New Delhi: Exhorting premier technical
institutes to support new ideas and discoveries that could be
the solution to many future challenges, President Pratibha
Patil today asked IIT Delhi to assist individuals, especially
grass-root inventors, in properly marketing their ideas.
She hoped that India, with its vast scientific and
technical knowledge, would catch up with leading industrial
nations in filing of patents for innovations and inventions.
"Inventions made in laboratories must be able to be used
in field to become agents of transformation. Efforts should be
there to build collaborations with institutions in different
sectors of industry, which in turn, must be forthcoming in
supporting new ideas and discoveries," she said while
inaugurating the golden jubilee year of IIT Delhi.
Institutes like IIT Delhi, she said, need to develop
robust mechanisms for collaborations with other institutions
as the need of the hour is to focus on research and come up
with innovations applicable to conditions and requirements
existing in the country.
"We need a second Green Revolution. A novel thinking in
rain-fed farming is very important for food security. We need
engineering and management capabilities as we expand our
infrastructure. We need environmental-friendly technologies.
We need cutting-edge technologies to be a leading nation," she
said.
Stressing the need for supporting new ideas and
inventions, she asked the IIT to establish ties with people
who nurture such ideas.
"Under your guidance, it is possible, that the grassroots
innovators can further fine tune their work and find a market
for their inventions," the President said.
In this context, she called upon the IIT diaspora to
contribute their lot for the future of the country.
"IITs have produced more millionaires than any other
undergraduate institution. IITians across the world, indeed,
are a very powerful group. They have resources and experience
which can be leveraged to generate ideas along with necessary
funding for development projects in India," she said.
Observing that India still has a "long way to go" as far
as competing with the world in filing patents, Patil expressed
hope that given the scientists and researchers and their
knowledge, capability and commitment, India will be able to
file more patents in the coming years.
According to World Intellectual Property Organisation, in
2009, over 45,000 patents constituting almost a third of
global patents in the year were filed by the US. China ranked
fifth with over 7,900 patents while India had only 761
applications.
PTI
First Published: Monday, August 16, 2010, 19:02