Science in Shaping the Future of an
Aspiring India
Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) have emerged as the major
drivers of
socio- economic development globally. India of the 21st century is
an aspiring
country. Faster, sustainable and inclusive growth is her
aspiration. Science,
Technology and Innovation leading to applications of products of
Research and
Development will need to play defining roles. The large
demographic dividend
and talent pool of the country offer unique opportunities the
National STI
enterprise for earning for itself a central position in national
development though
its excellence, relevance and performance.
What is innovation?
Scientific research converts money into knowledge and innovation
converts
knowledge into wealth. Innovation is more than mere conversion of
knowledge
into a workable technology. It implies an S&T-led solution
that is successfully
deployed in the economy or society. India has, hitherto accorded
little
importance to this aspect. There is now an urgent need to
invigorate this aspect
of the national STI enterprise.
Changing Phases of National Policies in
S&T
India’s Scientific Policy Resolution (SPR) of 1958, a pace setter
in the world,
remains valid even today. The SPR resolved to “foster, promote and
sustain” the
“cultivation of science and scientific research in all its aspects”.
Technology was
then assumed to flow from the country’s established science
infrastructure. The
SPR also emphasized the use of the scientific approach in all
activities of the
nation. The Technology Policy Statement (TPS) of 1983, enunciated
at a time of
constraints on import of technology, emphasized the need to attain
technological
competence and self-reliance. Several of its statements were
converted into
action. The Science and Technology Policy (STP) of 2003 brought
science and
technology (S&T) together. It emphasized the need for
investment into R&D to
address national problems. It called for integrating programmes of
socioeconomic
sectors with the national R&D system. It also articulated the
need for
technological innovation and creation of a national innovation
system. The world
has changed vastly since then in all spheres of human activity
Why another policy?
Today innovation is no longer a mere appendage to science and
technology but
has assumed centre stage in the developmental goals of countries
around the
world. Vertical integration of all dimensions of STI into the socio-economic
processes seems the way forward in the modern world. New paradigms
of
innovation have emerged and systems that foster innovation are not
universal.
They have become country and context specific. The Prime Minister
of India, at
the Indian Science Congress-2010 declared 2010-20 as the “Decade
of
Innovations” and formed the National Innovation Council. The Prime
Minister
and Minister of Science & Technology declared at the 99th Science
Congress the
bringing forth of a policy that develops the synergy between
science, technology
and innovation. The STI Policy 2013 is in furtherance of the
declaration and aims
to bring fresh perspectives to bear on innovation in the changing
context. The
policy thus seeks to focus on both people for science and science for people and
combine the benefits of excellence and relevance.
Policy for Science and Science Policy for
Development: A New Paradigm
Science, research and innovation can exist separately on their own
in
disconnected spaces. But there are synergistic linkages. India’s
global
competitiveness will be determined by the extent to which the STI
enterprise
integrates vertically and is able to create social good and
economic good through
innovation. Innovative structural mechanisms and models will thus
need to be
evolved to balance the priorities and develop interconnections of
the three
sectors.
India’s STI system needs to deliver solutions to address the
pressing national
challenges of energy and food security, nutrition, affordable
health care,
environment, water and sanitation and above all employment .Thus
discovery
and solution dimensions of science and technology need to play
major roles in
shaping the future of the country. “Science and technology for the people”
will be
the new paradigm of the Indian STI enterprise. Indian society must
emerge as
the major stake holder for the national STI system.
India’s STI-led developmental efforts should thus aim at faster,
inclusive and
sustainable growth. While global competitiveness in trade would
call for high technology
inputs, inclusive growth would need to ensure access, availability
and affordability of solutions to as large a population as
possible. India needs
‘inclusive innovation’. The policy will thus drive both investment
in science and
investment of science-led technology and innovation in
agriculture,
manufacturing and services that lead to socio-economic benefits to
a wide cross
section of society. Emphasis will be laid on bridging the gaps
between
knowledge and the economic sectors. The STI policy would develop
symbiotic
relationship with economic and other policies.
Capturing aspirations
The key elements of the STI policy will be:
_
Promoting proliferation of scientific temper
amongst all sections of society.
_
Enhancing skill for applications of science among
the young from all social
strata
_
Making careers in science, research and
innovation attractive to the brightest.
_
Establishing world class R&D infrastructure
for gaining global leadership in
some select frontier areas of science.
_
Positioning India among the top five global
scientific powers by 2020.
_
Linking contributions of science, research and
innovation system with
inclusive economic growth agenda and combine priorities of
excellence with
relevance
_
Migrating R&D outputs into commercial
applications by replicating hitherto
successful models as well as establishment of new structures.
_
Facilitating S&T-based high-risk innovations.
through new mechanisms
_
Triggering changes in the mindset and value
systems to recognize, respect
and reward performances which create wealth from S&T derived
knowledge.
Investment in Research and Development
Global investments in science, technology and innovation are
estimated at $1.2
trillion as of 2009. India’s R&D investment is less than 2.5%
of the global
investments. India’s R&D investment has been under 1% of the
GDP. Increasing
Gross Expenditure in Research and Development (GERD) to 2% of the
GDP has
been a national goal for some time. Achieving this in the next
five years is
realizable provided the private sector matches India’s public
investment and the
ratio of public to private sector investments in R&D changes
from the current 3:1
to 1:1 within the next five years. This seems attainable as the
industrial R&D
investment grew by 250% while the sales growth was at 200% between
2005 and
2010. An environment conducive for enhancing private sector
investment in
R&D will be created.
Gross budgetary support for the science and technology sector has
significantly
increased during the last decade. Accrual of benefits of such
increase in the
GERD is becoming evident. India’s global share of scientific
publications has, for
example, increased from 1.8% in 2001 to 3.5% in 2011. The
Composite Annual
Growth Rate (CAGR) of Indian publications during the last three
years is around
12±1%. But the percentage of Indian publications in the top 1% impact
making
journals is only 2.5%. India should aim to increase its share of
scientific
publications from the current 3.5% to over 7% and quadruple the
number of
papers in top 1% journals from the current levels by 2020.
Citation impact of
Indian publications must improve and match at least the global
averages.
Initiatives under the new policy should enable this to exceed the
global average
by 2020.
India ranks ninth globally in the number of scientific
publications and 12th in the
number of patents filed. According to the Global Science Report of
the UNESCO,
India’s current global ranking matches with its ranking with
respect to the
number of Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) of R&D personnel. In
order to match the
enhanced level of private sector investments in R&D and to
maintain the tempo
of public sector investments, it is imperative that within the
next five years the
total number of FTE of R&D personnel must increase by at least
66% of the
present strength.
Nourishing the root of Science for promoting Excellence in
Research
Ensuring sustainable pipeline of talented youth for science is a
challenge. India
has mounted some significant initiatives for attracting talent to
science and
careers with research. Empowering stakeholders for local actions
is a key
element of these initiatives. The policy framework will further
enable school
science education through improvement of teaching methods and
science
curricula, motivating science teachers and schemes for early
attraction of talent to
science.
Combining Excellence and Relevance: Way Forward for Indian
Science
Basic research-led discoveries stimulate innovation in the long
term. While
Indian investment in basic research will be further enhanced by
fostering
excellence through global benchmarks and focusing on relevance for
addressing
national challenges.
The few inter-university centres set up earlier have proved the
concept to be a
successful and viable one. Such inter-university centres would be
multiplied in
different fields to enable a wide cross section of university
researchers to access
advanced research facilities and equipment which are otherwise not
available in
university environments. Grand challenge programmes, where
resource
deployment could bring tangible and intangible returns in the
global setting, will
be launched.
Participation in Creation of Large Global R&D
Infrastructures and Big
Science
Modern science is increasingly becoming resource intensive. There
is a current
trend to create high-cost global infrastructures through
international consortia
models. Given India’s global standing in science, invitation to
participate in such
projects is expected to increase. Indian participation in such
consortia-led
international projects will be encouraged and facilitated for
improving access to
facilities for advanced research in cutting edge areas of science.
Attracting Private Sector Investments in R&D
Supply side interventions have hitherto been the main strategy for
public
investment in R&D. The situation requires changing; equal
emphasis on both
supply side interventions and demand based investments is needed.
While
public investments in R&D should maintain the current rates of
growth, private
investment has to increase significantly for translating R&D
outputs into
commercial outcomes.
Public funds for partnerships with the private sector for social
and public good
objectives will be earmarked as a new policy initiative. A
National Science,
Technology and Innovation Foundation will be established as a
Public Private
Partnership (PPP) initiative for investing critical levels of
resources for
innovative and ambitious projects.
The focus of the policy environment will be:
_
Facilitating private sector investment in R&D
centres in India and overseas.
_
Permitting multi stakeholders participation in
the Indian R&D system.
_
Treating R&D in the private sector at par
with public institutions for availing
public funds.
_
Bench marking of R&D funding mechanisms and
patterns globally.
_
Aligning Venture Capital and Inclusion Innovation
Fund systems.
_
Modifying IPR policy to provide for marching
rights for social good when
supported by public funds and for co-sharing IPRs generated under
PPP.
Science, Technology, Innovation Policy
2013 Page 6
_
Exploring newer mechanisms for fostering
Technology Business Incubators
(TBIs) and science-led entrepreneurship.
_
Providing incentives for commercialization of
innovations with focus on
green manufacturing.
Partnerships among Stake holders for Scaling
Successes of R&D
Special and innovative mechanisms for leveraging
academia-research-industry
partnerships will be devised. Success stories in S&T-based
innovations from
Indian experience would be replicated and scaled up. Regulatory
and legal
framework for sharing of IPRs between inventors and investors, and
for closing
gaps in the translation of new findings into the commercial space,
would be put
in place. Specifically the policy will focus on:
_
Prioritizing critical R&D areas like
agriculture, telecommunications, energy,
water management, drug discovery, material science including nano
technology, climate change and space technology and promoting
interdisciplinary
research,
_
Promoting innovations through mechanisms
including “Small Idea-Small
Money” and “Risky Idea Fund” to support innovation incubators
_
Supporting STI driven entrepreneurship with high
scaling coefficients and
viable business models,
_
Investing in young innovators and entrepreneurs
through education and
training.
Gaining Global Competitiveness through
Collaboration
Open source discoveries for public and social good form
interesting innovation
systems. Knowledge commons is an emerging theme for managing IPRs
created
through multi-stake holder participation. The STI Policy will
foster data sharing
and access. Tapping global resources and especially Indian
diaspora for
accelerating the pace of technology-led development would be
pursued. Multisectoral
partnerships and alliances will be leveraged for upscaling
national
competitiveness in research and manufacturing. The new policy
framework will
enable strategic partnerships and alliances with other nations
through both
bilateral and multilateral cooperation in science, technology and
innovation.
Cooperation in areas like climate change and mitigating natural
disasters are
important and beneficial. Science diplomacy, technology synergy
and technology
acquisition models should be judiciously deployed based on
strategic
relationships.
Performance-Reward Relationships
Transparent systems for tracking individual research performers
based on past
and proven track record would be developed to enable grant based
investments
in such performers. A well-designed centrally implementable
Performance
Related Incentive Scheme (PRIS) for basic research leading to
scientific
publications would be put in place.
For R&D leading to technology development and knowledge
services, the
criteria would, however, be specific to the institution, the local
conditions and
the context. Incentives to public-funded R&D centres for
outcomes leading to
public and strategic goods could be introduced. Transparent
performance reward
relationships and accountability for investments would form
central
theme of the policy.
Leveraging Innovation potentials for
Social Inclusion
Global innovations systems tend to bypass large sections of the
community. The
instruments of the STI policy will aim at increasing
accessibility, availability and
affordability of innovations. Establishment of a Fund for
Innovations for Social
Inclusion will be a step in this direction.
Delivery systems for STI outputs to stake
holders and Society
Migration of scientific outputs and technology interventions into
the social
systems is a multi-layered process. Direct delivery of scientific
outputs through
dissemination and public outreach by the scientific agencies and
bodies is
possible only in relatively smaller number of sectors. The entire
delivery
mechanism involves a large number of intermediaries from the
public, nongovernmental
and private sectors. This requires strengthening of linkages
between the scientific and socio-economic sectors. The STI policy
will leverage
the R&D allocations of socio-economic ministries through a
shared vision on
addressing developmental challenges, co-generation of values
through
partnerships, and co-investments, adoption of new delivery models
and
maximization of stakeholder value perceptions.
The state governments constitute important stake holders and
measures will be
taken to ensure that state-specific S&T vision and plans are
informed by the new
STI Policy.
Transition from perception to
evidence-based approaches for investment
decisions
Sound measurement principles for STI indicators are necessary for
evidence
based policy actions. New and globally relevant indicators, which
integrate
measures of excellence with relevance as well as inventiveness
with affordability,
will be developed. Around 10 sectors of high impact potential,
with commitment
to deploy commensurate resources, will be identified for directed
STI
intervention. Enabling policy instruments that facilitate both
research and
enterprise to focus their efforts in these will be put in place.
Global competitiveness of manufacturing sector is closely related
to the
technology intensity of the sector, which in turn is a direct
corollary of the
vitality of the R&D system in providing technology inputs.
India’s share of
global trade in high technology products is presently only around
8%. The aim is
to double this share through innovations in high-technology
products.
Appropriate supporting instruments will be put in place to
stimulate the
development and deployment of high technology by industry.
Triggering Ecosystem changes for Science, Technology and
Innovation
A flexible approach that allows for fine tuning the Five Year Plan
investments in
R&D, technology and innovation in response to rapid changes in
STI ecosystem
would be put in place. Speed, scale and sustainability would be
key governance
parameters for the new approach. Internal processes of
institutions need to
build-in Trust as an integral principle in decision making. “Risks”
are integral
parts of a vibrant national innovation system and policies must
provide for risk
management strategies. Education is currently focused on
understanding; it
should now embrace emphasis on Applications as well. Venture
capital systems
need to adventure in risky innovations rather than to rely on
incremental
innovations, new financing mechanisms for investing in enterprises
without fear
of failure and options for foreclosing unsuccessful ventures are
essential part of
such an enabling innovation ecosystem. India’s innovation
machinery should
aim to lead rather than to follow safe paths of discovery. Hence
Trust, Risk,
Application, Venture. Enterprise and Leadership should form new
mantras of
the new STI ecosystem.
Gender Parity in STI Sector
Participation of women in STI activities is important. New and
flexible schemes
would be put in place to address the mobility challenges of
employed women
scientists and technologists. A broad scope for re-entry of women
into R&D and
new facilitation mechanisms with special career path in diverse
areas will also be
made feasible.
Public Awareness and Public
Accountability of Indian STI sector
Public understanding of science is an important dimension for
introducing and
reaching the benefits of modern science and technology to the
people. Public and
political understanding of science should be based on evidence and
debates with
open mind. The civilizational aspect of science or scientific
temper needs to be
promoted across all sections of the society systematically. People
and decision
makers must be made aware of the implications of emerging
technologies,
including their ethical, social and economic dimensions. Effective
science
communication methods, by using tools such as the National
Knowledge
Network, will be initiated. These will enable all the stakeholders
of the civil
society to discuss and present a collective perspective on such
developments.
Mechanisms for assessing the performance of the national STI
system by all the
stakeholders and reporting to the nation on a periodic basis will
be established.
The national science academies will be accorded a major role in
this endeavour of
public accountability.
Science, Technology and Innovation to serve National Agenda
Agriculture: R&D policy for agriculture is articulated by
the Indian Council of
Agriculture Research (ICAR). Integration of the agriculture
R&D policy with the
national R&D system and STI policy will be brought about.
Manufacturing: STI inputs to manufacturing sector offer
opportunities for
enhanced employment generation. A strategic selection of sectors,
where India
can aspire for leadership, would be made for focused STI inputs. A
special drive
for stepping up R&D intensity in key manufacturing sectors
with competitive
advantage will be mounted. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)
generally
have low R&D intensity. Special schemes to support R&D at
the firm or
collective level, will be devised and put in place.
Services: The R&D intensity of the service sector needs
to be enhanced
considerably and skill base also expanded significantly. Linkages
between the
services with educational sectors for establishing human
capacities will be
fostered through incentive mechanisms. For rapidly accomplishing
the tasks of
modernization of technology-led services, technology missions,
aimed at
achieving global leadership in some select areas in the services
sector, will be
identified. Deployment of technology-led services for increasing
transparency in
the Government machinery will also be supported.
Climate Change: Climate change is of global concern and India has
articulated a
National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC). The S &T
system will have
to play an active role as a source of strategic knowledge for
coping with the
challenges of climate change as well as in meeting equity-based
differentiated
and shared responsibilities of India.
Policy Goal
STI policy 2013 is focused on serving India by connecting
performance with
excellence and relevance. The policy goal of the Indian STI sector
is to accelerate
the pace of discovery and delivery of science-led solutions for
serving the
aspirational goals of India for faster, sustainable and inclusive
growth. A strong
and viable Science, Research and Innovation System for High
Technology-led
path for India (SRISHTI) is the goal of the new STI policy.
Aspirations of India
would be
serviced by an equally aspiring Indian STI system.
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