Innovation: Society as a Stakeholder

For a long time, the Innovation Indices have been focused on metrics that are only partially relevant in the world as we see today. As technology advances from being one of the forces for development and progress to being an enabler for almost every sector and a solution for some of the most hard-pressing problems of our times, we need to relook at the way that Innovation is measured and nurtured. Today, most people know me for the work that I do in Quantum and in the Quantum Ecosystem in India and around the world. However, I come from a Process Background as well as an Innovation Management background as much as I come from a Technology background. In my own words, I think of myself as a "Thought Integrator" a term used to define someone with skills and knowledge in a wide variety of disciplines, with more depth in a few areas.

The term "Thought Integrators" was first introduced by me in my book "Innovation Magic- The Science and Art of Innovation Management". Having started, nurtured, and grown Innovation functions in Multinational Organizations, I expanded my horizons for Innovation Management by working towards driving Innovation in Ecosystems, as I did for Storage Networking in my role of Chairperson SNIA India in the 2004 to 2009 timeframe and now in Quantum through QET Council of India (Quantum Ecosystems and Technology Council of India). During this duration, I also gained diverse insights by consulting Organizations around the world on how to set up Innovation functions, how to maximize employee engagement in driving Innovative solutions, and the process and governance mechanisms that need to be in place to drive Business Innovation Goals.

Last year when I got an opportunity to provide inputs for the definition of an Innovation Quotient, that can be used to benchmark nation-states on this planet by the Economist Impact . I was curious as well as excited.

• Excited because this was very much in line with my consulting focus was at Benzaiten Advisors LLP "The power of Technology and Innovation for the benefit of Humanity". Earlier I had also created a Framework to measure the impact of Innovation across multiple dimensions at a National, Organizational, or Unit level. "STECH IMPACT". This framework allows measuring the Impact of any new Technology or Innovation on multiple facets of Business, Economy, and Society. Notice that including society as an integral part of Business Innovation was key to Innovation that was useful for Humanity. This seemed like an opportunity to examine my beliefs and framework in the context of a Global Innovation Index.

• I was also curious because there would be an opportunity to understand what other experts were thinking around the world and an opportunity to learn as well.

The exercise was tremendously satisfying because I was able to emphasize that Innovation systems and Innovation in Society should be one of the key measures for tracking and measuring success. Society as a Stakeholder should also play an active role in Innovation. Innovation can spring from anywhere and it is important to be able to leverage that. More importantly, there was an Aha realization that there were tons of examples in India where Society was kept at the center of Innovation. These examples stood out both at the National Level and in the State that I live in ( Telangana).

When the Quotient and the Analysis came out a few weeks ago, it included this focus on Society and it also showed India's position at 27 instead of 40 as per the WIPO ratings. It's time for WIPO to revise its approach to the Innovation Index and look at the area more holistically with multiple dimensions of impact and evaluation of processes that are grassroots and involve all tiers of society, all regions within a nation, etc.

If you want to read the report you can download it here https://impact.economist.com/new-globalisation/innovation-quotient/index/overview

I have also been quoted in the report" Where is the idea that is truly going to disrupt the market going to come from? Who knows; it might be the guy who joined just yesterday. If an organization can embrace that, then they have cracked the mechanism of grassroot innovation." This quote reflects my belief at the Organizational level, National Level, and International Collaboration for Innovation as well.

I am tremendously grateful for the opportunities that I have got in 2023 and this post is about one of those opportunities that has helped me create an impact through my expertise and has helped me learn, grow, and collaborate with people from around the world.

NITI Aayog Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India #InnovationManagement #InnovationIndex #InnovationQuotient #ThoughtIntegrator #InnovationSocialImpact #GrassrootInnovation