National Innovation Foundation
Encyclopedia
| NIF - INDIA |
|
| Type: | Non-profit organization |
|---|---|
| Established: | 2000 |
| Chairperson: | Dr. Raghunath Anant Mashelkar |
| Executive Vice Chairperson: | Prof. Anil K Gupta |
| Employees: | 60 |
| Address: | Bungalow No.1, Satellite Complex, Premchand Nagar Road, Satellite, Ahmedabad – 380015 India |
| Tel: | +91-79-26732456 |
| E-mail: | info@nifindia.org |
| Website: | http://www.nif.org.in/ |
National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF) is an autonomous organization established under the Department of Science and Technology (India)
Department of Science and Technology (India)
The Department of Science and Technology is a department within the Ministry of Science and Technology in India. It was established in May 1971, with the objective of promoting new areas of Science and Technology and to play the role of a nodal department for organising, coordinating and promoting...
. It was set up in February 2000 at Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to provide institutional support for scouting, spawning, sustaining and scaling up grassroots innovations.
NIF conducts a biennial national competition for grassroots green technologies developed by farmers, mechanics, artisans and others through their own genius without recourse to professional help. NIF validates these innovations with the help of experts and also by doing research into any prior art. If the innovation is determined to be novel, NIF files a patent on behalf of the innovator. NIF also funds value addition to innovations to make them useful for a larger segment of people.
To determine the feasibility of commercializing the technology, NIF conducts market research and test marketing. Those technologies which are found to be commercially viable are licensed to willing entrepreneurs. A Micro Venture Innovation Fund (MVIF), sponsored by Small Industries Development Bank of India supports the activities of prototype development, test marketing and pilot production.
IGNITE is an annual competition for student’s ideas and innovations conducted by NIF. All students up to the 12th class from any school (and of the same age group but out of school also) in India are eligible to participate.
NIF is mandated to build a national register of ideas, innovations and traditional knowledge practices related to agriculture, plants, animal health, and human health. With the help of the Honey Bee Network, NIF has been able to document more than 1,50,000 ideas, innovations and traditional practices.
Genesis of National Innovation Foundation
The core principles of the National Innovation Foundation come from the Honey Bee Network and SRISTI (Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions). Honey Bee Network is a volunteer network spread across 75 countries which is engaged in the development of a sustainable knowledge eco-system. A non-governmental organization SRISTI was later set-up to help in documentation of the innovations and traditional knowledge practices discovered by the Honey Bee Network.The Honey Bee Network and SRISTI were both founded by Prof. Anil K Gupta of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad , better known as IIM Ahmedabad or simply IIM-A, is a business school located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It is the second Indian Institute of Management to be established, in 1961.-History:...
.
Governing Body
The foundation has a governing body chaired by Dr. Raghunath Anant Mashelkar, former Director General of CSIR IndiaCSIR India
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research established in 1942, is an autonomous body and India's largest Research and Development organization, with 39 laboratories and 50 field stations or extension centers spread across the nation, with a collective staff of over 17,000...
and President of Global Research Alliance
Global Research Alliance
The Global Research Alliance is an organisation that promotes the Millennium Development Goals through research and development. It was launched in New Delhi, India in January 2003.Its guiding principle are stated as:...
. Prof. Anil Kumar Gupta is the Executive Vice Chairperson.
Scouting and Documentation
NIF scouts for innovations and traditional practices across the country. The national biennial competition is one of the means to invite entries relating to original technological ideas, innovations and outstanding traditional knowledge. Twice a year, a Shodhyatra (journey of exploration) is undertaken in remote regions in the hope of discovering hidden creative genius in the people. NIF participates in agricultural fairs and exhibitions to scout for innovative solutions to problems. It also participates in Satvik- the traditional food festival organised by SRISTI, which is a source of traditional and healthy recipes.Value Addition and Research & Development
Innovations discovered in their raw form are rarely optimized in terms of design and formulation. NIF brings together inputs from formal science and subject matter experts to add value to such innovations. Research bodies such as CSIR India, ICMR, BCI and higher education institutions such as IITs, partner with NIF to provide value addition and validation services.Business Development and Micro Venture Innovation Fund
NIF helps in commercialization of innovations by licensing those technologies to entrepreneurs. It also supports innovators to become entrepreneurs by providing funds for market research, test marketing, prototype development and pilot production. Most venture capital firms ignore such proposals because of high risk involved. However, NIF has the benefit of a micro venture innovation fund sponsored by SIDBISIDBI
Small Industries Development Bank of India is an independent financial institution aimed to aid the growth and development of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises in India. Set up on April 2, 1990 through an act of parliament, it was incorporated initially as a wholly owned subsidiary of...
specifically for this purpose.