The new Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is hosting a panel discussion on 3 December in Mumbai, on how best to create and realise growth through innovation.
Senior representatives from Imperial College London and Imperial Innovations will discuss the issue at the Centre’s launch for Indian CEOs.
Imperial College will invest some £2.5 million in The Rajiv Gandhi Centre, based in its Tanaka Business School, with support for scholarships and infrastructure. The Centre’s purpose is to engage UK and Indian industry, research institutions, business schools and governments for closer collaboration in research and sharing of best practice in innovation management. The project is the first to systematically study how technology commercialisation can be successful in the Indian university, research institutes and business context.
There are tremendous opportunities for growth in India but there are also challenges. Many Indian corporations are now enacting a global strategy and developing a platform for sustained product and business innovation. The challenges they face include access to ideas and talent to create new sources of value. Indian companies and universities can accelerate the implementation of their strategy for growth through mutually beneficial connections with global partners.
David Begg, Principal of the Business School, speaking at the launch event explained the new Centre’s focus: “Indian companies are stepping up, striving to compete globally on more than simply cost competition. Well managed innovation processes unlock the potential value in a company and are vital to this transformation. The Centre helps facilitate this important step change.”
The Centre will offer a range of services to its partners in India and the UK. In addition to establishing collaborative research projects, it will provide corporate networking and executive education programmes. These will provide connections for opportunities with highly able professionals and researchers from both countries.
All programmes will be open to multi-national corporations, medium-sized businesses and individual entrepreneurs with plans for events in London and India. Executive education will offer access to advanced research in many disciplines tailored to suit the practical and managerial challenges faced by its clients. These will incorporate an appreciation of the culture, business practices and innovation management processes in both countries, and focus also on the recruitment and retention of talent, a key issue facing all companies today in India.
Each year the Centre will provide five Rajiv Gandhi Scholarships to encourage the movement of students between India and the UK and closer ties between the two student populations.
Professor Gerry George, the Centre’s Director said: “As part of Imperial College’s business school, the Centre is able to tap into a rich seam of proven research and practical know-how. It has a unique location in London, situated next to, and working with, global leaders in medicine, energy and environmental research. It’s also recognised as the UK’s best entrepreneurship programme. I’m excited about developing programmes for companies with research, training or networking needs in both India and the UK.”
The Centre has signed memoranda of understanding with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) Alumni Association in Europe to promote better understanding of Indian industry issues and provide a forum for discussing relevant managerial trends and challenges.
In cooperation with the CII, the Centre is already developing a technology audit programme for small and medium-sized companies. This will help managers understand and refine product and process innovation in their own businesses.
-#- ends -#-
Notes to Editors:
To reserve a place please contact: Sheryl Anchan (British Deputy High Commission, Mumbai) by email or telephone (sheryl.anchan@fco.gov.uk, +91 22 6650 2205). When replying please provide your: Name, company name, position within company, email address and direct telephone number.
For further information on the Rajiv Gandhi Centre or Tanaka Business School please contact:
Elliott White, Tanaka Business School, Imperial College,
+44 207 594 9154 or e.white@imperial.ac.uk
1) The event
The launch event will take place on 3 December 2007 from 15:15 until 17:45 at The Rooftop Rendezvous, Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, Apollo Bunder, Mumbai 400 001.
The panel will include:
- Professor David Begg, Business School Principal, on the launch of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre and Indo-UK partnerships in innovation.
- Sir Richard Sykes, Imperial College Rector, on biopharma developments and implications for drug discovery
- Dr. Tidu Maini, Pro Rector for Development & Corporate Affairs, on technology transfer and the role of corporate university linkages
- Susan Searle, Imperial Innovation’s CEO, on the company’s success in technology commercialisation and the launch of 12india, an associate company focused on commercialising IP in India
- Professor Gerry George, Rajiv Gandhi Centre’s Director, on leading edge innovation in design and the human side of innovation.
2) The Rajiv Gandhi Centre
The Centre was launched in December 2007 as a specialist centre at Tanaka Business School. Its aim is to:
- establish highly credible research projects focusing on Indian business trends and markets
- develop and enhance lasting, mutually beneficial relationships between UK and Indian companies
- provide high quality, bespoke training programmes for Indian management built on Tanaka Business School’s reputation as the UK’s leading entrepreneurial establishment
The Centre receives financial support from organisations including the Kusuma Trust and BP plc.
3) About Tanaka Business School
Tanaka Business School is a world class provider of business education and research, focusing primarily on Imperial College’s strengths in innovation and entrepreneurship, finance and healthcare management. It is rated as one of Europe's top business schools for entrepreneurship in the latest Financial Times rankings. The School offers customised executive education, full-time and Executive MBAs, Master's programmes in Finance, Risk Management and Financial Engineering, Actuarial Finance, International Health Management, Management, and a Doctoral programme.
The School's Innovation and Entrepreneurship faculty group is the leading research group of its kind in Europe, having received over £25m in funding from governmental and corporate sponsors.
For more, go to: www.imperial.ac.uk/tanaka
4) About Tanaka Business School’s Executive Education
Tanaka Business School’s customised executive education offers a disciplined but flexible approach to analysing, interpreting and responding to your organisation’s personality and its strategic and operational goals.
Our executive education solutions leap the constraining boundaries of traditional programmes. We create unique learning journeys that challenge, inspire and energise your managers to bring new mindsets to familiar challenges and emerging opportunities.
Core elements of the learning journey draw on Tanaka Business School’s key strengths in business strategy, innovation and leadership. We specialise in developing high-performing managers within innovation-intensive industries such as healthcare, pharmaceutical, mineral and energy, engineering and financial services. Tata Corporation, Arup, Laing O’Rourke, the NHS, BT and the Royal Society are just a few of the clients that have benefited from our unique learning journeys.
5) About Imperial College London
Rated as the world's fifth best university in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement University Rankings, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts over 12,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality.
Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and management and delivers practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.
With 66 Fellows of the Royal Society among our current academic staff and distinguished past members of the College including 14 Nobel Laureates and two Fields Medallists, Imperial's contribution to society has been immense. Inventions and innovations include the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and the foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of our research for the benefit of all continues today with current focuses including interdisciplinary collaborations to tackle climate change and mathematical modelling to predict and control the spread of infectious diseases.
The College's 100 years of living science will be celebrated throughout 2007 with a range of events to mark the Centenary of the signing of Imperial's founding charter on 8 July 1907.
Article text (excluding photos or graphics) available under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Creative Commons license.
Photos and graphics subject to third party copyright used with permission or © Imperial College London.
