Focus should be on turning ideas into products

The debate over technology Vs product is not anything new. Technology is a tool that helps achieve something, while a product is something one sells. A product provides an experience with benefits. That experience and the benefits will be valued by a person. A product can utilize technology as a tool to alter the experience one provides. In the present day context, it is widely perceived that there is an urgent need to create an ecosystem by which ideas can be translated into products. The existing engineering colleges may be creating a vast knowledge base but demand for products can only get addressed when an individual or a company recognizes it as an opportunity. After that with his or her or their sheer capability crosses the hurdles of finance and also technology. There is no doubt that India requires institutionalized product development facilities.

At the core of 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat', there is now a call to make Indian manufacturing and product development capabilities both self-reliant and globally competitive. By embracing innovation and effectively utilising the available research and resources, we can truly accomplish 'Make in India' and 'Made for the world'.

Now here is a Kolkata-based fledgling organisation, christened ScholarLab Foundation that has started working as an extended arm of premier institutions to facilitate productive research and bridge the gap between institutional framework and the industry requirement.

The outfit formed by a group of IIT Kharagpur alumni, promises several things that are worth a look into. They include industrial innovations as an extended arm of Indian premier institutes; creating IP and co-host with institutes; develop product and process innovation; engage multidisciplinary resources to deliver sustainable products and services; deliver customised research; focus on science and engineering, management and finance and humanities & social science; deliver innovative products on demand and carrying out re-engineering to cater to Indian industry needs.

ScholarLab Foundation promises to bring an institutionalized approach to develop products, aligning with finance and knowledge.

Mind you that while the technology team in an organisation is focused on which one to use and how to integrate it into the product, the product team is focused on what experience the product needs to provide and why. They create the strategies and blueprints for the other teams to follow on how they build the actual product. They also design the tests to prove their assumptions around the product in the market.

One has to keep in mind that changes in production and consumption patterns are a crucial element of the sustainability agenda. Sustainability-a term originating from silviculture, which was adopted by UNEP as the main political goal for the future development of humankind-is also the ultimate aim of product development. It comprises three components: environment, economy and social aspects, which have to be properly assessed and balanced if a new product is to be designed or an existing one is to be improved. The former IIT-ians are working on transformational research to move in this direction. Whether other organisations across the country take cue and try to emulate them remains to be seen.