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21st Century Innovation Hubs February 15, 2008
Thats the title of the paper we wrote to serve as a framework for discussion of Nasscom’s 2nd P2P breakway session. The group, moderated by DataQuest Chief Editor, Prasanto Roy, discussed whether the globalization of innovation was for real. He started off by giving the much talked example of innovation from India ( not from the IT sector though)- the Nano.
The premise of the discussion was that Israel, India and China were emerging innovation springs- Israel being a proven player while India and China are strong emerging contenders.
The nature of the topic being broad, and being one that almost everyone present had a point of view on, the discussions were lively and brought to the table both theoretical frameworks as well as anecdotal data.
There were some that felt that innovation should not be limited to IP creation- India had pioneered numerous process innovations on the way to becoming the most preferred IT outsourcing hub. There was another point of view that the tech innovation being seen today is mostly being seen in R&D labs of MNCs.
My view on this was as follows- for innovative products to be created, access to, and knowledge of the market is critical- with the markets exploding in both India and China, there are a lot of below the radar start ups that are focusing on developing IP led solutions for these markets. Ashwin from Nasscom added that it was also necessary for the market to have early adopters for innovative ideas to succeed.
We also discussed the need for the right social mind set for the creation of an innovation ecosytem- in the Silicon Valley for example, the value chain that supports a start up is willing to share the risk of th start up. In India on the other hand, the risk of failure and need for a secure job often result in good ideas not seeing the light of day. In this connection, the contrasting example of Israel was cited- the country has leveraged adversity to create some of the most innovative products.
Another interesting point brought up by the CTO of KPIT Cummins is that the education system, starting from primary school, must focus on kindling curiosity and encourage enquiry rather than over emphasize “rote learning”.
There were others who argued that just as much as India needs innovation, Innovation needs India - to underscore the point that with the combined purchasing power of India and China in the foreseeable future, innovations tailored for these markets are inevitable.
Prasanto summed up the session with time running out- but not before sufficient threads had been created for further debate and discussions to continue….
Top technology trends to watch out for February 15, 2008
Today at the Nasscom Summit, I attended an interesting session on the top trends in technology – Bruce Richardson of AMR Research talked about some interesting trends that included the usual suspects like SaaS and 3D Internet ( Second Life etc) and some not so obvious ones such as Data Visualization and “Pedias”. Data Visualization is an area that enables a business to explore and analyze enterprise information in ways that are far beyond what technologies such as search and BI can. Bruce mentioned a company called Endeca, which has strategic investments from SAP and IBM. Endeca uses the concept Guided Summarization and has created a new technology platform – Information Access Platform- to do this. A company worth watching!
Bruce also spoke of web 2.0 applied to the enterprise world, an idea that is gaining ground and was also the theme of the Day 1 Breakaway session.
Another interesting insight from Bruce was on the need, in a country like the US with its aging population demographics, for example have an urgent need to institutionalize knowledge and this will spur the demand for KM systems.
The other speaker David Levin from United Business Media spoke of the concept of Immersive Marketing and Metaverse and showcased some cool apps developed by their company.
I could not listen completely to the 3rd speaker from British Telecom as I had to get into another session. But what I heard from Bruce in particular left with me a lot of thoughts to ponder over.
NASSCOM Connect February 7, 2008
Exciting times lie ahead for the Indian software industry with the snapping of the under sea cables driving tremors down the BPO spine, the looming threat of US recession keeping the outsourcing industry at its edge and the boom of communications rapidly shrinking the world! The 13th to the 15th of February at the sidelines of the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum would be buzzing with these speculations, brainstorming and expert comments.
The excitement is building up online, and with the NASSCOM Connect we don’t have to wait anymore to get a taste of the times. Last year we had started a collaborative flavour to the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum 2008 with the Connect, which is a unique service offered to the conference delegates. Connect with its appropriate nomenclature, helps delegates in establishing a pre-event connect and even allows for more effective networking during the event. This is in line with the new paradigms of connectivity and enhances networking opportunities for NASSCOM ILF delegates.
A delegate can be part of a community of people with similar interests, get visibility for one’s own company, topic or country. A delegate can post a query he/ she has to the global community and even build a unique individual programme schedule from the pot pourri that is available at the ILF 08. It is an ideal platform to interact with peers, to share experiences and understand common concerns and challenges. The portal even allows seeking solutions for business problems, and you just might find an expert provide the absolute perfect answer. Helping build communities around the event, NASSCOM 2008 Connect now even offers various modes of networking, from web-based applications, RFID enabled kiosks to mobile services, and of course the buoyant NASSCOM Blog. This is a great opportunity and has been on the wish lists of our guests!
While there are the new-age technology options for networking there is also the traditional and equally exciting P2P (Peer to Peer) Connect which would be the platform to network and ideate on two favourite themes today; with Yahoo R&D’s Sharad Sharma moderating how blogs, Web 2.0 and Mobile applications are heating up marketing communications, Cybermedia’s Prasanto Roy’s moderating the identifying of new leaders in Software Innovation –Israel, China or India?
