Scientific Capacity – Part of the formula for change

Thomson Reuters recently came out with the Global Research Report – India. I was happy to read the 12 pages describing the country’s in-house scientific capacity and output. It’s clear that the technical know-how of a country, and ultimately its ability to innovate, is necessary in order for indigenous solutions to be discovered and brought to bear. We’ve seen this in the US -- scientific and technical innovation has triggered many of the greatest entrepreneurial activities in history. 

The key points of the paper, which can be downloaded for free here, are that the growth in India’s scientific output over the last decade has shot up tremendously, an 80% increase from 2000-2007. Compared with many other countries reviewed in the study, such as Japan, France, Germany and the UK, India is on the sharp rise. The paper estimates that if this trend continues India’s research productivity will be on par with the G8 nations in about 7 or 8 years, and surpass them between the years 2015-2020.

India’s strength in these terms lies in chemistry, followed by agricultural sciences and then pharmacology. In finer detail, however, we see that research in agriculture has slowed down compared to pharmacology in the most recent 5 years. The study suggests that based on the trends, India will gain new prominence in the drugs and pharmaceuticals industry.

The report goes further suggest western economies should look to engage ever more in collaboration with Indian researchers, as it is obvious that across sectors there are huge opportunities for research on the sub-continent.

While reading this report, however, I couldn’t help but wonder what these trends mean for social entrepreneurs? How does the social entrepreneur ensure that the knowledge coming out of the universities in India and elsewhere translate into useful applications that can be practiced on the ground? As India continues to makes strides in pharmacology and microbiology, the two sectors with the greatest growth in terms of research output in the past decade, how will that know-how get to the social entrepreneur who wants to increase access to affordable drugs and medicines, or to the social entrepreneur working on ensuring healthy and non-toxic environments?

The story of small-businesses spinning off from universities in the US is a decades-old concept. When looking at the rise of India and its scientific capacity, I can only hope that the country as a whole sees this as an opportunity to increase the livelihoods of those that need it most. The field of healthcare, and specifically access to healthcare, in India is ripe for the type of knowledge and innovation being produced. It is up to the social entrepreneurs, governments and researchers of the world to collaborate with and learn from each other to create the social change needed. I think in the upcoming years, the ability to collaboration between social change agents and universities is going to increase and this is especially true for healthcare.

Photo from: http://www.daylife.com/