Innovation is no longer the prive of Silicon Valley
Innovation is no longer the prive of Silicon Valley. Indian industry is the cynosure of all eyes when it comes to innovation.
Silicon Valley has a great innovation eco-system but it is tough to recreate ‘Silicon Valley’ elsewhere. Within Silicon Valley there are new challenges bringing resistance to grow further, home prices have gone up, city traffic has become a riddle, and the talent of the technology sector has become highly unorganised. We hear news like ‘IPOs are vanishing in Silicon Valley’, ‘Austin may be gaining on Silicon Valley’. To counter the slowdown there is policy making efforts at various leadership forums and government to create sustainable growth at Silicon Valley. Many projects were developed to proactively identify problems and define data-driven public policies. BUT so far these are not connecting to the region’s growth in innovation industries.
Moreover, the world around has changed. Production of goods, deliveries, and services are now globally distributed in a hyper way. Innovation has to shift ‘near the consumption’ and each country in the supply chain has to bring different sets of local innovations.
India, from always perceived as back‐office services or cheap software development center, is fast becoming a new force, a new-age innovator. Initial credit should go to countless India‐born and India‐educated Tech heads, R&D experts in Silicon Valley who have created the ‘India’ brand as innovator. Bengaluru has emerged on the top fifth place for innovation centres of global firms. Last year many companies who set up innovation centres globally have selected Bengaluru as most preferred destination for new innovation centres. But within the country, Indian businesses are failing to understand the rapid pace of change, there is a lack of pre-requisites like infrastructure, talented staff, skills, adaptive culture, entre-intra-preneurship, and confidence. India needs to figure out right investment approach and well defined realistic goals for fostering innovation. Indian institutions, regulators, and educational systems are needed to join hands and develop the capabilities to really generate not one but many ‘Silicon Valley’ in the country.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Suneel Sharma (Director-Virtual Reality Program)
Dr. Suneel Sharma is a tech entrepreneurial spirit and educationist, after gaining a rich professional experience of over 20 years in multinationals and Indian top universities. Known for his visionary thinking, strategic insights and execution capabilities, Dr. Suneel earned many awards and recognition. He was nominated for Board of Directors (OAUG) at Oracle. He is educated in Engineering, Humanities, Science, Education, and Business Administration from BITS-Pilani, IIM-Bangalore, Stanford University and Lancaster University. He obtained Glider’s Pilot License and medals in swimming during his college days.
