Last week our team ran India is Innovation 2007 (i3 2007) in Bangalore. To say the event was a “success” is both understated and presumptuous. I’ll explain the paradox…
Our goal was to bring together leading investors, executives, luminaries, entrepreneurs, professors, and students for an active discussion on Innovation in India. We exceeded all targets and nearly tripled the attendance of our previous event with over 300 delegates. Given only 400 people were invited, the response on the day was simply unprecedented.
Additionally, 25 Tier-1 media turned up and 35 articles emerged (mixture of online, print, and television). Attendee feedback was overwhelmingly positive and a number of the start-ups showcased are now in discussion for first or second round funding.
On the flipside, to claim success at this stage is short-sighted. At i3, Dr Ashok Ganguly, Chairman of ICICI OneSource Limited and ABP Pvt Ltd and a Director on the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India, stated “India is Innovation” exudes arrogance. He then went on to qualify his statement by saying we have a long way to go before we can really claim that India is Innovation – though as an aspiration it reflects the passion and ability of India. I couldn’t agree with Dr Ganguly more.
i3 2007 is not intended to be the yearly pinnacle of our ecosystem’s efforts to push India up the value chain. Mr Arun Maira, Chairman of Boston Consulting Group India, suggested we think about the opportunity ahead in terms of innovation by, of, and for India. And our own Microsoft India Chairman, Ravi Venkatesan, framed the financial opportunity of innovation for India in real terms – a 5 times growth potential in GDP. The inspiration and wisdom from our speakers including Kishore Biyani, Dr Mashelkar, Ajit Balakrishnan, Craig Mundie, Professor Sadagopan, and many others reverberated across Asia in blogs and press.
From Microsoft’s perspective, we had the fortune to announce the start of a series of substantial investments to put behind the i3 initiative, collectively packaged as the Microsoft Innovation Framework (MIF). The framework will grow over time along with Microsoft’s commitment to innovation from, for, and with India.
We launched four substantial components to the MIF:
- Microsoft Innovation Centre, Pune
- Microsoft Start-up Accelerators
- Imagine Cup Innovation Accelerators
- Business Model Innovation Program
I’ll post additional details about the MIF in future posts, but for those that read the various press clippings and have questions, please contact me directly.
