National Innovation Day is commemorated on February 16 every year to recognize and appreciate the role of the inventors who are bringing innovation and change in the field of science and technology. This day is a great way to not only make the existing crop of innovators feel valued and appreciated, but it also inspires young people to pursue a career in technology and innovation. This special day celebrates the achievements of the scientific community and opens the doors to new technologies, inventions, and careers for the younger generation.
National Innovation Day: Here’s what some industry experts say:
“A confluence of changing market dynamics, tightening regulatory pressures and evolving customer preferences are shaping entirely new ways of doing business. New business models and experimentation with emerging technologies are delivering decisive advances in customer experience, operational efficiency and a competitive edge. The overall objective: become a nimbler, lean, customer-centric and resilient organization.
These massive shifts impose a new way of thinking when it comes to running organizations that focuses on delivering business outcomes—an approach that is focused on shorter time to market, iterative processes and value creation.
As the underlying technologies evolve further, bringing new value to business and customers, organizations need to embrace an innovative mindset and create a culture that promotes unconstrained thinking, embraces change, experimentation and continual learning and improvement. By doing so, they can stay relevant, pursue new heights of rapid innovation and improved performance, and respond to market demands with agility and dexterity.”• By Chander Damodaran, MD & CTO, Brillio
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“The pandemic has redefined how businesses operate and has made it increasingly clear that innovation is the key to future success. Companies that constantly innovate with evolving technologies and push the boundaries will emerge successful in the long run.
We have seen many examples of how innovation has helped businesses in the last two to three years. In a hybrid world, applications that have been leveraging live interactions are growing significantly as they keep people socially connected along with meeting business needs. From live streaming, to broadcasting, to video chat and beyond, real-time engagement technology is bringing new services and communication capabilities to the masses in unprecedented ways. In fact, it has reached incredible prevalence in all industries as consumers demand the ability to connect with others as well as with applications in novel ways.
Today we can see innovations like the metaverse and OpenAI redefining business operations. The ability to integrate real-time engagement is a game changer. Digital worlds have the power to simulate real-world environments and even exceed the limits of reality to improve lives in multiple ways. Real-time engagement technology will enable connectivity between the metaverses, creating an even more connected and engaging experience for users. RTE will also lower barriers to participation by making access to the metaverse as simple as using a web browser. These are some interesting innovations we can look forward to in the coming years.”• By Ranga Jagannath, Senior Director, Agora
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A national hackathon winner, owner of two patents, recipient of a top innovation award in my company, mentor to budding innovators, but having come to innovation only in 2017, with no background in ideation or patents, my perspective on innovation is as follows.
Success of innovation/ideation cannot be measured just by the number of patents. Ideas can take different paths. Some ideas are suited for white papers, some are pursued as proof of concept, some may be improvement ideas on the existing product and only a few may take the patent route. Apart from these, a number of company and industry forums provide a fertile ground for seeding your ideas.
Innovation beyond regular work requires dedication. Ideation is our stretch goal on top of our regular work. This is perhaps why many innovators lose their momentum after a good start.
Speaking as a woman in innovation, one of the challenges may be lack of awareness of opportunities available within the organization. Identifying and being part of available networks and utilizing available platforms would help women launch themselves on and continue a successful innovation journey. Actively reach out to find out what you need to do to get involved in the innovation journey in your organization.
Women inventors bring diversity of thought to the table. My personal observation has been that women often generate ideas that have empathy and center on social causes, while continuing to focus on commercial aspects.
Organizations can encourage inclusive innovation by recognizing women inventors and socializing success stories to a broader audience to create a positive impact. Of course, structured ideations, special programs designed and executed for women, and mentorship during the initial phases can also help.”• By Naga Jyothi Avusingi, Vice-President and head of Consumer Core Enablement, Consumer Technology, Wells Fargo India & Philippines
“Innovation has always been a key driver for the growth and success of highly dynamic business environments. Innovation, when coupled with the rapid pace of technological advances propels businesses to maximize business value and also guides them in staying relevant, and ahead of the competition. This helps them to leverage new opportunities, address new challenges, and ultimately drive growth and success. Companies that focus on innovation can also foster a culture of creativity within their organization, encouraging their employees to think outside the box and generate new ideas.
Axis Communications is well regarded as a pioneer in network video surveillance and our ecosystem allows us to nurture an innovative culture in becoming a future-ready organization by anticipating our customer needs and bringing in next gen surveillance solutions directed to enhance the efficiency across all sectors including smart cities and transportation management, among others. We are focused on providing value to customers through innovative solutions through constantly challenging the status quo and developing network-based products and solutions for security and associated areas. The capacity to provide our clients with the best ‘sight’ possible in all climates, places, and situations drives us to create innovative technologies that enables them to ‘see beyond’ the traditional vision. Leaders today must guide their workforce with a vision to nurture innovative thinking in order to harness the true potential of the next-gen technologies and build a future-ready enterprise.”- Sudhindra Holla, Director, India & SAARC, Axis Communications
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“The last decade of digitalization initiatives in Bharat has brought about incredible access to the internet and smartphones, enabling maximum people to connect, communicate, and collaborate in ways that were once unimaginable. On this National Innovation Day, we celebrate the power of accessible technology to propel further growth and innovation in Bharat. As a leader in voice assistance technology, we believe that the power of technology is amplified by vernacular voice interfaces for apps. Voice tech in vernacular languages democratizes access to high-end technology for everyone, regardless of language or literacy. Majority of smartphone users in India are still not accustomed to using Ecommerce, mobile banking and other empowering applications due to barriers like language and touch led designs. Slang Labs is working at enabling these applications to become usable by billions of Indians with the help of a variety of innovations in voice and vernacular. With the current Indian government’s focus on tech-led growth, the techade for India’s exponential growth and all-round development is here, and voice assistance in vernacular languages is leading the way in revolutionizing how Indians interact with technology and contribute to the nation’s development.”
– By Kumar Rangarajan, CEO & Co-founder – Slang Labs (Bangalore)
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“Innovation has been a driving force behind the phenomenal growth of the Indian IT sector. In today’s fast-paced, dynamic world, innovation is not just a nice-to-have but a necessity for businesses to remain agile and competitive in the global market. With a growing talent pool and an expanding technology ecosystem, the increased establishment of R&D centres has enabled companies to create innovative solutions and leverage next-gen technologies like low-code development platforms. At Pega, with our latest innovations like ‘sustainable low-code’ to minimize waste and ‘Voice AI,’ we are looking to integrate the capabilities of AI and low-code, enabling businesses to operate more efficiently and create new growth opportunities. Digital capabilities, next-gen technology, and engineering form the core of our operations, helping us to nurture innovative solutions at every point of interaction. Leaders must build an ecosystem that fosters innovation through consistent learning and collaboration, thereby accelerating the growth of today’s dynamic enterprises and preparing them for the future.
The Indian IT industry has always been at the forefront of innovative thinking and introducing new technologies and services that have revolutionized how we live and work. The onset of the pandemic has pushed us to be innovators and as the adoption of these technologies continues to grow, the future looks bright for the Indian IT industry.”
• By Deepak Visweswaraiah, Vice President, Platform Engineering and Site Managing Director, Pegasystems