Frugal innovation can boost up rural development: Dr Jitendra Das

FORE School of Management, New Delhi once again brought back the focus on 'frugal innovations' and hosted a two-day international conference with the theme - 'Frugal Approach to Innovation' at the Center for Research and Innovation in Frugal Technology Management (CRIFT).

The two-day international conference attracted more than 100 delegates and subject matter experts from academia, business and government. Total 26 research papers were presented and an array of 35 speakers and thought leaders participated in the conference.

Prof Anil Kumar Singh, Faculty, FORE School and co-convener of the conference, introduced the theme of the conference followed by Welcome Address by Dr Jitendra K Das, Director, FORE School. Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and Chief Guest of the Day, Suresh Prabhu spoke to the participants in a video address.

Frugal Innovation refers to the development of innovations that are cost-effective, sustainable and can be scaled in an economically affordable manner.

"Frugal innovations are extremely relevant for a nation like India as the approach can result in solutions that are simple, resourceful, creative, and accessible for masses in rural areas making it commercially feasible. For business and social entrepreneurs, low pricing can help them reach out to an untapped rural market, which is highly price-sensitive while offering highest value potential for the social, economic and rural environment", Dr Das explained.

Eminent speakers and delegates V Ramgopal Rao, Director IIT Delhi; Prof M Balakrishnan, Professor & Ex-Deputy Director (Strategy & Planning) - IIT Delhi; Dr Sujata Bose Sinha, Director of Data - Sinhatech, Mississippi, USA; Antarpreet Singh, Director - Digital Learning, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad; Atul Bhatnagar, Ex-COO - National Skill Development Corporation currently Director - SunMoksha; Dr Sarita Ahlawat, Founder & Head, Phase Laboratories, IIT Delhi; Dr Koumudi Patil, Professor Department of Humanities & Social Sciences; IIT Kanpur; Dr Ayesha Chaudhary, Manager - Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Government of India; Dr Balakrishna Rao, Professor - IIT Madras; Dr Peter Knorringa, Director - Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Frugal Innovation in Africa (CFIA); Seema Sekhri, Nidhi Gupta, Professor - Lady Irwin College, Mahendra Joshi, Professor - Seidman College of Business; Ms Orly Goldschmidt, Head of Public Diplomacy - Embassy of Israel in India; Sadegh Sajedi & Santosh Jagtap, Bleking Institute of Technology, Sweden; Clara Aranda-Jain GSMA UK; Dr Sumon Kumar Sinha, founder & President - Sinhatech, Mississippi, USA; Gautam Dutta, Sr Director Marketing - Siemens PLM Software India and others deliberated on various aspects of frugal innovations and practices.

Dr Vinayshil Gautam, Senior Adviser, TRIFED; Chairman - D K International Foundation; Guest of Honour, Mr Snehashish Bhattacharjee, Global CEO and Co-founder Denave, Noida, India and Guest of Honour Ashwani Lohani, Chairman & Managing Director, Air India also addressed the august gathering.

"Resource is infinite and frugality is not a factor of resource utilization, it is innovative initiatives and thinking of solutions where people do not spend more than necessary ", said Dr Gautam.

"Frugal approach is necessary for developing a nation as it brings in affordable solution to a problem", said Snehashish Bhattacharjee Global CEO and Co-founder Denave, Noida.Some of the areas identified where frugal approach can result in the development and achievement of Sustainable Development Goals

* Improvement in India's Massive agriculture sector which employs about 60 per cent of the population yet account for only about 17 per cent of GDP.

* Healthcare as 22 million populations pushed below poverty line annually due to healthcare expenditure & 750 million people lives in areas where almost no healthcare system exists.

* Security: Which is a major concern area in India.

* Energy: Renewable a big issue as not much land is availability in India.

* Water crisis: India has only about 4 per cent of the world's renewable water resources but is home to nearly 18 per cent of the world's population.

A vote of thanks was presented by Shailendra Jaiswal, Principal Executive Director, DRDO and Member, Advisory Committee, CRIFT Prof Anil Kumar Singh, Convener of Conference thanked all participants, delegates and speakers for their support and interest on 'Frugal Approach to Innovation'.

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