Innovation plays a critical role in shaping the industrial competitiveness of any nation. India being a developing nation, has its own set of unique situations and challenges/barriers that impede the innovation potential of MSMEs operating in it. Many of these challenges/barriers are related to public policy, funding constraints, access to suitable equipment, shortage of skilled R&D workforce and weak linkages between institutions and the industry, among others. Therefore, DSIR has initiated a program aimed at the creation of Common Research & Technology Development Hubs (CRTDHs) to encourage research and technology development activities by MSMEs and develop synergy between academia and industry. These hubs facilitate MSMEs to undertake new/improved product/process development and skill enhancement activities. The collaborating institutions extends hands-on training, skill development and research information facilities to the MSMEs, apart from research and technology development infrastructure. Through CRTDHs, DSIR aims to enhance productivity, increase the innovative skills of MSMEs and help them become globally competitive and generate employment. DSIR-CRTDH is now a strong family of 18 CRTDHs located at various places across the length and breadth of the nation. These CRTDHs are working in the sectors such as Electronics/Renewable energy, Affordable health, Environmental interventions, Low cost machining and New materials/chemical process. All the CRTDHs are engaged in meaningful R&D activities having good societal impact and are also helping the MSMEs by providing necessary infrastructure and intellectual assistance for performing Research and Development and remaining competitive. DSIR aims to expand the network of CRTDHs across India by having its presence in all states and Union Territories and contribute in the mission of enabling India to emerge as a global Industrial and innovation hub, and serve the society in best possible way places across the country from the last week of June to the first week of August 2023.
Access to health is one of the fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution over the world. However, almost 50% of the world’s 7.5 billion people is forced to live at underserved locations without access to basic healthcare and health education and public health measures, due to a multitude of reasons. This results in accumulation of diseases among the most vulnerable segment, delayed presentation and intervention, and consequent need of specialty treatment at high secondary and tertiary cost and health-related poverty shocks. 100 million people globally have to choose between food and medicine every day. 39 million people fall below poverty line in India every year due to health-related expenses. This vicious cycle needs to be broken. In a dire need to provide a disruptive intervention to these long-standing challenges in affordable healthcare, one pragmatic way out is to intermingle advancements and innovations in healthcare technology, including digital healthcare, with value added human resource development, which is the central principle adapted in the vision of our CRTDH at IIT Kharagpur.
The (CRTDH) of affordable health at IIT Kharagpur was established in 2019 to facilitate the MSMEs, startups and entrepreneurs working primarily in the healthcare domain. CRTDH's programs and facilities are designed to empower MSMEs, offering several services like R&D support, state-of-art facilities, manufacturing plant, licensing support etc. Over the past four years CRTDH at IIT Kharagpur has developed R&D labs, state-of-art facilities, manufacturing plant for Industry-Academia collaboration and provides the R&D support, fund raising and licensing support. In spite of the constraints due to COVID 19 pandemic, the CRTDH at IIT Kharagpur has developed several point-of-care technologies, organized several online and offline training to the MSMEs, Startups and rural entrepreneurs. It has continued to provide service to the last-mile population and made a huge effort to make healthcare accessible for the last mile population. CRTDH took several initiatives to combat the pandemic by training community health workers to prepare mask, sanitizers and organized several medical/validation camps in remote settings. CRTDH at IIT Kharagpur also set up Pathology and Imaging Lab in collaboration with an NGO. This lab is equipped with cutting-edge technologies, including some developed in-house at CRTDH. In addition to affordability, CRTDH emphasizes accessibility, enabling MSMEs and startups to leverage the available resources, with ample support and guidance. Through these initiatives, CRTDH plays a pivotal role in bolstering the MSME sector, creating an inclusive environment of growth and technological advancement.
| Ideation | MSMEs to state their ideas about new products/services based on their understanding of market needs | Builds two-way traffic for idea-sharing and more relevant products |
|---|---|---|
| MSMEs to state their ideas about new products/services based on their understanding of market needs | Selection of product/device/service | |
| Capacity-building | Hands-on training to MSMEs for prototype development using CRTDH facilities | Addresses the key challenges of ‘Training & R&D Capability’ for MSMEs |
| mparting fundamental knowledge to MSME about the technology platform of the device/service & how it works | ||
| Key risks mitigation | Provide access to rural healthcare network and super-speciality hospital for initial validation study of the device/service | Addresses the challenge faced by MSMEs towards investment in risky early-stage development |
| Patenting support | ||
| Data analysis and iterative development for MSME | ||
| Develop product to ‘Design-for- Manufacture’ stage | ||
| Trial and final validation | Create access to MSMEs for multi-centric trials with appropriate IRB clearances | Provides knowledge base for conducting validated trials and data analysis |
| Data analysis and validation | ||
| Technology transfer | Transfer technologies to MSMEs through appropriate agreements on ‘Royalty share’ | |
| Certification | Assist MSMEs through the certification process | Assistance in regulatory |
| - CDSCO, DCGI, CE, European CE, ISI, BIS (as appropriate) | clearances | |
| Initial market access | Provide immediate sale support to the MSMEs by providing access to the rural healthcare network of IIT Kgp to create immediate confidence in product/service and build success stories | Initial sale and revenue stream creation |
The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) is a part of the Ministry of Science and Technology, which was announced through a Presidential Notification, dated January 4, 1985 (74/2/1/8 Cab.) contained in the 164th Amendment of the Government of India (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) has a mandate to carry out the activities relating to indigenous technology promotion, development, utilization and transfer.
The primary endeavour of DSIR is to promote R&D by the industries, support a larger cross section of small and medium industrial units to develop state-of-the art globally competitive technologies of high commercial potential, catalyze faster commercialization of lab-scale R&D, enhance the share of technology intensive exports in overall exports, strengthen industrial consultancy & technology management capabilities and establish user friendly information network to facilitate scientific and industrial research in the country. It also provides a link between scientific laboratories and industrial establishments for transfer of technologies through National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) and facilitates investment in R&D through Central Electronics Limited (CEL).
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur) is a public institute of technology research university established by the Government of India in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India. Established in 1951, the institute is the first of the IITs to be established and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance.