Keeping in mind the Global Innovation Index 2018, the demand for energy needs to be met with a sustainable solution. Untapped energy sources must be discovered. But then the burden of relocating and processing these should not fall on the poor. True innovative efforts are those which send benefit to the lowest rung of society. In India, this is very vital.
The Global Innovation Index (GII) released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) aims to give innovation multi-dimensional aspects. It offers various tools which can be used to shape policies to spearhead long-term output growth, enhanced productivity and job growth. It is unique mechanism that can create an ambience wherein elements of productivity are continually examined.
The 2018 GII Report, which covers about 126 countries, highlights the ranking of innovation capabilities and results. These economies represent 90.8 per cent of the world’s population and 93.6 per cent of the global GDP. And this year’s edition of the GII is based on the theme “Energizing the World with Innovation”. At a time when the population is rising at an alarming rate, the amount of natural resources are fast exhausting around the world. The demands of our industrial societies are increasing day by day whereas the supply of natural resources is on precipitous decline. While they do occur naturally, it might take hundreds of thousands of years to replenish them or it may so happen that they may not be reproduced forever. What we all require is innovations so as to reap benefits from our existing and untapped resources around the planet. The GII 2018 Report says: “Higher levels of technological and non-technological innovation are required to meet this demand, both on the production side of the energy equation (alternative sources, smart grids and new advanced energy storage technologies) and on the consumption side (smart cities, homes and buildings; energy-efficient industries; and transport and future mobility). Innovation plays key roles on both sides.” But the report rightly delineates that technological innovation is not the only solution. What is demanded is “changes in societal norms and cultures along with innovations in organisational processes”.
In a glocal age, purely driven by super connectivity, higher technology and superior human intellect, energy is believed to have held the key for every nation. Without adequate supply of energy, no nation can tap its opportunities for further development. It’s time to focus on the critical issue of energy access from production to storage, and from transportation and distribution stage to consumption patterns. The GII Report concludes that supply does not commensurate with the global demand for energy needs. It further highlights the need for a sustainable solution to address the issue. Norbert Schwieters, Barry Jaruzelski and Robert Chwalik mention in the report that an estimated 1.2 billion people worldwide are living without electricity, and 2.8 billion without clean and safe cooking facilities. This demands global concerns and solutions. It is clear that across the globe traditional energy frameworks are undergoing fundamental changes as demands and supplies for energy are unmatched. What is critical here is that private sector investment will play a critical role as this new systems take shape, both from traditional utilities, many of which are seeing this new way forward as an opportunity rather than disruption and from the start ups and from the entrepreneurs developing and applying new technologies in the renewable space. It so happens that in vast part of the world, companies are implementing projects, often in close collaboration with public sector enterprises which show the transformative potential of these new innovations.
Hence, “energy for all” is a goal worthy to be achieved at any cost. But then the issue is to bridge the existing gap between innovation goals and tangible societal benefits. It’s a serious challenge. It demands cooperation from both the Government and private sectors accompanied by civil society support. Then only innovative efforts can be successful, particularly in developing society like India. It needs to be seen how and what can really foster innovations in a globalised world.
It was widely believed that globalisation would lead to innovations. Competition is supposed to spur immediate innovations and related activities. Probably the most counterintuitive research finding was that massive competition from giant foreign firms has a complete negative effect on product innovations around the world. Those who suffered the most were the domestic companies and firms that do not have easy access to a multi-national supply chain or other resource facilities available for a health business environment. It was found by top research groups that firms at local rather than national level markets were less likely to innovate. Big firms were likely to innovate more than the smaller ones; on the other hand state-owned enterprises are less likely to innovate than their respective private-owned counterparts, particularly in the field of new and emerging product development.
Also it was found that firms with a large number of college graduates were globally more effective on innovative efforts. But firms with highly skilled workers have a mixed impact on innovations. Finally, that firms with higher capacity utilisation i.e. those that sell everything they make, have lower innovation index than their less efficient counterparts. Thus it can rightly be said that in emerging economies, forces of globalisation can be counterproductive for innovations. However it has been observed that easy access to supply chain and business friendly environment in such countries can surely help in fostering innovations. So globalisation and post-globalisation forces are not purely creating anti-thesis for innovations. What matters most is that firms or industries operate within a range of efficiency and increased competition associated with liberalisation and globalisation has different effects on firms/industries depending on their level of technology. This has brought home the message that technology at this age makes more impact while even innovating at the local level.
There is a huge innovation divide that has been brought out by the GII Report to the world. Countries like India requires working out its way while competing with its neighbour China. For us what we need is a stable polity supported by an environment less influenced by natural calamities and more business friendly. With a huge skilled young workforce and emerging market, India can definitely shine better than many of its counterparts in the developing world. But then growth and development is not all about access to economy and technology. It is also about what flows back to society and how common man gets benefitted by all these. At the end of the day, basic minimum resources should be accessible to the needy. The gap between the rich and the poor should be minimised. True innovative efforts are those which send benefit to the lowest rung of the society. In India, this is very vital.
Keeping in mind the GII Report 2018, the demand for energy needs to be met with a sustainable solution. This will in turn help in enhancing innovative efforts around the world. Untapped energy sources must be discovered. But then the burden of relocating and processing these should not fall on the poor. What we need is a fair deal at the end so as to see to it that global innovation divide is lesser and lesser in coming days. Isaac Newton rightly highlighted the importance of innovation and creativity simply by saying, “If I have seen further, it is standing on the shoulders of giants.” It is all about the massive streams of innovations left behind by our elders, we are simply surviving and making progress in our daily life.
(The writer is an expert on international affairs)