Climate change, food insecurity, pandemics and similar pressing challenges need urgent action. Countries like India face severe financial and resource constraints to combat these challenges. Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) can play a crucial role in finding inclusive solutions. India occupies an important space in the global STI landscape. India is a partner of choice […]
India
Intelligence Assistance and India’s approach to AI
Artificial Intelligence, most commonly known as AI, is at the forefront of the current technological revolution. AI offers a wide range of opportunities to improve human lives but at the same time provokes valid fears all around the world about job losses and increasing inequality. Korinek and Stiglitz in their recent paper, ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI), […]
Making the most of the new Industrial Policy
Our article “Making the Most of the new Industrial Policy” was recently published in liveMint. In the article, commenting on the recently released discussion paper on the 2017 Industrial Policy, Janak Nabar talks about the opportunity for the new policy to address the problems of low R&D spending by Indian industry and the tough competition Indian firms […]
Using tablets for a Health Tech Needs Assessment Survey : The Preparation
CTIER is conducting a Healthcare Technology Assessment study to assess whether ‘frugal’ innovations can address the challenges of affordability and accessibility of healthcare in India. The first step of this study is to conduct a Needs Assessment Survey in our target region, i.e. urban and rural areas of Pune district to enquire about the main ailments […]
Precision Agriculture : The way forward
In order to address the growing demand in food combined with increasingly erratic climate , Indian agriculture will need to embrace technology-enabled practices like precision agriculture that improve productivity, crop management and decision-making of the food producers. India’s population is expected to reach 1.7 billion people by 2050 growing by over 35% from today 1. […]
India’s new Medical Devices Rules, 2017
Image courtesy of kanate at FreeDigitalPhotos.net The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 31st January, 2017 notified the new Medical Devices Rules 2017 which can have major implications on the cost and accessibility of healthcare in India. This is a much awaited move to regulate and incentivize this nascent but fast growing industry where […]
Industry-Academia Research Collaboration in India
Industry-Academia research collaborations in India are dismally low, as indicated by collaboration output statistics. Collaboration in patenting is 0.4% of the total volume of patents in India while percentage of collaboration in publishing activity lies at 0.56% in 2014-15.1 A potential reason for this disconnect could be the difference in underlying drivers of research and innovation […]
India’s increase in S&E PhDs driven by engineering degrees
At present, online databases like the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) and reports such as the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Science & Engineering Indicators (2014 & 2016) provide fragmented data on the number of Science & Engineering (S&E) doctoral degrees attained in India, with the latest reported figure being from 2011.We have constructed a time […]
Can ‘frugal’ technology address India’s healthcare needs?
Despite significant economic progress, India’s persistently poor performance when it comes to its health indicators has resulted in a push in recent years towards ‘frugal’ healthcare solutions in terms of products as well as processes. Issues of affordability in private healthcare, the poor quality of public alternatives, accessibility, and a dearth of trained professionals continue […]