It is widely recognized that both global business linkages and indigenous innovation are necessary to support economic growth in the current globalized economy. “Indovation” is a term coined recently to describe a set of austere, frugal, or low-cost innovations developed in India to address technological, bureaucratic, or other obstacles peculiar to the subcontinent. These could relate to the production of goods and the delivery of services, such as low-cost health care, affordably and sustainably in India's resource-poor context. “Indovation” is generally used in the context of business, but the concept is said to grow out of the broader concept of jugaad, which means the art of inventing frugal solutions to problems that arise in India.
In Indovation: Innovation and a Global Knowledge Economy in India, Thomas Birtchnell does a reasonable job of describing and analyzing Indovation with examples and case studies, centered largely around the business success of well-educated, highly skilled Indian “globals.” Globals are identified as Indians who have become globally mobile by acquiring technical and business skills in advanced countries or in India's own top centers of excellence, the Indian Institutes of Technology and Management. In fact, a large part of this book consists of anecdotes or case studies of such global actors who, after acquiring global mobility, have nevertheless retained or re-established their linkages with India to develop successful business ventures there, often with local partners. Many of these case studies were compiled initially as an Australian research study to examine the business linkages of Indian globals.
A primary focus of the study is to bring out the austere nature of the solutions developed by globals to put into practice the various steps involved in building successful transnational businesses, including the leveraging of low-cost skilled labor in India. Many of the examples provided are in the realm of knowledge-intensive economic activities. It is clear that much of the success described has been possible because of the rise of information technology as a dominant generic technology and India's early entry as a major player in IT services. In fact, Birtchnell provides a good description of how India achieved and maintained its strengths in IT, with its initial investments in science and technology education and its well-timed response to the worldwide Y2 K crisis. India has been successful in sustaining its strength in IT, IT-enabled services, and business process outsourcing.
Indovation is recognized as a valid business concept that has numerous exemplars, such as the Tata Nano. Some of these are well documented in the book. But Birtchnell does not mention some of the most widely publicized examples of Indovation in services, particularly in the delivery of health care very efficiently at low cost to the masses.Footnote 3 This subject deserves a more thorough and comprehensive survey than is found in Indovation.
Birtchnell also does not examine the scope and significance of Indovation in the context of India's broader economic achievements and opportunities, which are extensive and formidable.Footnote 4 Innovation is advancing across a broad front in India: India's pharmaceutical industry, in particular, has been innovating at the frontier and many global firms are locating substantial R&D facilities in India.Footnote 5 Birtchnell also does not discuss development challenges, such as the infrastructure deficit, regional diversity, endemic corruption, and simmering ethnic tensions. It is pertinent to ask if current Indovation is an intrinsic characteristic of India's inherited culture or a transient feature of slower economic development in a resource-poor economy. Unfortunately such deeper questions are not raised in this book.
Indovation also provides reference to and summary conclusions from a number of other writings on India, particularly as they relate to the activities of the diaspora and arguments about the mobility of the globals, which is a major concern of the book. The success of various top-tier Indian business leaders is also noted. It is not clear how this potpourri of vignettes about India, Indians, and their statements and activities relate to the main themes Birtchnell pursues.
A shortcoming of Indovation is that the various themes are not very well integrated and peripheral details of little importance, which add little clarity to the main arguments, are thrown in. The book could also do with some serious editing in a second edition. However, given the major revisions that would be required and given the importance of the subject, an entirely new book that is much more carefully planned out would probably be a better option.
