- National Innovation Foundation
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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). It was set up in February 2000 at Ahmedabad, India 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.
Contents
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.
Governing Body
The foundation has a governing body chaired by Dr. Raghunath Anant Mashelkar, former Director General of CSIR India and President of Global Research Alliance. Prof. Anil Kumar Gupta [1] is the Executive Vice Chairperson.
Activities of NIF
There are 5 main functions of NIF
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 SIDBI specifically for this purpose.
Intellectual Property Management
NIF protects the intellectual property of the knowledge holder by helping the innovator draft and file patent applications and provides legal help to fight cases of IP infringement.
Dissemination
NIF disseminates traditional knowledge and innovations discovered in one region to people in other regions of the country through means such as Shodhyatra, website, kiosks, and competitions.
Network Partners
NIF partners include Honey Bee Network, SRISTI, GIAN, and government bodies.
The Honey Bee Network
The Honey Bee Network [2] started in 1986-87 with like minded individuals who believed in developing a fair and responsible knowledge ecosystem. The philosophy of the Honey Bee Network is that when a honey bee gathers nectar from a flower, the flower does not complain. Further the honey bee pollinates other flowers thus helping the flowers to grow. This philosophy is translated to developing a knowledge ecosystem wherein the knowledge holder gets due share of the benefits his knowledge is bringing to other people.
SRISTI
SRISTI [3] or Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions was formed in 1993 with the objective of empowering knowledge rich economically poor people. SRISTI provides organization support to the activities of the Honey Bee Network. It publishes a quarterly Honey Bee Newsletter in 7 regional languages which helps spread the message of the network. It also organizes the annual traditional food festival SAATVIK at Ahmedabad.
GIAN
GIAN [4] or Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network was set up in 1997 with the help of the Gujarat government. Since then the government of Rajasthan has also helped set up a GIAN at Jaipur. GIAN functions as a technology business incubator to help untrained, unqualified, individual innovators produce a sustainable business venture.
References
Anil Gupta on TED Talks Honey Bee Network website SRISTI website GIAN website
External links
Categories: Scientific organisations based in India
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