists can potentially own and run their own firms without sacrificing the safety cushion of government employment.

Since government-managed efforts in science research are unlikely to match the risk-taking and quick-thinking attitude of a startup, it makes sense to retain talent and encourage them to draw on state resources and then convert a glimmer of an idea into a commercially successful product, and contribute royalty or even equity instead of intellectual labour to the state organisation where the idea was incubated. What8217;s more, this excursion into industry would allow for promising ideas to be field-tested and refined. This gives our scientists incentive to experiment 8212; and nothing to lose.