S. Vishnu Sharma
IIT Madras GDC for Innovation and Entrepreneurship organized its fourth annual GDC symposium.
The event was on the theme ‘Igniting the Entrepreneurial Spirit in Academia’ and took place on the campus on 24 January 2024.
Focus of IIT Madras GDC
The event conducted by IIT Madras GDC (Gopalakrishnan-Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship) focused on issues that prevent adequate focus in policy and programs on creating entrepreneurial mind-set amongst academics.
It featured scientists, policymakers, entrepreneurs, investors, and participants by way of faculty, researchers, students and entrepreneurs.
Experience
IIT Madras GDC’s successful experience with deep tech start-ups germinating from home-grown STEM research solving India’s hard socio-economic challenges proves that these efforts can be scaled up by 10X to transform the nation.
This Annual Symposium seeks to debate how this can be achieved through policy and financial support from the Government and Industry besides the changes in approach towards Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Universities, say sources from IIT Madras GDC.
Keynote address
Delivering the Keynote Address at the symposium of IIT Madras GDC, Dr. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, said, “The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (NRF) Bill has been approved by the Indian Parliament.
The DST is the nodal Ministry and we are in the process of operationalizing the ANRF.
This ANRF has been our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision to upscale our R&D and innovation ecosystem infrastructure in the country, he said while delivering the keynote address at IIT Madras GDC symposium.
The Mission Governing Board of ANRF is going to be directly chaired by our Prime Minister.
We will be notifying it very soon. DST currently funds basic R&D research trough SERB, which will get subsumed into the ANRF.
The ANRF will be the primary body for funding R&D Programs, Technology Development Programs, incubation, start-ups and innovation programs in the country, he said speaking at the symposium of IIT Madras GDC.
It will be a professionally-managed body with a full-time CEO, he said.
Funds
It is envisaged in the ANRF Act that there are three kinds of funds. One fund is meant for the pure R&D activities, said Dr Abhay
The Second fund is meant for the activities which use to be carried in the current SERB programs that will be called ‘Science and Engineering Research Fund,’ said Dr Abhay at IIT Madras GDC symposium.
About 10 % of the funds will be allocated for the innovation and entrepreneurship funds, he said.
‘We are really looking for what innovative or disruptive things that we can do in the ANRF which can take the R&D landscape of the country to the next level.’
Area
Another area where DST is taking lead role is geospatial data. The Government of India has liberalized the Geospatial data access, said Dr Abhay at IIT Madras GDC event.
‘As part of the Geospatial Data Policy, we are now welcoming the participation of the private sector in this area.’
We will be setting up a ‘Geospatial Data Exchange and have a universal geospatial interface where the industries can access and share the data, he said.
There is big opportunity in terms of Geospatial Data Science and Geospatial Computing, he said.
Collaboration
IIT Madras GDC has collaborated with about 100 STEM institutions and incubators, supporting and guiding over 375 start-ups.
Notably, more than 120 start-ups nurtured through GDC’s programs have gone to market with their innovations, with many securing external funding exceeding Rs. 100 crores, say sources from IIT Madras GDC.
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The centre has been funded by grants from three illustrious alumni of IIT Madras – Dr. Gururaj Deshpande, Mrs. Jaishree Deshpande and Mr. ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan.
Vision
Dr. Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande, Chairman, Sparta Group LLC, and a Distinguished Alumnus Awardee of IIT Madras spoke about the vision of IIT Madras GDC.
‘If you look at the global economy, 50 years ago it uses to be driven by large companies.
But now, all the GDP and GNP are driven by start-ups, he said speaking about the vision for IIT Madras GDC.
To drive an economy, innovation is a central theme of growth and the economy. The US has always been at the forefront. India has the potential, he said.
We need deep thinkers, who are the core assets of a high-growth economy. You have to give innovators freedom and that freedom means you let them loose and they have the freedom to do things, he said.
‘That is what knowledge generation is all about.’
Establishment
IIT Madras GDC was established at IIT Madras in 2017 as a philanthropic initiative with a core objective of fostering innovation in STEM universities across India by facilitating the transformation of scientific research from laboratories to the marketplace through deep tech start-ups.
Role of innovation
Prof. Mahesh Panchagnula Dean (Alumni & Corporate Relations), IIT Madras, spoke on the role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in IIT Madras.
He said the mandate of IIT Madras GDC is to take ideas that have been created in the lab and flesh them out in sufficient detail that the market would find then interesting.
At the end of the day, the market is the validator. You make products that the market will buy, he said.
‘This idea of translating research from the lab to the world is not new to India.’
India has always been a knowledge producer for thousands of years and India has always also been a knowledge consumer for the benefits of the greater society, he said.