BackIndian startups can be at the forefront of global change
Unlike in the past generations where young Indians were looking to go abroad to work for MNCs, today's generation wants to create the next Google and Microsoft from India
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Mumbai: The coming years will see newer business models emerge and every single industry getting disrupted as our connected world becomes smarter due to newer technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). This provides a chance to Indian startups to build large businesses based from India, said Rajan Anandan, vice president, Google India and South East Asia at the seventh edition of Marico Innovation Foundation (MIF) awards ceremony in Mumbai.
“We are still at ground zero when we look at what technology can do for the government, for industries and the consumer," said Anandan who believes that the time has come for India to solve problems in areas like agriculture, financial inclusion, public education, healthcare and transportation, some of which are pressing issues around the world as well.
Unlike in the past generations where young Indians were looking to go abroad to work for multinationals and even head their organisations, today’s generation wants to create the next Google and Microsoft from India, said R. A. Mashelkar chairman National Innovation Foundation, president, Global Research Alliance, National Research Professor and Chairman of Governing Council, Marico Innovation Foundation.
However, these young entrepreneurs need better infrastructure, access and support to bring their innovations to the market, said Mashelkar who has submitted a paper to NITI Aayog in May on reinventing India as innovation nation and hopes that the government would take up some of his recommendations which include buying the innovations of young startups so that they find a market in the country itself.
To be sure, technology has changed our lives and disrupted many industries from retail to media in the past decade. Technology will also take away some jobs. However what is more interesting is what human beings can do with machines, he said. In the next 10-15 years we will see new business models across each and every industry from logistics to healthcare to transport and telecommunications as they get disrupted, said Anandan.
For instance, by 2020 in healthcare it will be possible for us to know every disease that one can have and move to a system of preventive and early diagnostics bringing down healthcare costs. Likewise, by 2020 drones will be doing delivery in 25 cities around the world and even driverless cars will be plying in some cities around the world.
The MIF 2018 Award winners showcased six innovations across industries.
The social healthcare space was represented by two companies Forus Health and Incredible Devices Pvt. Ltd (IDPL) for bringing down the costs in healthcare sector.
Forus Health developed an extremely light, portable device —a fourth of the cost of its nearest competitor – that can detect retinopathy in pre-mature babies. Whereas IDPL developed the Catheter Reprocessing System (CRS) which is related with catheter reprocessing. It has reduced the cost of the catheter to 99% by increasing the re-useability of catheters ten-fold.
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