Address at the Sir J.C. Bose Science Promotion Forum

VISION, CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION

I am indeed delighted to address the Sir J.C.Bose Science Promotion Forum and interact with the young scientists and students. I greet the H.K Firodia Memorial Foundation and the steering committee members of the Forum for establishing this unique forum to identify and motivate talented young graduates from science, medical and engineering disciplines for nurturing their creativity. It is indeed a laudable effort. When I am in the midst of you, I would like to share few of my experiences with three great visionaries of India.

A great visionary

When I was a young scientist, working with Prof Vikram Sarabhai, an event embedded in my memory. We were designing the 4th stage of SLV-3 in 1969, with the high performance propellant and rocket motor case of unique design. A telephone call came from Prof Sarabhai from Physical Research Lab, Ahmedabad. He said, 'Kalam, I am bringing Prof Curien, the President of French Space Agency. You prepare for a presentation on the 4th stage rocket motor.' We prepared all the details and gave a presentation to them. Prof Curien said, he is considering a high performance upper stage for improving the satellite performance for Diamont BC, the French launcher. Prof Sarabhai asked the team to design and develop the upper stage which is compatible to both SLV-3 Indian Rocket System and Diamont BC French Rocket System. This necessitated increased diameter and propellant loading and necessary reconfiguration. Prof Sarabhai's vision of using an Indian upper stage rocket, which was just in the drawing board, to use in a foreign launcher, came at a time when we had not even launched a sounding rocket of our own. Being a great visionary, he believed in the strength of our scientific community. Two unfortunate things happened. One, Diamont BC programme was cancelled and the second, Prof Sarabhai passed away in 1971. But the vision of Prof Sarabhai came to realisation in the form of 4th stage of SLV-3 to inject ROHINI Satellite into low earth orbit and also became the Apogee Boost Motor in the Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment (APPLE), that injected successfully the first Indian Communication Satellite from European ARIANE launcher. The Vision of Dr Sarabhai was indeed became reality.

Three technological events

On 11th May 1998 the then Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission Dr R Chidambaram and myself and some of our team members were working for the results of the underground nuclear test followed by another two. We were at very close to the test site and the countdown was progressing. At T-5 seconds and hundreds of parameters from instrumentation were displayed. The mission was to take place in a few seconds. At T-0, we witnessed the whole earth shrugged and thundered in front of us and all around. We saw part of the earth raising. What a powerful energy India generated through nuclear weapons?. This successful mission was the great partnership of DAE and DRDO. Self-reliant technology made the nation to become a nuclear weapon state.

The second event is about a missile system. On 11th April 1999, the AGNI-II took off with computer command from the beautiful island range. 600 parameters from the missile were monitored in real time through a series of radars, telemetry stations and ship borne instrumentations networked with our own communication satellites. The AGNI with its payload reached with close accuracy on the target 2000 kms away. The partnership of DRDO labs with academic institutions and industries brought this important success and it is another triumph for self reliance, inspite of the technology denials.

Another event is about India's rocket technology. It reached its prime when the ISRO launched successfully the operational Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on 26 May 99. The PSLV that has the third largest booster in the world, has become a cost-effective launch vehicle, and above all the ISRO reached a stage of integrating its own satellite IRS, a German and a South Korean satellites in that launch. India can compete in the launch vehicle services for satellite launching for other countries. This is the result of a great vision of Prof Vikram Sarabhai on self-reliance and sustained hardwork of ISRO and multiple institutions and industries.

Vision to reality

The Vision of Dr Vikram Sarabhai reached its prime when the ISRO launched successfully the operational Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle D-II carrying the GSAT-2 on 8th May 2003. India can compete in the launch vehicle services for satellite launching with other countries. This is the result of a great vision of Prof Vikram Sarabhai on self-reliance and sustained hardwork of ISRO and multiple institutions and industries.

These three events demonstrate that India has the capability to achieve a higher level of technological goals in spite of technology denials and control regimes. It means, if we have mission oriented programmes with leadership and political commitment, we will achieve the goals, however difficult they are. Yes, India can develop technologies of its own to make impossible the possible.

Always think of doing impossible events

When we were going through a number of flight trials for PRITHVI missile system, a need came to identify a land range to physically ascertain the impact point. From our missile test range at Chandipur, where all the instrumentation network has been established, we need to locate a land in the sea which can be the target point. Our search yielded identifitying a group of uninhabited islands off Orissa coast. PRITHVI was successfully flight tested and user trials completed using the land target. This gave joy to our armed forces as they could see by themselves, the missile performance with greater accuracies.

It was a moonlit night in 1994, I was traveling with some of my friends in a boat from the main land to the island. The sea was rough but our hearts were filled with joy with such beautiful performance of PRITHVI. Then I had a flash back of the third AGNI launch from Chandipur. Every time when we had AGNI launch we were vacating 3500 families from near the missile range to far off places due to safety reasons. If we had a launch site inside the sea we would have faced these problems. I thought why not have a launch station in the island itself which meets all the requirements of range safety. Is it possible to have a range in the middle of the sea with all the facilities for a large number of scientists, engineers and technicians to participate in the integration task and launch campaign and to carry out the mission. A huge task in front of our team to make it a reality. In three years time a wonderful, operationally effective and safer missile test range emerged with world class instrumentation network to conduct the flight testing of AGNI which I described to you as one of the three technological events.

First Vision: India's freedom

India laid the seeding of independence in 1857. Freedom movement was the first vision for the nation. It took 90 years to get the freedom using multiple methodologies to vacate foreign powers. The vision generated leaders across the political spectrum, many scientific leaders, industrial leaders, literary giants, great economists and several accomplished persons. In science and technology area a remarkable event took place during 1920-25 in India. Internationally well known scientists were enriching the nation. They were Professors JC Bose, CV Raman, Meghnad Saha, Srinivasa Ramanujam and Subramanyam Chandrasekhar. In the book CHANDRA, Prof.Subramanyam Chandrasekhar describes "I mean it is a remarkable thing that in the modern era before 1910, there were no (Indian) scientists of international reputation or standing. Between 1920 and 1925, we had suddenly five or six internationally well known men. I myself have associated this remarkable phenomenon with the need for self-expression, which became a dominant motive among the young during the national movement. It was a part of the national movement to assert oneself. India was a subject country, but in the sciences, in the arts, particularly in science, we could show the West in their own realm that we were equal to them."

Independent India was born in 1947 with a label attached that it is a "developing country" pointing the fact that it is not economically strong; there is a high dependence still for defence systems. India has no world standing among the nations, inspite of its size and potential. Therefore, the question arises as to how we physically and spiritually remove this label of 'developing country' and become a 'developed India' in two decades of time. Independence was the first vision realised by the nation and its people. On that foundation we need to build the second vision of becoming a developed India with national, economic, food and social security.

Challenge in Change and the need for second vision for the nation

Since our independence in 1947, in many aspects of life, improvement in literacy, agricultural products, strategic areas, certain small and large-scale industries took place. Also, the life expectancy has increased. We are capable to produce sufficient foodgrains , cereals and milk. Today, India has the capability to design, develop and lead to production strategic systems for national development and security. Also, we have seen in the ambient conditions the growth in the Information Technology; the country is progressing in a limited way in software business and in hardware we are yet to take off. When India was clamped with economic sanctions in 1998, after the nuclear tests, by developed world, we combated successfully. The tools were food security and self-reliance in most of the strategic areas and production capability in certain sectors of industry. Now more than fifty years have gone by and we are called as one of the hundreds of developing countries, in a distinct way a separation from G-8 countries. We have many challenges. We are a nation of billion people. Nearly 260 million people who are below the poverty line have to join the mainstream of a good life. 100% literacy, health for all, multiple industrial and agricultural productivity and life style with value system has to change.

Creativity

Since our population is of a billion people, the society in its own way has to make innovations continuously, not only in urban areas but also in rural areas. For example, the honey bee network movement is indeed an excellent attempt. Creativity comes from beautiful minds. It can be anywhere and any part of the country. It may start from a fisherman hamlet or a farmer's household or a dairy farm or cattle breeding centre or it emanates from class rooms or labs or industries or R&D centres. Creativity has got multi dimensions like inventions, discoveries and innovations. Creativity has got an ability to imagine or invent something new by combining, changing or reapplying existing ideas. Creativity has an attitude to accept change and newness, a willingness to play with ideas and possibilities, a flexibility of outlook, the habit of enjoying the good, while looking for ways to improve it. Creativity has a process to work hard and continually to improve ideas and solutions by making gradual alterations and refinements to their works. The important aspect of creativity is: seeing the same thing as everybody else, but thinking of something different.

Innovation

Innovation is market driven. Innovation can also be making improved performance of the product/system technique by adopting a change using most alternative technologies. An innovative product makes a leap in the benefits-to-costs ratio ion some area of endeavour. Innovation is a systematic, organized, rational work - usually done in many stages like analysis, tests, experiment etc. I would like to give a few examples of innovative technologies/applications. What we see in optical communications is speed vs cost. In flexible manufacturing systems it is choice vs cost. In the web-enabled processes, it is customer satisfaction vs cost. Again in e-Mail, a message is instantly delivered in any part of the world through internet.

Competitiveness and innovation

One of the important need is to understand, where we stand in the competitive world. The indices of world competitiveness are based on the global competitiveness report prepared by the World Economic Forum. The competitiveness is defined as, 'the ability of a national economy to achieve sustained high rates of economic growth'. In that order of ranking, USA 1, Finland 2, Taiwan 3, Singapore 4, Sweden 5, France 30, Germany 14, India 48. What decides world competitiveness? It is a combination triangle consisting of progressiveness of industry, technology push and governmental deregularisation status. All the three aspects have to work for achieving world competitiveness. In terms of overall GDP size, we are 12 in the world; in terms of per capita GDP we are 57 in the world. Is this status acceptable to us? Especially the young. I believe we should work for fourth or fifth position in terms of GDP as well as in terms of world competitiveness. This position should be reached before 2020 and we should aim for higher position in the later decades. I will share with you some ideas about the strategies and the tool to realise this status. That will pave the way for a developed India.

Building innovation systems

It is through the process of innovation that knowledge is converted into wealth and social good. Further, innovation is an important factor for the competitiveness of both service and manufacturing sectors. Innovation tends to emanate less from R&D and more from other sources, including organizational change. Hence there is an urgent need to establish an efficient innovation system in the country. Such a system would involve creation of clusters, which are networks of inter-dependent firms, knowledge producing institutions (universities, colleges/institutes, research institutes, technology providing firms), bridging institutions (e.g. think tanks, providers of technical or consultancy services) and customers linked in a value-addition creating production chain. The concept of clusters goes beyond that of a firm network, as it captures all forms of knowledge sharing and exchange. Thus an innovative system with its clusters would tap into the growing stock of global knowledge, assimilate and adapt it to local needs and finally create new knowledge and technology. For such an innovative system to succeed, the following are necessary: (a) improving inter-ministerial coordination and ensure consistency and credibility in policy formulation; and (b) introducing new mechanisms to support innovation and technology diffusion, including greater use of public/private partnership.

Development and Leadership connectivity

For the nation today, what is needed is a combination of technology and leadership using the technology to bring economic prosperity. 'Developed India', as defined by us can be only powered by economic strength. The economic strength has to be powered by competitiveness and competitiveness has to be powered by knowledge power. Knowledge power has to be powered by technology and technology has to be powered by innovation and business. Business has to be powered by innovative management and management has to be powered by leadership. What are the characteristics of leadership? A leader will neither be a commander nor a super boss, but he or she will be a visionary, facilitator of the team and a thinker. Above all, the nobility of the mind is the hallmark of the leader.

Conclusion

The next 20 year period, I consider, is a period of technological transformation of India. I anticipate new emerging economic and technical situations where there will be many new technologies which can help us develop. India is now standing at the gate of the knowledge society and with our skill development in the field of information technology what we need is a little bit of an entrepreneurial push and an increase in our competitiveness. With these tools we will be prepared to take on the new trends as in the case of Internet and with minimal government interference and support and we can hold our head high and stand amongst the internationally developed countries of the world. My experience of working has shown that we need role models who will ignite the minds of the young people. My appeal to all the members of this Forum is that you have a key role to play in the development of the minds and vision of these young leaders of today. They look up to you as role models for their future and if we are successful in igniting their minds, we would have done a great service for the state as well as for the nation. I get an impression that the Indian mind has begun to get ignited and with an ignited mind I'm sure that he can move the most powerful forces on the earth, under the earth and above the earth. I am sure that the Sir J.C.Bose Science Promotion Forum will take a lead to pave a way for the young to work for complex programs and projects by giving a sense purpose and confidence to chalk out their career so that they strive to become future leaders of science and engineering to contribute to national development.

Thank you.