South-South Cooperation for Technology Transfer and Development of Small and Medium Enterprises:

VIT Experiences

Prof. D.P. Kothari,

FNAE, FNASc

Vice Chancellor, VIT University, Vellore

Former Director (I/C), IIT DELHI Former Principal, VRCE, Nagpur 1

VIT – A brief history

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Founded in 1984 as Vellore Engineering College (VEC), a Private college affiliated to the University of Madras, with three undergraduate programmes and an intake of 180 students

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Blossomed into a Postgraduate institution in 1995

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Conferred Deemed University status Resource Development, Government of India and renamed Vellore Institute of Technology in 2001 by Ministry of Human

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Renamed as VIT University (u/s 3 of UGC Act) in 2006

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Accreditation

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Accredited by the National Board of Accreditation 1998 and 1999 with highest grade ( A Grade) (NBA) in

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First educational institution in India to be awarded Certificate by the Det Norske Veritas (DNV) Netherlands in 1999 ISO 9002 of the

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Accredited by the Council (NAAC ) in National Assessment and Accreditation 2003

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Accreditation

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Programmes of VIT accredited by the Institution of Engineers, India [IEI]

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First educational institution in India accredited by the Institution for Engineering and Technology (IET) and Energy Institute (EI) to theirs up to both from 2010 UK in 2005 with our degrees equivalent

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Tata Consultancy Services Institution accredited VIT as an A-Grade

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Recognition

 India Today-ACNielsen-ORG-MARG Survey: All India 14 th rank in 2007 All India 10 th rank in 2008  Both in 2007 and 2008, VIT University was ranked first among the Private Engineering Institutions in the country 5

Introduction

 UN created special unit for SSC in late 1970’s – academic research and voluntary cooperative efforts between developing countries to promote S-S trade and investment  Refers cooperative activities between developing countries  Developing technologies, services and trading relationships  Micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) – engine of economic growth and for promoting equitable development 6

Introduction

 SSC contributes to economic advances in Africa, Southern Asia and South America  SSC lacs the overtones of cultural, political and economic hegemony  Lot of differences within the group of developing countries – think of cooperation among the developing countries – giving rise to the concept of SSC 7

SSC for Technology Transfer Author’s association with SAARC countries

 Personally visited SAARC countries - development of local engineering colleges like BUET in Dhaka, Kathmandu Engineering College, Nepal and University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan  VIT University also has mutually beneficial working association with several academic institutions / universities in SAARC countries 8

SSC for Technology Transfer

Necessity of Technology Transfer

 Definite goal – converting the laboratory information into a commercial product  Sharing of technical information  SSC to address wide range of issues  Need for concerted action – natural disasters 9

SSC for Technology Transfer

Role of UN

 Promote SSC – policy support and capacity building  FAO, UNIDO, UNDP and WHO – proper south-south policies and activities 10

SSC for Technology Transfer

 Bandung Conference in 1955 – pioneering major south-south conference of developing countries  Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Group of 77 (Doha, 2005)  Working Group on Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC) created in 1972 by UN General Assembly  SAARC formed in 1985  ASEAN in 1967   stepping stone towards bringing nations into a framework of cooperation Bridge the economic gap between developed and developing countries 11

SSC for Technology Transfer

VIT University’s contribution to the SAARC countries

Creation of knowledge hubs in the form of human resource and opening up the avenues for SSC for exchange of technology  Separate International Office functioning since 2002  Admitted students from various countries abroad  MoU with SINO-INDIA Education and Technology Alliance  Around 400 Chinese students to take education in disciplines like computer and management 12

SSC for Technology Transfer

Role of the Centre for Disaster Mitigation & Management (CDMM)

• Established on 9 th January 2006 by VIT University • Quarterly e-Newsletter on Natural Disaster & Development – the first of its kind in Asia , with an international circulation of 6000, published under the aegis of Centre for Non Aligned and other Developing Countries • First Institution in India to produce Self-Education CD-ROMS on Earthquakes, Cyclones, Landslides and Lightning • Major contribution to Planning Commission in drafting of Chapter on Disaster Management for the XI Five Year Plan • Major contribution to NDMA Team for Drafting of National Guidelines on Earthquakes and Landslides • CDMM is the only Centre in India to have so far contributed papers to every issue of National Journal on Disasters and Development 13

SSC for Technology Transfer

• CDMM participated in International Roundtable meeting on Lighting Protection for Non-Aligned Nations in Sri Lanka in 2007 – SSC information exchange discussed • CDMM has authored Peer-Reviewed Book on Retrofitting of Structure Foundation Systems • CDMM is among the ten institutions in India to be awarded a project by Prevention Consortium of Geneva • conducted Roundtable meeting on landslides in 2006 to discuss recurrent problems on landslides in SAARC countries – Vellore Declaration had been brought out • conducted International Roundtable meeting in 2007 for Non-Aligned and other developing countries to discuss about the natural disasters among these countries – Vellore Resolution member countries had been brought out and signed by the delegates of the 14

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

• P rominent approach to sustainable development • Depending on imported technical skills • Dependency reduction using Universities / Institutions facilities • Awareness creation using institutional networks • IIT Delhi • BITS, Pilani • VNIT, Nagpur • NIT Kurukshetra • VIT University 15

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Significance of SMEs contribution Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs)

• 90% of total enterprises in most of the economies • generating the highest rates of employment growth • major share of industrial production and exports • 33% of the total export of the country and 39% of the manufacturing output • MSE sector employs 31 million persons spread over 12.8 million enterprises • MSE sector almost 4 times higher than the large enterprises 16

Establishing and Managing Entrepreneurship Clubs (E-Clubs) in Southern India

• Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India sanctioned Rs. 2.5 crores for establishing this E-Clubs. • VIT University has become the first University in Southern India to undertake this project • MSME Development Institute, Chennai and VIT signed MoU on July 2007 • MSME and VIT University establishing around 200 E-Clubs in all the five Southern States of India • First of such clubs are already working at Vellore and Coimbatore 17

Establishing and Managing Entrepreneurship Clubs (E-Clubs) in Southern India Expected outcomes:

• Provide solutions for common problems • Enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of entrepreneurs • Capacity building of micro and small enterprises • Facilitate substantial economic of scale • Provide management training • Provide incubator services • Representation to industry associations / other agencies 18

Support to SMEs through Business Incubation at VIT Technology Business Incubator (VIT-TBI)

• Pre-incubation Services • Established three product innovation centre with the support from Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India • Grant from the infoDev (the World Bank Group) of USD 0.15 million • Entrepreneurs access to the VIT University facilities through VIT-TBI • Midcourse correction support is available 19

Support to SMEs through Business Incubation at VIT Technology Business Incubator (VIT-TBI)

• VIT-TBI provided structured training named “Accelerated Business Coaching Program” ( www.knowledgebiz.org

) • Close working relationship with over 60 corporate and industry clients • Conduced Capacity Building Program for Business Incubation Managers under SSC in May 2007. Over 19 participants from China, Mauritius, Mozambique, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam attended 20

Failure Issues

Common causes of SMEs Failures

• Lack of will and perseverance on the part of the entrepreneurs • Peer and family pressure • Fear of failure • Lack of a failure tolerant eco-system 21

The Challenges in Technology Transfer in Medium and Small Scale Industries

• Conversion of kerosene stove to increase efficiency • Conversion of motorcycle to tilling machine to replace tractor • Low-cost drip irrigation system • A manual milking device – inventor J.S. Milker • Interacting with academic institutions for developing new process • BITS, Pilani Practical School model extremely successful 22

Failures in Technology Transfer in Medium and Small Scale Industries Possible reasons of Failures

• Lack of funds to establish sophisticated and advanced facilities for the technology development and transfer • Interdisciplinary work. Number of experts available are fewer which are required to scale-up the process • Lack of funds and interest by the funding agency result in half backed process know-how causing failure • Lack of a failure tolerant eco-system 23

Failures in Technology Transfer in Medium and Small Scale Industries Suggestions

• Adequate funding should be provided • Joint work, better cooperation and coordination among different interest groups such as academic institutions, research departments and entrepreneurs 24

Conclusions

• This paper has dealt with South-South Cooperation for Technology Transfer and also discussed at length the experience obtained dealing with SMEs at VIT University, Vellore • Along with numerous success stories, some failures are also discussed along with the reasons and means to avoid them in future • The interest groups in dealing with the topics of technology transfer; small and medium enterprises will be immensely benefitted by the VIT experience 25

• Besides these academic activities involving exchange of students and faculty from various universities abroad, IR is actively involved in assisting in the International accreditation of the VIT university.

• It helped earlier in achieving the IET & EI accreditation from UK and now currently helping in securing the American Accreditations ABET and AACSB for our Engineering and Management programmes.

• It is also assisting in monitoring the Asia-Link programme on Energy and Environment with UAS Aachen and Masters programme in Automobile Engineering with UAS Esslingen and ARAI, Pune .

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