National Research Foundation Preparing for the new revolution
Present circumstances:
- The government has announced plans to create the National Research Foundation (NRF), with the stated objectives of “seeding, growing, and promoting research and development (R&D)” and “fostering a culture of research and innovation throughout India’s universities, colleges, research institutions, and R&D laboratories.”
- With a budgetary aid of Rs 50,000 crore over the ensuing five years, it plans to “provide high level strategic direction” to scientific research in the country.
The promise of emerging technologies is realised through NRF:
- The choice to create the NRF is seen as a significant and timely one.
- The emergence of industry 4.0, web 3.0, and genomics 2.0 has ushered in a moment of global transformation. Robotics, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, cryptography, and human genome projects are all advancing in this era.
- The past industrial and technological revolutions did not include India. It does, however, have a wonderful opportunity right now to completely realise its promise.
India’s successes and ability to employ emerging technologies:
- The authorities methodically prepared the country for the coming revolution. It has significantly stimulated originality.
- India has become the “start-up capital” of the world as a result of a recent growth of over a million new firms. A small percentage of the over 120 start-ups have evolved into “unicorns,” incredibly valuable businesses that might draw billion-dollar investments.
- By the end of the previous year, some 240 startups had completed substantial acquisitions, drawing investments worth $ 150 billion.
- Realising the value of digital infrastructure for boosting the country’s potential for innovation, the government has made considerable expenditures in developing reliable architecture.
- Thanks to the installation of an optical fibre cable network covering more than 35 lakh kilometres, electricity and the internet have practically reached every community. In a country where there are more than 800 million smartphone users, digital literacy is another notable example of a government achievement.
The need to encourage investment in R&D is urgent:
- A substantial portion of India’s youth are highly intellectual and computer literate. Fundamental research is still not where it should be. The absence of both official and private support is one cause causing this situation.
- The Indian government has realised that there needs to be a major effort to get the nation’s scientific and technological community to participate in research and innovation.
- Most of what we do in terms of innovation is really an improvement of already existing technologies. Playing catch-up is not a bad thing. However, a country with India’s potential ought to also establish top-tier research institutions.
- Several things are required. Funding comes first. Countries that excel at innovation and research, like the US and China, spend a lot of money on R&D.
- India spends less than 0.7% of its GDP on research & development compared to China’s more than 2.5%.
- In actuality, the US spends $640 billion on research and development, compared to China’s $580 billion and India’s $15 billion.
- There is a reason the government decided to focus on academic and research institutions through using NRF. Over many years, the research cultures of these firms have gotten worse. The government’s hard efforts over the past few years have resulted in a few improvements.
- Our scholars and researchers have published 54% more research publications in the last five years, propelling India to the fourth place in the globe.
- However, there are still questions about the applicability and calibre of many of these research. According to SciVal, a research platform, just 15% of them have been cited in renowned academic journals.
- Additionally, it’s important to spread the word about patents. India submitted more than 60,000 patents in 2022. Almost half of them were local patents of low quality submitted for the home market. In contrast, four million patent applications were submitted by China in the same year, 25% of which were “high value patents.”
- Before it can be regarded as a leader in artificial intelligence, India must make substantial advancements in this area. The majority, or about 70%, will go to the United States and China. India is seeing rising AI profitability. We generated almost $250 billion in revenue during the most recent fiscal year.
- R&D will also be essential in this sector. Each year, the US and China devote up to $ 150 billion in research and development (R&D) linked to AI.
- It is imperative to increase this investment because, according to a Goldman Sachs report, AI might result in the loss of up to 300 million jobs worldwide by 2035. India cannot escape this onslaught.
Conclusion:
- R&D in frontier industries is necessary for India to achieve its goal of becoming an economic and technical giant.
- Therefore, addressing open questions is the real purpose of research and development. The NRF is the instrument for making sure that our institutions and population are capable of meeting the obligation of being future-ready.
