Innovations,
Incentives and Institutions: Honey Bee Network
Section I. Accountability towards
knowledge providers
How would we feel, if in a meeting
attended by various intellectuals, some body takes notes of the discussions and
then becomes the author of the summary. She does not attribute any ideas to
those who shared these in the first place and claims authorship over the ideas?
Similarly, a corporation or any other outside institution or individual
accesses the biodiversity conserved by a community along with associated
knowledge about its uses, develops a value added product such as a plant
variety or drug or dye, generates wealth and does not share any part with the
resource conservers and knowledge generators and providers? If every person or
institution, which collects knowledge of people, neither attributes nor shares
the findings with the knowledge providers in their language and in the manner
that they can understand, will we consider such an exchange ethical and fair?
How would knowledge providers know whether we have used their knowledge in the
right context? How will they learn form each other and thus enrich each other’s
repertoire? How will the creativity and innovative potential of people be
recognised, respected and rewarded?
It is questions like these, which brought
many like-minded people more than fifteen years ago together and eventually
triggered the evolution of Honey Bee network. This group found it totally
unfair and unethical that the only resource in which poor people were rich,
that is their knowledge, is taken away from them without any attribution,
accountability or reciprocity. Honey Bee
network also believed that if many of these knowledge rich people were
economically poor, it was not because their knowledge was of lesser consequence
or that they were incapable of generating creative and efficient solutions
(though, in some cases, this well might be the reason). Their conditions could
also be explained by various policy and institutional factors apart form the
lack of supporting platforms for strengthening their problem solving
capabilities. It is to develop a platform of this kind that Honey Bee network
devoted its attention over all these years. A data base of thousands of
innovations and traditional knowledge was built up, all with the name and
addresses of the knowledge providers, some of it shared with knowledge
providers and others through Honey bee News letter and its local language
versions.
The concept of Honey Bee was a response to above questions and a quest for building up an ethical and accountable relationship with knowledge rich and economically poor people. Honey Bee philosophy was a metaphor reflecting what we are trying to achieve. Honey Bee does what we do not. It collects pollens from the flowers and flowers do not complain. It connects flower to flower through pollination. This newsletter started with discourse on knowledge, rights of knowledge providers, ethics of conservation, heuristics of innovations etc., and it became an important voice on the issue of IPR. When nobody was debating about GATT in the developing countries( and CBD was still to be signed), the Honey bee network was raising the question, “Will you stand by IPRs of peasants?” In some sense, it was a drive to make us more accountable towards people whose knowledge we wanted to learn from. What we realized after a while was that the contribution that we are getting from all sectors of the society was far more from individuals than from NGOs.
However, in
addition to the publication of the newsletter, the Network tried to do many
other things. To enumerate a few initiatives, way back in 1991, the first biodiversity contest was
organized by our oldest partner, SEVA,
among children as well as adults in a village in a drought prone region
of
When the movement
started expanding more, a need for setting up SRISTI, a development voluntary
organization was felt in 1993 to provide backup support to Honey Bee network. Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad has provided extremely valuable support to Honey Bee network right
from its inception, and this support has continued even after the setting up of
SRISTI, GIAN and NIF. Five functions were identified as crucial to the
core activities of Honey Bee network., (a) documentation and dissemination
(through application of information technology and otherwise) of innovations
and traditional knowledge, (b) validation and value addition in the knowledge,
innovation and practices, (c) protection of intellectual property rights, (d)
provision of monetary and non-monetary incentives for individual and collective
creativity, conservation contribution, and innovations, and (e) policy advocacy
for expanding institutional space for grassroots innovators and traditional
knowledge holders.
It is around these functions that the activities of
Honey Bee network, SRISTI and its partners were organized. It is these functions, as we would notice
became the basis for evolution of National Innovation Foundation (NIF).
At the end of the day, the Honey Bee Network has in
some way, proved that the modern institutions can, given a will, blend with the
best of local knowledge system, traditional knowledge and contemporary
creativity. We have realized how critical is the issue of traditional
knowledge. But equally important is the issue of contemporary creativity. There
are lot of people who have innovated in the past few years. While focus on
traditional knowledge is justified given its important role in survival of
millions of people, contemporary sources of creativity are also important to
reinforce the experimental ethic.
The validation and value addition of documented knowledge helped in recognizing
what was needed to be shared, how, when and in what form and with whom. It is obvious that not all experiences of
knowledge holders might have the same validity.
The on-farm research was attempted as one approach to validate. Linkages with formal institutions of science
and technology was another. It was also
realized that knowledge experts among themselves could debate and ascertain the
potential some of the practices might have by drawing upon their own
understanding and experience about the concerned knowledge systems. The meetings of ‘Shodh Sankal’ i.e. the chain
of experimenters became an important means of such a dialogue among the
innovators and others interested in these knowledge systems.
Incentive Models for Rewarding
Innovators
Honey Bee Network took up the enormously challenging task of
experimenting with various models of recognizing and rewarding innovative
individuals, groups and communities. SRISTI has conceived four different
incentive models for rewarding innovators:
Material-individual: includes awards,
fellowships, patent rights, license fees and other forms of remuneration and
monetary incentives for individuals.
Material-collective: includes trust funds, risk funds, mutual insurance fund, venture
capital support and revolving funds under the direct control of the
stakeholders. The reward would flow to a group through different funds to
encourage inventive communities to experiment more and more on the path of
entrepreneurship.
Non-material-individual : includes
honoring the innovators for their unique contributions to society by conferring
titles, public felicitation, invitation to lecture at formal centres of
learning, conferences, meetings etc.
Non-material-collective: includes
changes in educational curriculum, favourable policy environment for
conservation practices, eco-friendly products, capacity building through
transfer of technology etc. The policy
change influencing the livelihood options of communities and individuals
without necessarily providing immediate monetary input would also constitute
non-monetary or material collective incentive.
The respect, recognition and reward for community actions besides
creation of a consciousness which links seven Es (Ethics, Efficiency and
Entrepreneurship, Excellence, Environment, Equity, Education, and Empathy) thus
became a very important non-material collective incentive for creativity,
conservation and caring culture in society.
The synergy among seven Es will emerge essentially in an
institutional context. The technology can only change the ratio of inputs and
outputs, but how are out puts shared, whether inputs are used with in
sustainable limits and to what extent the environmental, ethical, and equity
considerations are kept in balance will depend upon the institutions. These
institutions can be formal as well as informal. Traditional knowledge is often
conserved by the communities and individual experts through norms and values
that influence the way resources are used, benefits shared and interest of
future generations as well as non human sentient beings (birds, animals, ants
etc.) are looked after.
Individual innovators may develop a technological
solution but the extent to which it integrates the seven Es will again depend
upon the values of the innovator and the institutional context in which
innovation evolves and grows, is supported or and diffused.
Technology, we believe, is like words and institutions
are like grammar. We discuss next the role formal institutions have played in
building value chain around grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge
systems. The core of these institutions is also value based. For instance,
GIANs were never supposed to call any innovator or traditional knowledge expert
to office or ask him/her to fill up any form. They are supposed to provide all
the help at the door step of the innovator or community.
Evolution of GIAN (Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network)
After a while, Network felt that recognition and documentation of
people’s knowledge was not enough. We should also aim at the commercialization
of viable innovations, so that their benefits are shared widely among the
community members. Such an
entrepreneurial approach would provide
motivation to innovate further.
To achieve this goal, a nodal
agency should be created that would not only upscale these innovations but also
would act as a clearing house of ideas by facilitating interaction among the
innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors.
This idea was mooted at the International Conference on Creativity and
Innovations at Grassroots (ICCIG) held at Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad in January 1997. The
communication was sent in this regard to all the state governments but only
Gujarat government came forward to cooperate with SRISTI, IIM-A and Honey Bee
network to set up a Green Venture Promotion Fund to support the rural and urban
disadvantaged grassroots innovators and traditional knowledge holders. This agency would link them to formal systems
of marketing, technical and financial services. It was expected that such a
fund would also prepare business plans for the innovators and would search and
support entrepreneurs who would convert the innovations into enterprise.
The first model of GIAN ( now GIAN west)
was set up on March 1, 1997 at Ahmedabad. In its five years of existence, GIAN has been
successful in converting many innovations into products and enterprises.
However, the experience of convincing the investors in public and private
sector to fund these innovation-based enterprises has not been an easy
task. It was obvious that the
transaction costs in mentoring such dispersed, small and risky ventures were
very high and financial returns were not seen to be commensurate with these risks
(the economic returns, however, were likely to be much higher). The financial institutions had not learnt any
lesson from the experience of micro-finance in which the poor people had proved
to be much better pay masters than the so-called large entrepreneurs with
considerable collateral security.
The Need for Micro Venture
Fund
The need was to set up grassroots innovations
financing mechanism that would provide seed money or start up support to
encourage such innovations based enterprise.
The ever-increasing number of innovations in the portfolio of Honey Bee
network was a clear indication that the mechanism should be set up earlier then
later. GIAN has been negotiating with many funding institutions and has not yet
received positive response from many.
Thus despite the presence of a huge database on
innovations with for exploitation, GIAN has not been able to set up as many new
enterprises as was necessary largely because of
a very limited financial resource base and lack of much risk capital
support. The role of TePP
(Technopreneurial Promotion Programme of Department of Science and Technology
and Department of Scientific and Industrial Research) has been most significant
and pivotal in achieving the goals of GIAN Gujarat so far. Despite all the limitations, its experience
has provided a significant basis for further policy and institutional
innovations in the country. An Incubation and Micro Venture Fund to
finance grassroots innovations could go a long way in providing a helping hand
for the growth innovation based enterprises, generation of employment and
alleviation of poverty.
Section
II. Institutionalizing innovative culture in India: NIF
The Union Budget of 1999 included the announcement
for setting up of the National Innovation Foundation (NIF). The purpose was to
build the National register of inventions, innovations and outstanding
traditional knowledge, support value addition research by scientists as well as
innovators at grassroots level, setting up incubators to convert innovations
into products and enterprises and eventually make India a global leader in
sustainable technologies.
NIF
was set up by Department of Science and Technology in March 2000 at Ahmedabad
to achieve its goals essentially through a non-governmental spirit and by
drawing upon the Honey Bee network and its collaborating partners. The objectives of NIF are:
Objectives
§
To help India become an innovative and
creative society and a global leader in sustainable technologies by scouting,
spawning and sustaining grassroots innovations.
§
To ensure evolution and diffusion of
green grassroots innovations in a selective, time-bound and mission-oriented
basis so as to meet the socio-economic and environmental needs of our society.
§
To provide institutional support in
scouting, spawning, sustaining, and scaling up grassroots green innovations as
well as outstanding traditional knowledge and helping their transition to
self-supporting activities. It seeks
self-reliance through competitive advantage of innovation-based enterprises
and/or application of people-generated sustainable technologies at grassroots
level.
§
To build linkages between excellence in
formal scientific systems and informal knowledge systems and create a knowledge
network to link various stakeholders through application of information
technology and other means.
§
To promote wider social awareness, and
possible applications, of the know how generated as a result of these
initiatives in commercial or social spheres and encourage its incorporation in
educational curriculum, developmental policies and programs.
NIF pursues each of five of the key functions
described below through a National Coordinator. At present only two National
Coordinators (NCs) are in place for
Scouting and Documentation and Research and Value addition. Other three
NCs are being recruited. The Intellectual property function is being looked
after through four fellows hired for the purpose.
A Scouting and Documentation
Scouting and
Documentation of the innovations is the
first step towards the fulfillment of the mission of NIF. Scouting involves
extensive fieldwork; travel in rural and urban areas, search for ‘odd balls’-
the experimenters, local community and knowledge experts in the society. The
key activities are::
• To coordinate
with various governmental and non-governmental agencies to mount national
campaign to scout innovations with the help of grassroots level functionaries
of education, agriculture, rural development, small scale industry, Panchayati
Raj institutions, etc.
• To screen,
document and verify the claims about these innovations through various networks
of scientific and other institutional initiatives as well as through Honey Bee
collaborators, existing databases and field visits.
• To generate incentive
mechanisms for for innovators.
• To provide
assistance in forging decentralized networks of inventors/knowledge experts and
strengthen the Honey Bee Network.
• To obtain Prior
Informed Consent (PIC) of the providers of knowledge.
• To share the innovations permitted in public
domain with the knowledge providers through Honey Bee newsletter and other
media to enrich the repertoire of the local communities and informal knowledge
experts and to support shodh yatras in different parts of the country.
B. Dissemination, and Database Management through
Information and Communication Technology ( ICTs) applications
The entire effort of
scouting and documentation leads to the development of a database of
innovations and traditional knowledge aimed at building the National Register.
The process involves using various
Information Technology and database applications for horizontal
networking among innovators and traditional knowledge experts as well as other stakeholders. In
addition to this the multi-lingual approach to the database development is the
main task ahead. The activities involved
are:
• To develop and
maintain the National Register of Innovations (contemporary innovations and
traditional knowledge), database management, electronic networking, web based
management of value chain for grassroots
innovations, coordination with various regional language portals and managing
National Grassroots Innovation and TK Management Information System.
• To develop multi
language, multimedia kiosks at various public places, educational institutions
and local bodies and help establish decentralised Indian language databases of
innovations and Traditional Knowledge.
• To coordinate
dissemination and publication activities of NIF.
• To manage the
archive of all communications and maintain effective touch with latest trends
in technologies which can be harnessed in support of grassroots innovators.
C. Value Addition and Research & Development
Most of the innovators
and/or traditional knowledge experts need optimization in design process or
product formulation through blending with modern science and technology
inputs. Market prospects for many
innovators will be very low without proper value addition. Efficiency gains can be made by creating
technology networks. The Research and Development is a key focus of NIF. It provides a platform for the synergy
between formal and informal science and technology, institutions and knowledge
system. The tasks involved include:
• To coordinate
with public and private sector R & D institutions, people’s organizations
and rural and urban innovators themselves to add value to local innovations.
• To develop
product development plans and help the grassroots innovators mobilize funds
from TePP and other such programs within and outside the country.
• To build product
development teams on contractual basis to get the products and/or services
developed through licensees ensuring appropriate benefit sharing arrangements.
• To set up and
help coordinate GIANs in different regions along with other national
coordinator.
• To obtain help of
eminent scientists and technological experts from various fields as a part of
the Research Advisory Committee, or otherwise which will guide the activities
of NIF.
D. Intellectual Property Rights Management
The only resource in
which poor people are rich is their knowledge.
Protection of the intellectual property rights becomes necessary to
ensure knowledge based approach to work.
The activities necessary to achieve this goal are:
• To coordinate with various intellectual
property institutions and attorneys to mobilize pro bono or paid help for grassroots innovators to file patents,
trademark and other means of IP protection and also directly file applications
on their behalf.
• To pursue with
the government authorities, the possibility of NIF providing
the certificate of inventions/unique Traditional Knowledge accompanied
by medium term protection so as to reduce transaction costs of
the IP offices and the innovators.
• To coordinate
with WIPO and other international patent offices to secure IP protection for
grassroots innovators globally wherever applicable.
• To provide
assistance to innovators to enter into licensing arrangements with
entrepreneurs for transferring technologies.
• To help pool part
of the license fee obtained from the innovators towards an innovation fund for
supporting innovators.
• To help in prior
art search so that innovators can maintain their competitive edge.
• To screen ongoing
patents on Indian traditional knowledge so as to oppose the improperly granted
patents, particularly dealing with knowledge/innovations/practices entered in
the National Register.
E. Business Development & Micro Venture
Value chain for green
grassroots innovation will require financial support at different stages of
product cycle. Initially support is
required for improving the attributes of the innovative product/prototype
through R&D linkages. This initial
market assessment has to be followed by micro venture support for converting
innovations into enterprises. The
various activities needed for the purpose are:
• To coordinate
with various entrepreneur/industry associations, management institutions and
incubators to mobilize mentoring and management support for grassroots
innovators and TK holder.
• To coordinate
with private and public sector industrial and financial institutions and
associations to link innovations with investment and enterprise wherever
possible.
• To help promote
various innovations and outstanding TK through market and non-market channels.
• To encourage
various industry associations and other developmental bodies to set up
mechanisms for licensing innovations for business development and equitable benefit
sharing with the innovators and TK holder.
• To help raise
resources for pursuing various activities or for innovation value chain.
• To help set up the
National Micro Venture Fund through public and private participation and
mobilize incubation fund and venture capital for the innovators and TK holders.
A: Scouting and Documentation of Grassroots Innovations
To scout grassroots green innovators and traditional knowledge holders who
had solved a local problem entirely through their own effort without any
outside help requires a massive campaign around the country. The knowledge so
documented requires Prior Informed Consent of the innovators and Traditional
Knowledge holders, besides verifications in the case of those chosen for
commendation, awards and support for value addition and commercialization. National Innovation Foundation has drawn upon
a variety of approaches for scouting and documentation evolved by the Honey Bee
network for its national campaign for over last decade and a half.
The documentation and dissemination are to some extent simultaneous
processes. Hence, the dissemination of documented innovations and traditional
knowledge became integral part of the most of the methods used for
documentation of grassroots innovations. Honey Bee network has been able to
mobilize large number of students from rural (and some urban) colleges, rural
youths, grassroots functionaries of rural development and other departments of
the state government, teachers and development workers and individual
volunteers or what we may call ‘NGIs’(Non-Governmental Individuals) for
documentation and dissemination.
Various methodologies and approaches used for documentation and
dissemination are:
i) Survey of Odd Balls in the Villages through Students.
Initially about 100-120
student volunteers from various Gandhian institutions in Gujarat are selected
every year by the Honey Bee Network for
about two months during the summer vacation. They are given simple orientation
training in small groups for scouting and documenting innovations and
traditional knowledge. They are encouraged to appreciate the grassroots
innovations created by their family members and neighbours in the village to
begin with. The students are asked to narrate some of their own experiences,
which were interesting, intriguing or
inspiring. By underlining the ones that we find counter intuitive or less
obvious, we convey what we are looking for. The process of training gets demystified
and the purpose of scouting becomes clear because the examples of what we are
looking for are drawn from the scout’s own experience. The students then survey
different villages. They also collect addresses of a few farmers who either
know about the innovator concerned and/or have fields adjoining the fields of
the innovative farmer. We write letters to these contacts later to have a first
round of confirmation. Later, another student/field investigator revisits each
site to avoid any error in the process.
The best scouts are given prizes in the annual Honey Bee network
meeting.
ii) Organizing Competition for Scouting Innovations
Competitions have been
organized in various parts of India among students and grassroots functionaries
of the state government. Survey forms have been developed to seek brief
information about the innovations scouted by the participants. Application
forms, procedure and other details are explained through meetings in
schools/colleges. Voluntary teachers coordinate such contests in their schools
and ensure that students work in the spirit of fulfilling their curiosity to
learn from informal knowledge experts in our society rather than to earn a
small honorarium. For launching competition among the grassroots functionaries, workshops are organized to explain the purpose of scouting campaign,
as well as to expose the participants about the earlier experiences in
scouting. A committee of three persons
evaluates the entries sent in by the participants and the winners are awarded
prizes and certificates in the network meeting. Some of the outstanding
innovators identified through competition are also honoured at such meetings.
Many students and functionaries can participate in this activity. Revolving
trophies are given to the best district official/development agency which
scouts the most interesting innovations and traditional knowledge. We have not
succeeded so far to institutionalize such a process in many states but efforts
are on.
Though one finds that same
or similar traditional knowledge and in some cases even innovations are
recorded from more than one place, we do not discourage this. This helps us to learn about the capability
of local communities and individuals to evolve sometimes similar solutions to
same problems independently, autonomously and simultaneously. In some cases, such a knowledge or innovation
may indeed have diffused from place to another.
Our experience so far has been that many innovations/traditional
knowledge are discovered from unexpected quarters within a very short span of
time through such competitions.
iii) Scanning
of Old Literature
There are many visionaries
and experts at the regional level who did not get their due credit and
recognition just because they did not publish in English. As a result many
times it so happens that we end up giving credit for ‘reinventing the
wheel’. One of the purposes of scanning
the old, vernacular literature is to bring these unaccredited knowledge systems
to light. We have collected old books from civil society, old institutions and
stalls, NGOs and vendors of old books. We are trying to reprint some of these
books. Particular mention may be made of a book by Gangaben, who became a widow
at an early age and published a compendium of 2080 formulae for self employment based on local
knowledge way back in 1898 in Gujarati
language.
iv) Agricultural and Cultural Fairs
Agricultural fairs are
vibrant traditional institutions in rural
v) Shodh Sankal - a local network of grassroots innovators
To generate lateral learning
environment among the grassroots innovators, SRISTI has initiated the concept
of Shodh Sankal - chain of experimenting
farmers. The idea is to bring together
experimenting farmers and discuss the results of trials that farmers have taken
up on their own to solve various local problems. This discussion also enhances the esteem for
local knowledge system. It is possible to generate `lateral learning’ among
farmers by sharing innovative practices found suitable in one region with the
farmers in another similar region after on farm testing/trials if necessary.
This could help to speed up the process of technological change in regions
where formal technology generation system has not been very successful, such as
dry regions, mountainous regions and other disadvantaged areas. Even in less
risk prone regions it cannot be assumed that an innovative technology will diffuse
on its own just because some farmers in a village have evolved it.
vi) Shodh Yatra (journey for exploration)
Based on the experiences of
several years, the network launched the concept of Shodh Yatra in 1998. The journey of exploration is organised on
foot from one village to another for 8-10 days covering maximum of about 250
kms during extreme summer as well as winter. Innovative farmers, artisans,
students and scientists join Shodh Yatra
and walk with the objective of participatory learning and dissemination of
information as well as spreading experimental and inventive ethics among
communities. Local experts whether in traditional knowledge or contemporary
innovations are honoured at their door step in these villages. Honey Bee
database is shared with farmers in the local language through laptop computer
and other publications. A mobile exhibition on medicinal plants, posters,
artifacts, working models of innovations etc., are used for making the
presentation more relevant to the local context. Biodiversity contests are
organized among children while recipe contests are organized among women in
some of the villages (particularly with focus on such food recipes in which at
least one uncultivated plant has been used).
vii) Scouting through Innovators
Unlike the agricultural
practices, the search for artisanal and farm machinery innovations is far more
complex. One village may have several
hundred farmers but only one or two artisans.
To meet 100 artisans, one may have to survey 50-100 villages. However, over a period of time we discovered
that social network of artisans is reasonably strong. Once we identified an innovative artisan or
mechanic, we asked him to look for others of his kind. This process has helped in discovering many
innovators.
viii) Scouting through Media
Many newspapers and
magazines have written about the innovations and traditional knowledge
recognized by Honey Bee network. Some of
the innovators have approached us after reading about other innovators. This process is further strengthened through
circulation of posters of competition among various institutions and
stake-holders. A very small number of
innovations are also scouted through internet where existing websites (www.sristi.org, www.nifindia.org, www.gian.org, www.honeybee.org,
www.indiainnovates.com) of the network
have popularized the missions of NIF and other collaborating institutions.
Practices collected from
various sources reflect a variety of knowledge systems, problem solving
approaches, sectoral areas of technology, and above all a variety of ethical
approach to evolution and dissemination of local solutions. The technological
solutions have been recorded from various fields such as agronomy, plant
varieties, plant protection, crop production, soil and water conservation, farm
implements, veterinary and animal husbandry, poultry keeping, vegetative dye,
forest and other natural resource management, leather tanning, energy
generation, transport, general utilities, farm and small scale machineries,
household utilities etc. The methods described above are complementary to each
other and are some times followed together. The practices scouted or documented
irrespective of the methods used, are verified by writing letters to the
innovators and followed by a personal visit from the team. Innovators are encouraged
to correct the practices and interpretation made of the information provided by
them. Verified practices are stored in the computerized database with the names
and addresses of the innovators as well as communicators. If the same practice
is reported from other sources without variation, the names of the other
providers are also added in the same record. However, all the scouting methods
are not as effective in the same way in different regions. The success rate of
a particular scouting method may not be the same at every place, it varies over
time, space and of course the social group attempting to use these methods.
Scouting
through the Network
The network collaborators and coordinators of GIAN
play a very important role in helping to attain a record of respectable number
of innovations and traditional knowledge through their active involvement with
the network.
Lateral learning in the
network: Experiences shared by the collaborators
In a recent meeting, various collaborators shared their
experiences about different methodologies tried by them to scout innovations
and traditional knowledge. It was
stressed that our focus need not be only on number of entries but also on
quality of entries. Similarly, mere documentation is not enough, conversion of
innovations and traditional knowledge into products and enterprises was also
necessary. There was a general consensus that the mobilization of entries
through advertisements was much lesser whereas the results through network
contact were much better. NIF’s experience at national level corroborated this.
Out of about 13000 innovations/traditional knowledge examples, hardly 1600
practices/innovations were mobilized through the advertisement in the papers.
It was also felt that before detailed documentation, the originality and social
importance of the innovation should be ascertained. Those practices, which are
well known in a given region, could be kept as open source technology available
for wider use.
Mr. Vivekanandan (SEVA) Madurai organized workshops
in different regions of Tamil Nadu and tried to scout other innovators and
traditional knowledge holders through innovators themslves. He gave examples of
several innovators who had only developed a concept or an incomplete product
but after the documentation process, they felt inspired to complete the
development of product. In some cases, the innovation was postponed in
deference to the request from the affected people. For example, the innovator
who developed coconut harvester did not develop it immediately when neighbours
were affected. Later on, to meet his own needs, he completed the innovation by
borrowing money at very high rate of interest. The trigger was the
documentation process initiated by SEVA. The workshops of animal healers helped
in uncovering even more traditional knowledge of animal husbandry and healing
from those who came to learn.
Many people enquire as to what would be done after
their knowledge is documented. A note clarifying NIF’s commitment, capacity and
concern in this regard is being developed and shared in local language.
Dr. T.N. Prakash (PRITVI) mentioned the
collaboration with Director of Agriculture, Karnataka through whom about 20000 pamphlets
were circulated all over the state apart from thousands of posters. This
approach led to generation of wide variety of ideas, innovations and
traditional knowledge entries. While
reviewing the campaign strategy, he mentioned that only ten per cent entries
came in response to the poster based campaign, about thirty per cent came
through NGO and readers of magazine like Adike Patrike, and fifteen per cent
through personal visits after getting some leads from network members. An issue
was raised that there should be a balance of resources spent on scouting
vis-à-vis the follow up action on the scouted innovations and traditional
knowledge. Several questions being
raised in the media about the process of documentation were raised such as, (a)
what is the sanctity of digital documentation when most people do not have
access to digital technology, (b) if there are no IPR laws in the country which
can safeguard TK, should documentation be done at all (c) if benefits cannot be
ensured and IPRs cannot be protected, should documentation process be stopped
for a while, (d) can the PIC note and its framework be really understood by the
people and if not, what steps are being taken to facilitate its easy
comprehension and compliance by people and NIF.
On digital documentation, it was explained that the
long ranging controversy on bio piracy required patent office world wide to
have access to digital information on public domain traditional knowledge so
that no patents were issued on such knowledge. This has been a demand of global
civil society for long time. TKDL (Traditional Knowledge Digital Library) thus
ensures complete protection of Indian documented knowledge heritage in terms of
biopiracy. So far as documentation processes are concerned, the purpose is not
just the protection of IPR. Idea is to make India innovative and build bridges
between excellences in informal and formal science. The public domain traditional knowledge can
be disseminated among other communities to promote lateral learning and improve
productivity and sustainability in the society. Further, till IPR system
evolves, confidentiality has to be maintained in NIF. The information is shared
with third parties only as per the PIC. In some cases, where scope for value
addition exists, sharing is done on the basis of non-disclosure agreement
(NDA). Every contractual staff or associate of NIF is expected to sign
NDA. It is on the same pattern as all
the collaborators and RAC members have been asked to sign the NDA.
Documentation also helps in preventing the erosion of knowledge besides
generating respect among the knowledge holders about this knowledge
system. As mentioned earlier, some of
the innovations got matured precisely because documentation process created
pressure to perform. Such an ethic is extremely healthy and would help make
India a more creative, productive and inter connected society. So far as the
issue of PIC is concerned, the current complexity in the background has emerged
because of the feedback received and the need to ensure fairness in the
process. We have to share pros and cons of every option so that people can
decide what they think is proper in the matter.
CCD representative mentioned that they have been
planning to train the scouts so that quality of documentation can improve. He
also mentioned that the traditional knowledge of healers required attention to
their own system of validation and value addition.
Kamaljit (SRISTI-GYAN Kendra) shared his experience
of scouting by first pursuing a ‘Shodh
Yatra’ on cycle and scooter covering about 250 kms, including four states.
The first round of ‘Shodh Yatra’ was done to identify the places where documentation
was to be attempted. Initially he and his young colleagues began with booklets
in Hindi but the response was not very good.
Then they started with cassettes and the impression people got was that
they had come probably to sell something.
Slowly and slowly, they came to realize that they had to use mobile
exhibition. They developed a new vehicle called as “Saksham” with NIF’s support, which provided the facilities of
dissemination using multimedia technologies.
This strategy worked very well because lot of people young and old came
forward to see the odd balls in the exhibition and then volunteered to share their
own experiences. Kamaljit and his team
also made presentation to the young students who were attending national
integration camp and through these young participants, got leads for new
innovations. They have also set up a telephone help line through which they
were answering questions of farmers using Honey Bee database. Sometimes, the
process of documentation was quite frustrating. After visiting twenty villages over two
weeks, they got only three innovations.
The advantage of age that their group had was also sometimes
disadvantage because they had to work harder to build their credibility. They
also tried to show ‘Shodh Yatra’
films developed by EMRC, Ahmedabad in collaboration with SRISTI on cable TV.
Several technology offers were received through this channel.
Mr. James (PEDES) in Kerala tried to use the NGO
network to scout innovations. He mentioned that among other channels, the leads
in the newspapers were very helpful for documenting innovations. Given higher
literacy in Kerala and wider readership of newspapers, journalists had started
giving more attention to local innovations here than perhaps elsewhere. About
50 to 60 innovations were documented through these leads. He also felt that if
some of the innovations were commercialized quickly and also replicated widely,
then the documentation process would become faster. He also suggested that some
of the older innovations, which might have been commercialized locally, should
also be documented so that through National Register, such knowledge would get
disseminated in other areas. In cases where similar innovations or traditional
knowledge were found in more than one place, we should document these from each
place so that the diffusion of existing innovations or traditional knowledge
can be understood.
Dr. Balaram Sahu has been well known science writer in Orissa and has
recently started Oriya version of Honey Bee. He along with Mr .Ranjan Mahapatra
are trying to coordinate the campaign in Orissa. He mentioned several ideas
which could be taken up for scouting and documenting innovations; a) It would
be useful to tap young minds at the school level to create awareness; in turn
it would also help to bring forward their creativity amidst masses. Formation of innovative and eco clubs involving
students from school and colleges could help, b) the art and posters made to
popularize the innovations can also help, and c) slogans should be developed
which capture the essence of NIF goals.
Ranjan Mahapatra (SHRISTI) suggested that self help groups of women
should be involved. The administrative agencies can also help in the process of
scouting. The connection between the scouting and livelihood support strategies
of poor people was necessary.
Sunda Ram, an innovator cum scout has been pursuing the scouting process
in Rajasthan. He tried several interesting innovations in scouting. He
organised a contest on biodiversity-based knowledge among forest department
officials, in which District forest officer, forest guards and community forest
protectors participated.
Dr Vittala mentioned that GIAN NE has conducted
several community meetings in Assam at Kamrup, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari,
Tezpur and Jorhat district, in Arunachal at Ziro, NERIST. Students are from all
over northeastern region have been mobilized as volunteers for scouting.
Government officials are also supporting the
scouting process by their official network. Recently GIAN-NE has scouted one
innovator with the help of Mr. I. K. Baruah, ADC Morigaon. Ms. Vineeta Sharma,
SP Morigaon has taken keen interest and circulated our Assameese version
leaflets among all the police stations of the district.
Mrs. G. B. Marak, Social Welfare Officer, Ri – Bhoi
district, Meghalaya is coordinating with GIAN – NE in organizing meetings in
the district. Further, GIAN-NE has
conducted scouting competition at Jorhat, Tezpur, North Guwahati and Nirjuli,
Itanagar. GIAN-NE has scouted about 250
innovations during the last ten months.
Several other ideas, which emerged in the meetings,
were:
a) Certain practices could be
kept in open source if they were not unique depending upon the conditions
imposed by the innovator concerned in the consent form.
b) Innovations even if they are
old may be accepted and included in the national register but should not be
considered for award.
c) Sometime grassroots
innovators are unable to articulate the essence of their innovation. Therefore,
it is necessary for the scout to try to explore and decipher the meaning of the
practice through iterative discussions and perseverance. To achieve better results, scouts should be
given proper orientation training for documentation
d) For intensifying
documentation process, it would be helpful to recruit local correspondents (khabarpatri) based in villages (as tried
by SRISTI recently) who may have inclination towards documentation of
innovations and TK.
e) Innovators could also act as
a scout. Whenever an innovator scouts
another similar person, it becomes easier for him to identify the problem
because of his familiarity with the subject matter. His assistance in the
documentation process, improves the quality of documentation at times.
f) Innovators could be broadly
classified into two categories: Grassroots people; having low academic
background but vast experience and Professionals/trained; having access to
state-of-art knowledge network system
g) It was agreed that PIC form
and note would require considerable effort by the scouts in explaining to
innovators and traditional knowledge holders. It is also necessary that
regional workshops be organized for the purpose.
h) Local language versions of
Honey Bee are providing a very useful and productive way of disseminating the
campaign goals and Honey Bee network philosophy. NIF should support spawning of
new versions in different regions.
i)
Many of the Nodal Officers are playing a very important role in
popularizing the NIF’s campaign and they need to be supported to strengthen
links with various institutions to forge ahead with the goals of NIF.
Prior Informed Consent
It is now accepted worldwide that knowledge
of the local communities and individuals should be accessed and used only
through their prior informed consent.
The issue of informed consent is not easy. NIF took lead in this regard and started
developing a form for Prior Informed Consent (PIC). In the first round of the contest, the PIC
form that was used revealed several areas of improvement. Subsequently, after
discussions with the collaborators and knowledge providers, a new form has been
developed. It is obvious that for the
people who have never been even acknowledged, the concept of PIC is not only
new but also intriguing. A detailed note has been prepared which highlights the
plus and the minus side of saying, ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to various choices given in
the form. For instance, if an innovator
suggests that his knowledge may be shared widely through Honey Bee newsletter
and/or on website or through other public channels, we have to explain the
advantages of doing so and also the disadvantages from the IPR
perspective. After sharing these
implications the knowledge provider is well within his rights to say yes or no
to this or other options.
Till date we
have received 444 consent forms from the innovators/innovators TK holders those
who participated in the second competition. Apparently as is evident from the
figures, majority of the innovators do not mind sharing their addresses with
the interested members. About 92 per cent of them have agreed to share their addresses
with others if necessary. Out of these, fifty per cent of the innovators have
permitted to use their innovations free of cost if it is on individual basis.
Regarding technology transfer, the option related to the choice of assigning
technology where the innovators are supposed to be suggesting their proportion
of sharing benefits, have not been uniformly distributed. It may therefore be
inferred that either the innovators do not have proper clarity about their
preferences or they are unable to understand the framework behind the suggested
benefit-sharing model that NIF wants to set forth.
Further, it is considered necessary to have a mutual
understanding between the innovators and NIF about that flexibility in the
conditions that have been already specified in the form. If any need arises to modify any of the
conditions specified in the consent form, NIF would like to have a agreement
with the innovators that they would authorize NIF to change the options on
their behalf with the prior consent of the innovator concerned. Likewise, if
the innovator wants to cancel his conditions specified in their consent form,
they may do so with prior notification to NIF.
Since PIC is a new concept, considerable investment
will have to be made in creating awareness among various stakeholders. At this
moment, we have no hesitation in accepting that complexity of the form and the
options in the background note are not easy to follow by most people in
villages. In the absence of any major
effort to create awareness about PIC, NIF’s effort will remain limited in its
overall impact. NIF will however,
continue to make efforts to make this process as transparent and effective as
possible.
B. Value Addition and R & D Linkages
NIF
is trying various approaches in order to establish linkages with several
premier research and technical institutions at the national level to add value
to local innovations and attain a wider coverage for promotion and
dissemination of the potential technologies.
The aim is to form a value chain around each
innovation or traditional
knowledge. The networking model for
value addition mainly aims at setting up GIANs in different regions of the
country and strengthening the current GIANs. Apart from routing support through GIANs, NIF is also supporting
some projects directly where either the innovators are capable enough to
develop the innovation into a product on their own or GIAN support is not
available. Product development teams are
contracted in some cases to help innovators augment their innovations. Further,
NIF is trying to support the innovators through Honey Bee Collaborators and
simultaneously strengthening the capacity of collaborators to take up the
augmentation process further.
Projects
Supported Directly by NIF
a) NIF has supported
‘Multi-cylinder Reciprocating Pump’ of Sakun Das. A prototype has been
developed after the analysis of the concept by IIT, Delhi. It will be tested in
the field.
b) Mr. N. V. Satyanarayana has
received support from NIF directly for improvisation and testing of his
innovation Micro Windmill.
c) Mr. C. V. Pathak, an
entrepreneur and innovator has received technical and financial support from
NIF.
d) With direct monitoring of
NIF, Mr. Naresh Kamble is developing, disseminating and testing “Development of
device that would prevent burning down the electric pump”.
Projects
Supported through Collaborators
In addition to the work done
by the GIANs, various Honey Bee Collaborators have also undertaken value
addition work with support from NIF for the grassroots innovators.
Peermade Development Society, Kerala
Peermade Development Society of Kerala has supported
two projects namely the ‘Low Cost Hand Pump’ by Reji Joseph and Ousapachhen,
and ‘Cardamom Drying Chamber’ by Mr. P. J. Abraham. In case of Low Cost Hand
Pump, an improved prototype has been developed and the innovator has been able
to sell around twenty pieces in the nearby villages with this improved product.
In case of the Cardamom Drying Chamber, the
innovator had earlier tried the concept through an old model. With the support
from NIF and the fieldwork of Peermade Development Society, the innovator made
a prototype to validate the concept. The improved version of the prototype has
now been made which is much better than the earlier one. The Spices Board has
been approached for testing the product and a TePP proposal has been submitted
to mobilize support for further product development.
SEVA,
Madurai
Out of the innovations from the first campaign, Seva, Madurai, has
supported two innovations with the help of NIF namely; ‘the modifications to
silencer’ by Mr. Akasi and ‘Relay Switch’ by Mr. Ponnuswamy, In the first case,
two models have been made and are being tested to ascertain the extent to which
the sound of the engine can be reduced.
In case of the Relay switch, prototypes have been developed with
modifications done by the innovator in collaboration with Small Industries
Testing and Research Centre (SiTARC). The blending of the design in both the
cases to make a good final product is in progress. The testing results from
SiTARC and Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), Bangalore have been quite
positive about the concept underline the innovation.
Another innovation supported by SEVA is Coconut
Dehusker of Mr. Jayaseelan. NIF supported this innovation through the linkage
with Industrial Design Center (IDC), IIT, Mumbai, which has undertaken to
modify the product. The modification was done in terms of feeding, de-husking
and improving the efficiency. A modified prototype based on the input from the
innovator has been developed already.
For the second campaign, the efforts to add value have already started
and NIF has already provided support to two innovations out of which one is an
award winner and another is non-awardee.
Part support has been already provided for the innovations “To Develop
Prototype, Testing and Improvement of Power Tiller” by Mr. P. Thirumaran and
“Air recycling mechanism in Compressor” by Mr. Ayyathurai.
Collaboration with IIT, Delhi
A cell was set up at IIT, Delhi with the voluntary
help of Dr. Subir Kumar Saha, Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Prof. K. Athre, Professor in Department of Mechanical Engineering. Three M. Tech research associates were
assigned to work on the innovations. They had taken up the task of defining the
problem arena and pursuing technological gap analysis for three innovations.
Discussions have been held with Prof. R. Sirohi,
Director, IIT, Delhi to sign a MOU with NIF. This will help in taking more projects
by IIT, Delhi students and setting up a centre at IIT, Delhi to add value to
grassroots technological innovations.
Linkage with
Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Mumbai
Two students of Industrial Design Centre, IIT
Mumbai, have taken up projects on Coconut Dehusker and Groundnut Pod Separator.
NIF supported this project undertaken by IDC to modify the product. The
modification was done in terms of feeding, dehusking and improving the
efficiency. A modified prototype based on the input from the innovator has been
already developed.
An
informal student linkage with TECH-GC, IIT, Mumbai
Through TECH-GC, IIT Mumbai an idea competition was conducted and many
students have shown interest in NIF pursuing their ideas. The students had organized a presentation on
NIF to the entire first-year batch of IIT, Mumbai in September this year. The
winners of the idea competition have been declared and there are plans for
having a students club to work on grassroots technological innovations.
Setting up of
GIAN-TECH at IIT, Kanpur
Students
from IIT, Kanpur had taken up the task of validating around twenty innovations.
They had visited the innovators in the summer vacation. This gave them the
insight about grassroots innovations and also enlightened them regarding their
role in society. They presented their experience to a larger student body. The Director, IIT, Kanpur, Prof. Dhonde has
taken personal interest in the matter.
With the support of Prof. Prashant p Sanjay G. Dhande, Director, IIT,
Kanpur has agreed to set up a GIAN-Technology (GIAN-Tech at IIT, Kanpur). A draft MoU is being discussed so that those
GIANs which do not have their own technical back-up can get technological
support from GIAN-Tech.
To
provide exposure to the innovators and encourage linkages with scientiss,
technologists, designers, potential investors and entrepreneurs, NIF has
supported the participation of innovators and traditional knowledge holders in
various workshops, seminars and exhibitions, such as Indian Science Congress,
Pune 2001 and at Lucknow in 2002; National Agricultural Machinery Exhibition,
Bangalore 2002, CII Exhibitions in 2001 and 2002 at Ahmedabad, Kissan
Exhibition 2002, Pune, etc. In all about
61 innovators (24 awardees and 37 non-awardees) were provided opportunity to
show case their products in these exhibitions.
Some of them got many interesting enquiries and even orders in these
exhibitions.
A
one-day workshop, ‘Srijan’ was organized at IIT, Delhi on 2nd March to provide
a platform for interaction among formal and informal grassroots
innovators. Six innovators participated
in this workshop through the effort of GIAN-North. A design workshop was organized at Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore in collaboration with various other
stake-holders under the overall guidance of Prof. Vijay Chandru of IISc.
C. Intellectual
Property Rights Protection
NIF
has set up an Intellectual Property Section. The Section consisting of four
fellows who have started working since August 2002 towards the above
objective. The Intellectual Property
Section analyses the innovations to assess their viability for getting patent and other means of intellectual
property protection.
Some of the premier Intellectual Property firms and
IP institutions of the country have been contacted for mobilising voluntary for
filing patents for innovators such as DP Ahuja & Co. (HQ at Kolkata),
Surana & Surana (HQ at Chennai),
Subramaniam, Nataraj & Assciates (Delhi), Anand and Anand, New Delhi. NIF has also been
able to file patent applications in United States through a law firm Testa
Hurwitz (THT) based in United States. It is hoped that the coming year would
see more firms taking interest in working with NIF on pro bono basis.
To facilitate the
protection for grassroots innovations and to create a nation wide, the I.P
section has been working with the law schools around the country. Students from
NALSAR University School of Law, Hyderabad have worked with NIF for last two years. The winter internship for
three students from the law school on “Grassroots Innovation and their
Intellectual Property Protection” has enabled the students from the school in
gaining skills on patent drafting, conducting of prior art searches and
drafting of various I.P agreements. One
of the leading law schools of the country, West Bengal National University of
Juridical Sciences (NUJS), has already expressed their interest in working with
the I.P Department of NIF. Efforts are also underway to establish Intellectual
Property Law Clinics in various law schools.
The concentration of the I.P section has not been confined just to the law
schools. Three students pursuing the
Master of Business Administration (M.B.A) at the Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT) Kanpur are working with the I.P
section.
To provide training to the staff at NIF and also to
create awareness on I.P protection, a workshop on “Intellectual Property
Protection for Grassroots Innovations” was conducted by Mr. R. K. Gupta, Head
of the Intellectual Property Management Division, Centre for Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi.
Provisional patent applications for 27 innovations
are ready for filing. IP section has also been providing advice on related
aspects of Intellectual Property Law to other institutions, drafting non-disclosure
agreements for the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship
(CIIE), IIM Ahmedabad, drafting of exclusive marketing agreements between GIAN
(West) and J. Support Industries, Kothamangalam, Kerala for marketing of an
innovation, webserver collocation agreements and conducting prior art searches
on entries for awards.
LIST OF PATENT, TRADEMARK AND
DESIGN APPLICATIONS FILED - 2002
Sr
|
Innovation
|
Law Firm
|
Particulars
|
Status
|
1
|
Aaruni Tilting Bullock Cart
|
D.P.Ahuja & Co, Calcutta
|
Patent
|
Filed
|
2
|
Natural Water Cooler
|
D.P.Ahuja & Co, Calcutta
|
Patent
|
Filed
|
3
|
Swastik Oil Expeller
|
NRDC, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Filed
|
4
|
Cotton Stripper Machine
|
D.P.Ahuja & Co, Calcutta
|
Patent
|
Filed
|
5
|
Adaptive Agricultural Machine
|
NRDC, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Filed
|
6
|
Entech Oil Expeller
|
Testa Hurwitz, Boston, USA
|
Patent
|
Filed
|
7
|
Adaptive Agricultural Machine
|
Testa Hurwitz, Boston, USA
|
Patent
|
Filed
|
8
|
Convertible Three Wheel Tractor
|
Testa Hurwitz, Boston, USA
|
Patent
|
Filed
|
9
|
Convertible Three Wheel Tractor
|
D.P.Ahuja & Co, Calcutta
|
Patent
|
Filed
|
10
|
Fibre Optic Cable
|
Testa Hurwitz, Boston, USA
|
Patent
|
Filed
|
11
|
Double Acting Pump
|
NRDC, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
12
|
Aaron Fly Wheel
|
NRDC, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Filed
|
13
|
Auto Air Kick Pump for inflated tyres
|
D.P.Ahuja & Co, Calcutta
|
Patent
|
Filed
|
14
|
Bicycle Sprayer
|
D.P.Ahuja & Co, Calcutta
|
Patent
|
Filed
|
15
|
New Rotor Sprinkler
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
16
|
Device helping to Engage The Connecting Rod Without a
Check Nut
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
17
|
Highly Efficient Low Wattage
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
18
|
Tamarind Cultivation And Processing
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
19
|
Wool Ginning Machine
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
20
|
Manual Milking Machine Apparatus
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
21
|
Thermo Water Lifting Pump
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
22
|
Hard Shell Dehusker for Coconuts
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
23
|
Gas Kit For Moped
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
24
|
Environment Friendly Oil Engine
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
25
|
Multi Cylinder Reciprocating Water Pump
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
26
|
Low Cost Hand Pump
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
27
|
Relay Switch
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
28
|
Coconut Harvester
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
29
|
Pooran Pump
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
30
|
Banana Slicer
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
31
|
Multi Crop Thresher
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
32
|
Single Wheel Weed Remover
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
33
|
Device for Mowing and Ridging
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
34
|
Apparatus For Husk Threshing
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
35
|
Leaf Mat Making Apparatus
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
36
|
Path finding Android
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
37
|
Portable power Generating Device
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
38
|
Adaptive Spraying Device
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
39
|
Self Propelled Weeder
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
|
Ready
|
40
|
Dish Washing Apparatus
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent |
Ready
|
41
|
Double Acting Reciprocating Pump
|
Anand & Anand, New Delhi
|
Patent
Venture
Assistance §
Venture finance for motorcycle ploughing machine arranged from NIF, oil
expeller got venture assistance from SRISTI, 10 hp tractor got similar support
from State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, Cotton stripper is being considered
under PATSER scheme of DSIR. §
National Innovation Foundation provided 1.5 lakh for the motorcycle
driven ploughing machine, which was utilized for upgrading the workshop of the
innovator for more experimentation. §
Oil expeller machine got venture promotion assistance of 2.5 lakh from
SRISTI. §
10 hp tractor got cash-credit support from SBBJ, Satellite branch of
1.25 lakh. §
Cotton stripper that earlier got incubated through TePP scheme is short
listed for PATSER scheme of rapid prototyping. Technology Transfer & Innovation Fund Contribution and Business Incubation§
Technology transfer for foot-operated pump effected by M-CAM for toy
making & the entire fee so generated was handed over to the innovator. §
Auto air pump kit pump licensed to a local entrepreneur. §
Tilting bullock cart was licensed to three entrepreneurs for five
districts in Gujarat and entire licensing fee was paid to the innovator. GIAN-North East (Grassroots Innovation Augmentation
Network North East - Guwahati) Milestones of GIAN-NE:
§
Started
working from 26th January, 2002
§
Handholding
support to three innovators to improve model and pursue market analysis
§
Three
patents have been filed on behalf of innovators
§
Organized
Exhibition of Grassroots innovations at IITG
§
Their association has brought changes in life of three innovators.
Assam Government has reduced the prison term of one of the innovators who while
in prison made a bamboo cycle. Structure
Indian Institute of Guwahati (IIT-G) has
kindly agreed to host the activities of GIAN-NE. NIF took the steps for setting
up GIAN –NE with out waiting for any formal communication from any of the state governments in the region. NIF had deputed initially
one person to co-ordinate the activities of GIAN-NE. The governing board now
appoints the Coordinator and other staff. A governing body with Director, IIT,
Guwahti as chairman has been constituted to guide the activities of GIAN NE.
GIAN-NE will be catering to the needs of
all the seven states of the Northeastern region. The plan is to have nodal
centers in each state. Already they have received some enquires for opening
chapters at Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya. A nodal center
has been set up at NERIST, Arunachal Pradesh. Incubation Support GIAN North East has extended product development support to eleven
innovators. ·
Bamboo
Bicycle: The award wining innovation of Bamboo Bicycle of Mr. Dodhi Pathak has
been taken up further for value addition. Discussion with District commissioner
Nalbari and subsequent meeting with Director, District Industries Centre has
resulted in providing financial support to Mr. Dodhi Pathak for setting up his
enterprise. Students from IIT Delhi, NERIST, SFRI, Itanagar, Bamboo and Cane
Technology Center, Guwahati are working for developing commercially viable
Cycle made out of Bamboo and connected parts. Two models have already been made
with the help of innovators. ·
Rider
induced and terrain induced forces for transmission of Bicycle: Local innovator
Mr. Kanak Das has developed a mechanism for reducing effect of bump on rider
and also use the force generated on a bumpy road for transmission purposes.
Faculty of Mech. Dept. IIT Guwahati has approved the work and they have taken
it up for further analysis. GIAN- NE has initiated market survey of the product
and four different models have been developed. The mechanism will be tested for
its utility with different models of bicycle available in the market. ·
Development of pre medicated bandages for Bone fracture and
Back Ache: Traditional knowledge of curing bone fracture and back ache, using
herbal medicine has been taken up for making a viable product. Consent from
Biotechnology Department, Guwahati University has been obtained to investigate
the side effects and developing various efficient methods. NIF has supported
this work as in other cases through GIAN.
Assam Science Technology and Environment Council has also provided help
to local innovator Mrs. Puspalata Saikia to improve the efficiency of
treatments and to upgrade her infrastructure. ·
Floating water wheel for harnessing the energy from river:
Local innovator, Mr. Mahendranath Dutta has developed floating water wheel for
harnessing energy from the current of the river. A token support has been offered to tide over
current repair problem for the existing model. IIT, Guwahati has taken this for
further value addition. ·
High Efficient Ceiling Fan: This innovation of Nipul Bezbora
is all set to introduce a new concept in ceiling fan designs providing high
volume of air with separation features. GIAN-NE has taken it up for value
addition. IIT-Guwahati and Tezpur University have started work on different
parameters of the technology involved in developing it to make it awards a
commercially viable product. ·
Biodegradable Torch: Shri Jawaharlal Rai has made a Torch
with Biodegradable materials like Bamboo. The innovator is being helped to
develop different models based on the concept. ·
Beauty Care Umbrella: Based on the innovation of Soft Muga
Silk, GIAN-NE has guided the innovator Mr. Dulal Choudhury towards making a
commercially viable product; Beauty Care Umbrella. This umbrella unlike the
available umbrellas helps to protect from UV radiation (up to 85 per cent).
Also it provides a glow to the skin of the user. Patent has already been filed
for the innovation as well as for the product on behalf of Mr. Dulal Choudhury.
GIAN-NE is mediating in the technology transfer agreement. ·
Water Lifting Device by using Hydrostatic Pressure: A grassroots
innovator Mr. S.A. Ohid from Orrisa has designed a water lifting devise by
using hydrostatic pressure to solve the present energy crisis in a simple way.
GIAN-NE is incubating this project with the help of IIT Guwahati and NERIST,
Itanagar. Feasibility report from the experts shows that this will be quite an
efficient water-lifting device because it can work through the creation and
utilization of reaction forces in a novel way to solve the present energy crisis
in a simple way. ·
Innovative Zero Head Water turbine: A grassroots innovator Mr. Nripen
Kalita has made a zero head water turbine having innovative arrangements of
blades to harness energy from river with considerable efficiency and economy.
GIAN-NE is incubating this product also GIAN- NE. ·
GIAN-NE has helped Mr. Bhabesh Sarma in his innovation about Planetary
Compass with the financial assistance of ASTEC. After the development of the
model, the innovator is demonstrating it in various fairs by organizing show
and earning considerable amounts. He is also receiving orders from educational
institutions to manufacture this model as a teaching aid. Dept. of Electronics,
IITG have shown their keen interest for further value addition. ·
Countable Calculator: This innovation relates to converting a hand
calculator to a mechanical counter for
factories at a low cost developed by two young brothers Champak and Trilokya
Bora. GIAN-NE is incubating this product with the help of Department of
electronics IITG and a Technical Assistant of Tezpur University. Finance and Venture Support NIF is also interacting with the project funding
authorities/development finance organizations for financial support in
incubation projects. North Eastern Council
has shown interest in providing infrastructure/capital support to GIAN-NE and
incubation support to the innovations. GIAN-NE is in the process of arranging
finance to start enterprise for two innovators, who have developed the product
successfully. SIDBI has given the consent in this regard. Patent Protection: GIAN-NE has already filed Indian patent application
for three innovations. Filing of six
patents is under progress on behalf of the innovators. Prior Art Search and
Literature Review with expert comments have been done for all the priority
technological innovations from this region. Coordination
with other GIANs : Apart from the projects of North eastern region GIAN-NE is supporting
the projects of other GIANs also. Three projects of GIAN-North and two projects
of GIAN-West have been taken for further value addition. GIAN-NE is helping
GIAN-West in marketing of Kushal Sprayer.
Design Team
in Support of Grassroots Innovations Recently GIAN-NE has formed a design team to support the grassroots
innovations. This team comprises experts, users, fabricators / manufactures,
entrepreneurs, students and innovators. GIAN - Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network ,
North - Jaipur Structure Rajasthan
Government, in partnership with NIF, has set up the GIAN (North) at Jaipur.
GIAN North) has been registered as a society at Jaipur, Rajasthan and its
present governing board consists of policy makers, administrators,
academicians, innovator, industrialist and eminent social workers. The board is chaired by The
Chief Secretary of the state in his individual capacity. Incubation support Following innovations are at various stages of
incubation: i)
Power Saving Technical Pump (innovator from UP): Development and
testing is being undertaken at IIT-Kanpur. One critical part (piston) has
already been developed by Rapid Prototyping techniques at IIT-K, Design
Laboratory. ii)
LPG kit for Moped (innovator from Haryana): Innovator is developing a
standard product suitable for all two-wheelers. First prototype is almost
complete. iii)
Improved Thresher (innovator from Rajasthan): A new and smaller model
has been developed with groundnut threshing facility (which is totally unique).
Project proposal has been submitted to TePP, Min. of Science & Technology. iv)
Improved Forage Cutter (innovator from Uttaranchal): A product
prototype is being developed on the basis of the innovator’s idea. v)
Village Fridge (woman innovator from UP): Product development has been
taken up at IIT-Guwahati vi)
Steam operated stove ((innovator from UP): Product testing and
development has been taken up at
IIT-Guwahati vii)
Heat Snatcher (innovator of Delhi): Basic prototypes developed.
Optimisation of design and material being undertaken by innovator with the
support from ex-HOD, IIT-Delhi. IIP, Dehradun to test the product. viii)
Tooth extraction machine (innovator from UP): Detailed documentation of
the concept has been made. Product development is yet to be undertaken by
IIT-Kanpur. ix)
Improved stick for the Blind (student innovators from Uttranchal):
Students of GB Pant University, UT, have developed a prototype. Further
modification are being done after getting feedback from experts from institutes
dealing with blind people. x)
New variety of cotton Seed (farmer innovator from Haryana): Seed
variety stabilised after three generations of harvesting. It’s tests will be
taken up soon in collaboration with either private sector or public sector R
and D institutions. xi)
New varieties of wheat (farmer innovator from UP): Seed variety
stabilised. Samples to be tested on-farm by JK Agri-Genetics. xii)
Electronic Robot (innovator from Haryana): technical documentation and
product development plan complete. Project proposal sent to TePP. Further
development may be taken up by IIT-Delhi/ IIT-Kanpur or Ambani Instt of
Information & Communication Technology. xiii)
Herbal medicine for kidney stone removal (innovator
from Rajasthan): The medicine is presently given in paste form. Reports on
successful application are available. It is to be tested at CDRI or ICMR and
further standardisation/ value addition to be taken up. xiv)
Idea of hydraulic system in marble cutting machine (innovator from
Rajasthan): Documentation completed and sent to IIT-G for evaluation. On
preliminary observation, the idea was found feasible. After formal
confirmation, development work may start. IPR protection Three renowned patent attorneys agreed to extend pro
bono help in patenting the grassroots innovation. The attorneys are: Surana
& Surana (HQ at Chennai), DP Ahuja & Co. (HQ at Kolkata), and
Subramaniam, Nataraj & Assciates (Delhi).Two applications submitted through
them deal with, Power saving pump (innovator from Kanpur, UP) and Tooth Extraction Machine (innovator from
UP) Three applications are at final stage:Improved Thresher(innovator
from Rajasthan), LPG Kit for Moped (innovator from Haryana) and Robot
(innovator from Haryana) Summing Up Among various functions of NIF, so far most
distinctive impact has been made in our first and major goal that is, Scouting
and Documentation. The receipt of 6228 entries having 13533 innovations and
traditional knowledge examples in second year, as against 948 entries and 1600
innovations and traditional knowledge examples in first year is a testimony to
the countrywide impact NIF has made. But
this is precisely also the index of how little we have achieved in terms of
adding value, or commercialization or protection of IPRs, or diffusion of
public domain innovations etc. Unless a low transaction costs system of IPR
protection emerges in the country and likewise a user friendly incubation and
micro-venture fund gets set up, NIF will remain handicapped in fulfilling the
aspirations of thousands of local knowledge experts, grassroots innovators, and
traditional knowledge holding communities and individuals will remain a distant
dream. Making India innovative is a mission which NIF is
determined to pursue. Together we can make it, if policy and Honey Bee
network’s support continues to be as buoyant as has been the case so far. |