IISc plans database of innovators

In an effort to understand the entrepreneurial contributions it has made globally, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, plans to undertake an entrepreneurship mapping exercise. The aim of the exercise is to create a database of innovators that it has produced in recent years.

Though the plan is in a nascent state, the exercise is likely to be a part of the Bangalore-Cambridge Innovation Network that was officially launched in September, in which IISc will partner with the University of Cambridge to strengthen the links among academics, businesses, researchers and entrepreneurs.

The overture for such a plan is that the institute’s Society for Innovation and Development Entrepreneurship Cell does not have a record of the number of students who have gone forward to do something on their own.

“We know for sure that a large number of our students have become entrepreneurs in various corners of the world, but unfortunately we do not have exact numbers. Cambridge has shown interest to help us on this front,” said Parameshwar P Iyer, Principal Research Scientist at the Department of Management Studies.

Citing some of the known examples of entrepreneurial efforts to have taken birth in IISc, Prof Iyer said, “Not many know that Wipro started here at the School of Automation. The likes of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) have received significant contribution from IISc. There is a need to have a database to show what IISc has done.”

The entrepreneurship mapping exercise, he said, would possibly start around January 2013. “In the first 6-8 months, we will have the preliminary results that show the efforts of our institute. The idea here is to understand what it is that we have done and to see where we can improve,” Prof Iyer said.

When asked if IISc’s global ranking would increase after the completion of the proposed mapping exercise, he said, “Our priority is not to be ranked high. We focus on quality academic and research work. This exercise may lead to a better ranking for us, but that is not why we want to do this.”