Ready for made for India products

BANGALORE: The panel discussion on “Innovate in India, for India, by India,” organized as part of the ongoing Bangalore IT. in, drove home the point that Indian market needs context driven and localized products.

The discussions focused on the issue of catering to the 'need spectrum' and not just on repackaged global versions of the products.

Moderating the panel, Prof.Sadagopan, Director, IIITB, said, “We are ready for made in India and made for India products. Bangalore, being the IT hum, is the epitome of innovations in this regard. We have come a long way from 'doing' for others to 'can do' for ourselves.”

Quoting Prof CK Prahlad, he said, “We need to cater to the needs of those in the 'bottom of pyramid' market, who constitute the majority of the country's population. Cost, is certainly determinant of innovations and innovators, need to keep in mind, the Indian psyche of buying 'the best and cheap' in the same order.”

Sandeep Srivastava of Yahoo India, said, “Innovators have to focus on creating need based solution and take an iterative approach to cater to the local market needs. In fact the need for a low cost but a better product will create opportunities for new technology and innovative local product.”

Speaking on the challenges of catering to the Indian market, Rajiv Reddy, president, July Systems, said, “ Indian market is traditionally price sensitive. However, we should also remember that the cost of R&D is very high here and also the market willingness to accept a new product is extremely low. So we need to keep these factors in mind before going to the market.”

Dr. Anandan, MD, Microsoft Research India, who summed up the discussions, said that the innovators need to keep in mind three factors while developing new products: Be context (local) driven, adaptive to changing environment and be opportunistic.