These were the remarks of Dr. Prabuddha Ganguli, honorary scientific
consultant on innovation and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues
to Government of India, during a keynote address delivered on the
occasion of the launch of “Nanotechnology Portfolio” to mark the
fifty-second anniversary of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).
He stressed the optimum use of IPR for creating a dynamic synergy
between minds and markets. Dr. Ganguli described universities and
research institutions as “springs of knowledge”, with industry acting
as a “key channel of knowledge irrigation for societal use.”
He described ‘upstream research’ as being typically conceptual and
focused on open-ended knowledge generation; whereas ‘downstream
research’ concentrated on optimized use of knowledge with a competitive
edge in the market place, particularly at targeted end points. “While
upstream knowledge used to be segregated from downstream knowledge,
today there is a common meeting ground between the two; while in the
future there will be increased blurring of boundaries between the two,”
he added. Quoting an example from India, Dr. Ganguli stated that the
Public-Private-Partnership operated in an Industries-Academic
Consortium Mode is being strengthened in light of the changing
scenario.
The triumvirate of academics, industry and the government is important
for value added knowledge networking. But this also needs visionary
policies of the government, he remarked.
Organizations in Thailand such as AIT have to constantly tune and
retune their innovation processes, and develop human resources with
core competencies integrated with the ability to manage, and engage in
intra and inter-organizational teamwork, he said.
Apart from Dr. Ganguli, the anniversary celebrations of AIT saw the
Institute President Prof. Said Irandoust speak on his experience on
research quality and innovation based on his experience in Sweden.
Prof. Joydeep Dutta, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Director,
Center for Excellence in Nanotechnology (CoEN) presented the
Nanotechnology Portfolio developed at his Center. Prof. Gabor Louis
Hornyak, Director, Center of Learning, Innovation and Quality (CLIQ)
delivered a talk “The Future is Nanotechnology.” Representing Dr.
Sirirurg Songsivilai, Executive Director, National Nanotechnology
Centre (NANOTEC) of Thailand; Dr. Pharm Chalong Laochariyakul, Deputy
Director spoke on the topic “Nanotechnology in Thailand.”
