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India - The Technology Leader
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The assumption is that India CAN be a technology leader.
Historically, India in the last 10 years has been an innovator.
Take the iPhone as an example. At the launch of the iPhone, Steve Jobs showed the audience that the iPhone flips the picture from portrait to landscape mode automatically. This was shown in India in 1999. When it was shown on the iPhone it was perceived as something great and “intuitive”.
The point to note is that Indian Entrepreneurs are not great “perceived innovators”. They aren’t great marketers of innovation. Often Indian innovators sell off their innovations and “chase the money”.
Atul Chitnis at the recently concluded Proto.in summit, made the point that Indian innovators need to market products in India primarily because there is:
- A local market
- Greater interaction and feedback
- Local developers
This thus gives innovators the opportunity to fine tune a product before it is marketed in an International Market.
Another key point to note is that India has numbers on its side. We are a population of a Billion plus. IF a company can get even .1% of the population i.e. 1 million people – it makes a great impact in the International market.
A few don’ts for India if it wants to be a Tech Leader
- Don’t try “me too” products. Especially if it has the same features and user experiences. This is dangerous especially because consumers aren’t stupid. Take email for example. Zapak came and said that it’s mail was faster. They said this to existing email users. Well as the numbers have shown, the claim was laughable.
How to be a successful leader in technology?
Let’s look at a definition of leadership on a broader platform. A leader, on a micro level may not necessarily be the most skilled in his/ her particular job. He is a mobilizer. He identifies and capitalizes on talent.
Today, India has the image as a source of cheap labour. So it is the “follower” in the technology eco system. There are Indians who are contributing to World technology and primarily through Multinationals. So there is talent. Now there remains a platform that needs to be provided to Indians for them to stand up and be noticed.
India has to move away from the “outsourcing hub of the World” paradigm.
Finally to be seen as someone who is different – you have to BE different. Being different stems from the education system and how one perceives oneself while studying. So if you are studying then think of ideas – generate your own space, will, resources and determination. If you think that this isn’t possible then look at Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. They were all conceived in College dorms.
Firms in India also need to be roped into the technological eco system. Consider Google. 20% of employees’ time at Google is spent “doing their own thing” – a culture of creativity needs to be stemmed into Indian companies. How many Indian companies hire freshers? Not extract most of the resources from fresher? Give freshers their space their space to unleash their creativity?
Culture shapes consequences.
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