Pune, Dec 6 (KNN) The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has inked pact with Tata Technologies Limited during a conclave titled ‘Collaborate to Innovate’ organized here today to promote innovation in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). 

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Tata Technologies Limited and GIZ. The MoU was signed by Mr Noor Naqschbandi, Programme Director, Private Sector Development, GIZ, Mr Chamanlal Dhanda, Director, MSME Innovation Programme, GIZ and Mr. Vikrant Gandhe, Company Secretary and Head- Corporate Sustainability, Tata Technologies Limited. 

The innovation conclave was organized by Mahratta Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCIA) and GIZ with the support of Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India.

The conclave titled ‘Collaborate to Innovate' was organized to improve the local innovation ecosystem by strengthening and fostering cooperation between companies, research institutions, government, service providers and larger enterprises. 

Singing the MoU, Mr. Noor Naqschbandi said, “The collaboration between GIZ and Tata Technologies will have a long term impact on promoting connect between academia and industry, particularly in tier two cities.”

"Important points associated with innovation are Diversity, Education, Ability of the Talent, Flexibility" -said Mr. Noor Naqschbandi

GIZ and Tata Tech have collaborated with the objective of innovation promotion through promoting collaboration between industry-academia linkages. Through this collaboration, they aim to develop a supportive ‘innovation ecosystem’ at few select locations which would encourage and support academic institutions and MSMEs to collaborate, innovate and thereby increase their competitiveness.  Tata Technologies (through its CSR team) shall act as an industry partner in the project and also provide networking support through its Ready Engineer partner colleges. GIZ will provide necessary technical support for establishing and strengthening the ‘industry-academia’ network at cluster level, as well as capacity building support to academic institutions, SMEs and industry associations.  

Mr Pradeep Bhargava, MCCIA President said this conclave is beneficial for stakeholders for innovation promotion in SMEs. Innovation is the main aspect while execution is the next step. However, innovation is required for the makeovers of SMEs.

MCCIA said GIZ India and Tata Technologies with the support of MCCIA will help bring academia on board along with industry to innovate.

Dr Suneel TS, GM, Open Innovation, Group Technology & Innovation, Tata Group said defining purpose of the innovation is important. The innovation should have novelty. Tata Innoverse is a platform to seek accelerated solutions and everyone is invited to give solutions to the problems.

Mr PM Parlewar, Director, DC MSME, GOI said MSMEs are growth engines of the economy and contribute significantly to country’s GDP. The Ministry of MSME is continuously formulating various schemes for interaction and association of academic institutes and industries. 

Mr. Dinanath Kholkar, VP, Global Head of Analytics & Insights, TCS, said "Business scalability is a big challenge in India The ION platform at TCS is addressing the issue It is expanded to the entire ecosystem of the business."

Background:

GIZ has been working towards establishing industry academia linkages wherein it is supporting academic institutions to reach out to industries. The Indo-German program on innovation promotion has successfully piloted its initiatives where students have been involved, with their mentors, to work on live projects of SMEs.

Tata Technologies also has a focus on promoting industry academia linkages and hence both parties have joined hands to work together in the select clusters of Maharashtra.

MSME INNO

GIZ is implementing the MSME-INNO project in partnership with the Ministry of MSME. The project aims to improve the local innovation ecosystem through fostering cooperation between different stakeholders and strengthening the innovation management capacity and sustainability of MSMEs in India.

TATA Technologies

Tata Technologies under its flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Programme “Ready Engineer” strives to provide the engineering community with an ecosystem that involves training on engineering fundamentals & concepts, courses on contemporary technologies, training on soft skills, industry assessments and platforms for innovation to enhance their awareness, expand their industry connect & in process increase their employability.

Under Ready Engineer Programme, project ‘Prayatna’, encourages innovation and provides financial support to students to work on innovative projects that help solve industry specific problems and enviro-socio challenges at large. Prayatna recognizes, rewards and promotes the budding technological enthusiasts in the engineering colleges. Through the above stated project, Tata Technologies aims to bridge the industry-academia gap by knowledge transfer, sharing industry challenges & trends and providing mentorship support.