The Uttarakhand Governor Krishan Kant Paul stressed on the need for innovation and out-of-the-box thinking in order to achieve advances in technological development. The Governor was speaking as the chief guest at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee Charter Day/ Alumni Day celebrations.
The Governor said, “In this cyber age as we move towards a knowledge economy, we have to recognise that, howsoever hard we may try– we cannot have an invention every now and then. We have to use our knowledge, intellect, the felt need and then improvise. Sometimes an improvisation can make the original product much better,” he said.
He said that since inventions are not always possible, innovation was necessary and significant in today’s world. He said the IITs were the only institutions, apart from IISc (Bengaluru), which figured in the list of top Indian universities.
Congratulating the IIT fraternity on the occasion, the governor said that a raising day was an opportunity for stock taking and chalking out future plans. He called upon students to learn to create opportunities for themselves rather than waiting for them to fall in their laps. “As the top technologists of the country, you are amply equipped to indulge in some out of the box thinking and focus on innovative ways and means of harnessing technology. Out of the box thinking can sometimes make those projects work which were hitherto unworkable.”
Paul also highlighted the need for harnessing more energy from non-conventional resources. He talked about the prime minister’s Digital India and Smart Cities projects and said that innovations would be required to harness technology to make these projects succeed. “ I am glad to see that our government has joined hand with IT giants like Intel and academic institutions like IIM Ahmedabad to crowd source ideas, incubate, fund and mentor them to make them workable and replicable. Bright ideas may come from a single source, but to see them fructify into action is our collective responsibility.”
He said that from among the traditional components of production namely capital, labour, land and technology, it was technology which was today the driving force behind production and made the system more effective and efficient.
He told the students that the country looked up to them for the mission of nation building. “Today, you form the bridge between the past and the future. Your education here does not end with the degree, of course, brand IIT is very important, but how you think and apply yourself is even more important for the country.”
The governor inaugurated the Himalayan study centre on the IIT campus. Present on the occasion were IIT Director Pradipto Banerjee, faculty members guests and former students of IIT.