Do it yourself

 The NITI Aayog recently published “India Innovation Index 2021” report, which presents “an in-depth analysis of the state of innovation in the Indian economy”. The India Innovation Index 2021 presents state-wise rankings based on the innovation landscape and performance of the country’s states and union territories. The latest framework of the index has been mapped from the Global Innovation Index, published annually by WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). The report earnestly recognizes that human capital is the source of innovative ideas, knowledge, and practices. It notes that high innovation capabilities need heavy investment in human capital development at all levels to develop skills beyond technical knowledge, e.g., imaginative thinking, devising methods to tackle complex issues and keeping pace with the times. The report emphasizes “the practice of promoting innovation at the grassroots is necessary to fully utilise the potential of the indigenous knowledge...

Cloning is not innovation As per the latest list released by The Forbes, unsurprisingly 8 out of top 10 most innovative companies in the World in 2018 were American companies. ServiceNow has been termed as the most innovative company of 2018, while Facebook is positioned at number 10. The two non American companies in the top 10 occupy 8th and 9th place in the league table. One of these two non American companies is Naver Corporation, which runs an online platform in South Korea. The most surprising entry however is at number 8, which is Hindustan Unilever Limited - an Indian fast moving consumer good (FMCG) company. I say surprising because it is the only company in the top league not running a technology driven business or in simple words an old school company. The other surprising part was that no company from Germany, Japan, and China figured in the list of top innovators. If this list is valid then there are sufficient reasons to believe that —...