Innovation to transform Lanka

February 5, 2012, 6:40 pm , The Island.


Welcome

Welcome to the seventy sixth (76th ) edition of the regular column "The Catalyst".

Here, we discuss a wide range of topics around Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), many aspects of Business, SME Development, Agriculture, Education, Entrepreneurship, Creativity, Innovation and the Society at large.

Innovation

As we have discussed here in this column earlier, creativity and innovation are very important for the progress of a country. We have to do new things if we are to improve as a nation.

"Creativity is the ability to see things differently and have an original idea, and innovation is the ability to make new ideas actually happen."

William Coyne, senior vice president for R&D at 3M has explained the distinction as "Creativity is thinking of new and appropriate ideas whereas innovation is the successful implementation of those ideas within an organisation. In other words creativity is the concept and innovation is the process."

Imagination is important. It will lead to innovation, which can eventually lead to entrepreneurship to create economic and social value. Imagination and Innovation is more the ‘thinking’ part whereas entrepreneurship is more geared towards the ‘doing’ part.

Recently (in July 2011), Sri Lanka was ranked 82nd, in a global innovation index issued by Insead, an international business school. We stand behind India but ahead of other key south Asian countries. Switzerland topped this year’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index (GII), while Sweden took second place and Singapore third. This shows that we have a fair way to go.

One important thing I think is the need to develop the innovative culture within us. The feeling that ‘we can do’ needs to be injected. After over four centuries of foreign rule and an overdose of westernisation through various sources, I feel like our people have come to a place where we simply consume what others do rather than inventing and developing things ourselves.

Practical Innovations

I was having a chat with a few colleagues recently and we were talking about some of the things that may be tried out by Sri Lankans to innovatively solve some of our common problems.

One such issue is the mosquito menace we have. It has prevailed for decades now and is probably a result of urbanisation as well as our tropical climate. In my experience western countries don’t have this issue, possibly due to their cleanliness as well as seasonal changes in the weather pattern which involves a winter. Now, this is our problem. It’s unique, so there are no imported solutions. I love it when our President says that this country doesn’t need imported solutions from overseas. Of course it’s good to learn from others but the final solution and implementation should be done in our own way.

In this specific case, the mosquito coil has been a good answer and has helped that business, but I feel it’s not the healthiest solution with the smoke and chemicals involved and it does not present a solution to the root cause of the problem. Have we tried out any innovations? I am sure if a few people, with different backgrounds and experiences, put their minds into it, we could get out of it! This includes the dengue problem that we are dealing with at the moment.

Then another issue that comes to mind is fly-overs. We have been importing flyover bridges to provide a solution to our traffic problem. There has been some criticism over their quality as well. Of course these objects do not require state of the art equipment or cutting edge knowledge to be built. We only need a few sensible engineers to figure out the details of the construction, and I’m sure we’ve got plenty of that around! To put things into perspective, about a decade ago, Sri Lanka didn’t have so many colour lights at intersections. However today, we do not have a shortage of them. This is a direct result of using our own home grown resources to construct and implement these systems. That’s what innovation and local production can do.

On a different but related note, our roads are full of three wheelers to the point of nuisance. For the transport requirements of certain segments of the society, that is helpful. Yet, do we have to send colossal amounts of money to India to buy these little machines? A friend of mine commented, the technology and complexity that goes into such a vehicle is pretty simple. Can’t we do it here?

On the other hand, do we really have to import so much milk powder? This country is so much greener than Australia with plenty of rainfall to nourish lush pastures for cattle! Why can’t we make enough of our own production? It seems that the fresh milk industry has been picking up pace in the last few years, but it hasn’t been enough. What we need is some innovative thinking as to how to do it.

On a similar food related topic, again we are making India rich by consuming so much dahl. It’s hard to find a meal of rice without a dahl curry on its side. Why not find and popularise an alternative which can be home grown? One such grain is kollu, which has been widely consumed among the local community prior to the introduction of dahl from India by the British. Of course these changes cannot be done overnight, and it will take many failed attempts, a lot of learning and a fair dose of courage. Yet changing our attitudes and looking at things in a different perspective to ‘do it ourselves’ is definitely the starting point.

These are just a few examples. We could see many more things around us that could be made better through a bit of innovative thinking.

Industry-academia
collaboration

Research is a key factor driving innovation in a society. And one of the best places to carry out research is within a university. Minister of Higher Education S.B. Dissanayake had said at the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2011 organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) in Colombo, that Sri Lankan universities should research to increase our high tech products’ share in exports as it is only around 1.5 percent of our total exports. The value of the world tea trade is only $ 8 billion, while figures for coconut and rubber are $ 20 and 25 billion. On the other hand, the value of the world electronics industry is $ 1,800 billion, while trade in products such as IT, telecommunication, nano-technology, and bio-technology products generate $ 2,000, 2,500, 200 and 100 billion respectively.

Sri Lanka exports a large quantity of vital minerals that are used in high tech industries in raw form and universities should focus on research to add value to these products. Today, we need new high yield seeds, machinery for agriculture, pharmaceuticals, marketing and administration systems. University academics should carry out research in these areas as there are ample opportunities in these areas.

However, carrying out research is not possible without the provision of facilities. You might be the world’s best expert in making a chair, but if you are not given the wood and the necessary tools, there’s not much that you can do with your skills and time.

This is where industry-academia collaboration can help. For example in Australia (and many other countries), many companies work with universities to research and develop different things. The industrial body, usually funds the research either financially or through the provision of facilities. If a new innovation is born, the company takes it to the market. A win for all. If the university students and staff discover some important knowledge, again the company can use it for their benefit. For example my wife has been involved in research in Australian universities which were funded by both the private sector and the government sector, that are related to bio chemistry and agriculture using nano technologies, and the objective was for the researchers to innovate some specific things with the support of the industry. Once that phase is over, the industry to endeavour into enterprising it. With this arrangement, an added benefit to the industry is that they can find experts in the area at a lower cost.

In Sri Lanka, the link between university research and industry is unfortunately not a very strong one at the moment. This needs strengthening both from the private and the government sectors. If we can strengthen this relationship, there will be a lot to benefit, from all angles.

I am sure we can!

As usual, any feedback can be sent through to yva@lankabpoacademy.lk

See you next week!



The Columnist

Yasas Vishuddhi Abeywickrama is a professional with significant experiences. In 2011 he was recognised as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) in Sri Lanka. Yasas has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from University of Colombo and a Masters degree in Entrepreneurship & Innovation from Swinburne University in Australia. He has worked in the USA, UK, Sri Lanka & Australia and being trained in the USA & Malaysia. He is currently involved in the training organisation, Lanka BPO Academy (www.lankabpoacademy.lk). Yasas is also an Executive Council Member of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL – www.cssl.lk). Apart from this column, he is a regular resource person for ‘Ape Gama’ program of FM Derana (Sunday 3-5pm). Yasas is happy to answer your relevant questions – email him at
yva@lankabpoacademy.lk .

Rajarata PU opening opposed by JVP rebel controlled student union

February 5, 2012, 9:18 pm , The Island.

by Dasun Edirisinghe

Medical undergraduates of the Rajarata University, who have been agitating for a setting up of a Professorial Unit (PU) in the Anuradhapura teaching hospital for their clinical training, now are protesting against opening it on February 09 to coincide with the Deyata Kurula development exhibition.

Convener of the Medical Faculty Students’ Action Committee Nilan Fernando told The Island all its requirement had yet to be completed but the government wanted to open it for cheap publicity.

Fernando accused Rajarata Vice Chancellor, Prof. K. A. Nandasena, of deliberately delaying it.

"University administration promised us to open the unit on Dec. 15, but they didn’t meet the promise," he said adding that the unit was still in the same state.

The JVP rebel group – led student union said that the professorial unit was still not ready with the necessary equipment and human resources.

Fernando said that 188 students had been waiting for clinical training for over seven months, while parallel student batches of other medical faculties had passed out.

Denying students claims, VC Prof. Nandasena said that they would open the unit on Feb. 09 with all the facilities.

"We will admit patients to the unit on Feb. 15," he said asking, "If it was not complete how could we admit patients?

Politicisation, indiscipline blamed for deterioration of Uni education

February 5, 2012, 8:58 pm , The Island.


by Dasun Edirisinghe

The quality of university education is fast deteriorating owing to politicization, indiscipline and lack of modern technologies and facilities, a recent survey reveals.

The increasing rate of graduate unemployment is a major burden and severe criticism has emerged against the traditional and non-updated university curricula, the survey titled Determinants of Unemployment among Sri Lankan University Graduates states.

The survey was carried out in 2010 by the Manpower Planning, Development and Research Division of the Department of Manpower and Employment (currently under the purview of Ministry of Productivity Promotion) in collaboration with the former Ministry of Labour Relations and Manpower and the University Grants Commission with financial assistance from the International Labour Organisation under the ‘Decent Work’ Country Programme.

More than 5000 graduates who passed out from six national universities during 2006 – 2009, were taken as the survey sample.

The report observes that non compatibility of university curricula has created a mismatch between the skills possessed by the graduates and skills demanded in the job market.

The quality of education imparted by the local universities has come down and this has resulted in furtherance of graduate unemployability, it notes.

The report has identified three main reasons for the depletion of the quality of university education, namely; politicization of the university system, indiscipline in the universities and lack of state-of-the-art technologies and facilities. The report suggests that a further scientific analysis providing reasonable estimations of the impacts of those determinants to the employability of graduates must be done.

In the study, a structured postal questionnaire was used for data collection and descriptive statistics and measurers of association were used for analysis. The key focus was to understand the levels of employment, unemployment and other economic activity of university graduates who have recently passed out and to identify the possible determinants of their career outcomes.