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Famous Indians in S&T
and the Jugaad technology
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Information technology (IT) is the application of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data, often in the context of a business or other enterprise. The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several industries are associated with information technology, including computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, e-commerce and computer services.
Information technology is playing an important role in India today & has transformed India's image from a slow moving bureaucratic economy to a land of innovative entrepreneurs. The IT sector in India is generating 2.5 million direct employments. India is now one of the biggest IT capitals of the modern world and all the major players in the world IT sector are present in the country.
Information technology in India is an industry consisting of two major components: IT Services and business process outsourcing (BPO). The sector has increased its contribution to India's GDP from 1.2% in 1998 to 7.7% in 2018-19.
According to NASSCOM, the sector aggregated revenues of US$180 billion in 2019, where export and domestic revenue stood at US$ 137 billion and US$ 44 billion respectively. Although the impact of IT is yet to be felt at the grassroot level, it carries a certain promise for sure, especially with programmes like Digital India.
2.0 THE INDIAN IT SECTOR
In the year 1974, the origin of IT industry in India can be traced, when the mainframe manufacturer Burroughs asked its India sales agent Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to export programmers for installing system software for a U.S. client. The boss of TCS then was Shri F.C. Kohli, today fondly called the ‘father of Indian software industry’.
Information Technology (IT) has made possible information access at gigabit speeds. It has created a level playing field among nations and created has a positive impact on the lives of millions.
Today, a country's IT potential is paramount for its march towards global competitiveness, healthy gross domestic product (GDP) and meeting up the energy and environmental challenges.
The Indian IT and ITeS (Information Technology enabled Services) sectors go hand-in-hand in every aspect. The industry has not only transformed India's image on the global platform, but also fuelled economic growth by energizing the higher education sector (especially in engineering and computer science). The industry has employed almost 10 million Indians and, hence, has contributed significantly to social transformation in the country.
India is one of the fastest-growing IT services markets in the world. It is also the world's largest sourcing destination.The country's cost competitiveness in providing IT services continues to be its USP in the global sourcing market.
India has the potential to build a US$ 100 billion software product industry by 2025, according to Indian Software Product Industry Roundtable (iSPIRT). The software products market in India, which includes accounting software and cloud computing-based telephony services, is expected to grow at a healthy pace.
The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) is coordinating strategic activities, promoting skill development programs, enhancing infrastructure capabilities and supporting research and development (R&D) for India's leadership position in IT and ITeS. Challenges remain, but we are on the right track.
2.1 Investments
Indian IT's core competencies and strengths have placed it on the international canvas, attracting investments from major countries.
According to data released by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the computer software and hardware sector attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth Rs 2,37,341 crore (US$ 39.4 billion) between April 2000 and June 2019.
Some of the major investments in Indian IT and ITeS sector are as follows:
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) plans to merge its two units in Japan with Mitsubishi Corp's IT subsidiary to create a joint venture (JV) company with a revenue base of US$ 600 million in the world's second-largest market for software services.
Private equity (PE) firm TPG Growth and India's Smile Group will jointly invest US$ 100 million to help internet and e-commerce companies build and scale their businesses across the Asia-Pacific region and West Asia.
Synechron plans to invest US$ 30-35 million on the expansion of its Hyderabad and Bengaluru facilities. "We have decided to expand our presence in India by setting up facilities in Hyderabad and Bangalore. The idea is to get closer to the bigger talent pool and clients," said Mr Faisal Husain, Founder and Global CEO, Synechron.
Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom operator, has renewed its technology outsourcing contract with software major IBM for a period of five years.
Infosys has partnered with telecom company Orange to provide Internet TV to its customers. Infosys will deliver a portfolio of interactive TV apps on the Orange Livebox Play. The TV apps will be powered by Infosys DigitizeEdge, a digital asset and experience platform for TV operators, media companies, advertisers and content publishers.
2.2 Government initiatives
The Government of India played a key role with public funding of a large, well trained pool of engineers and management personnel who could forge the Indian IT industry.
The Central Government and the respective State Governments are expected to collectively spend US$ 6.8 billion on IT products and services in 2015, according to a study by Gartner.
Some of the earlier major initiatives taken by the Government to promote IT and ITeS sector in India are as follows:
- The Government of Bihar unveiled 20 km free Wi-Fi zone in Patna, the longest across the planet, making a strong impression on the world's infotech map.
- The Government of India has given an in-principle approval for setting up of the first electronic system design and manufacturing (ESDM) cluster development in Electronics City, Bengaluru.
- More than 20 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the IT sector have recently received land allotment letters from the Government of Punjab to set up their units with an investment of Rs 500 crore (US$ 83.24 million).
2.3 Road ahead
India is the most preferred location for engineering offshoring, according to a customer poll conducted by Booz and Co. Companies are now offshoring complete product responsibility. Increased focus on R&D by IT firms in India has resulted in rising number of patents filed by them.
India's IT sector is gradually moving from linear models (rising headcount to increase revenue) to non-linear ones. This will be a steep challenge as it will require a different set of capabilities altogether.
In line with this, IT companies in the country are focusing on new models such as platform-based BPM services and creation of intellectual property (IPR). Tier II and III cities are increasingly gaining traction among IT companies aiming to establish business in India. Cheap labour, affordable real estate, favourable government regulations, tax breaks and special economic zone (SEZ) schemes are facilitating their emergence as new IT destinations.
Market size of IT industry in India: India's technology and BPM sector (including hardware) is estimated to have generated US$ 180 billion in revenue during FY19.
India is the fifth best country in the world for dynamic growing businesses, according to the Grant Thornton Global Dynamism Index. In addition, Deloitte predicts India will be the second largest manufacturing country in the next five years, followed by Brazil as the third ranked country. India's growth potential story is therefore a strong one.
3.0 The Rise of Technology Sector in India
The technology sector in India has a major impact on the Indian economy. The industry had grown from US$4 billion in 1998 to more than US$80 billion in 2011, employing directly and indirectly more than 10 million people. Riding on the services outsourcing wave, domestic and international companies have leveraged India's value proposition to enhance their competitiveness in the global market.
Key government initiatives, such as setting up of tax free zones, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) and Special Economic Zones (SEZ), have given strong impetus to the export of IT services.
Five principle sectors in the IT industry, namely online businesses, IT services, IT-enabled services and software and hardware merchandise received most of the investments. Compelling cost advantage coupled with available skilled force has driven this spectacular growth.
Although many low-cost delivery destinations, such as China, Philippines and Vietnam, are emerging, India's leadership position cannot be challenged. Its benefit of long term cost competitiveness, supply of highly trained engineers and its expertise in processes and quality will continue to foster its growth.
3.1 Growth Enablers: Policy Thrust - Information Technology
The policy seeks to increase revenues of IT and ITeS (Information Technology Enabled Services) industry to US$ 350 billion by 2025 & expand exports.
The objectives of this policy are to promote innovation and R&D in cutting edge technologies and develop applications and solutions in location based services, mobile value added services, cloud computing, social media and utility models and to create a pool of 10 million additional skilled manpower in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector.
The technology revolution for the last 15 years has triggered a huge growth and a massive educated and technology focused workforce which is leading India to become one of the top economies of the world by 2025.
3.2 Rank description
Bangalore: Popularly known as the Silicon Valley of India and leading software exporter from India. Bangalore is considered to be a global information technology hub of India.
Chennai: Chennai is the second largest exporter of IT and ITES of India, and is the BPO hub of India. Chennai has the largest operations centers of TCS, and Cognizant.
Hyderabad: Hyderabad is a major IT hub in India - also known as Cyberabad - which houses many Multinational corporation companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle and Electronic Arts, AT&T, Deloitte etc.
Mumbai: It is the Financial capital of India, but recently many IT companies have established offices.
Delhi: The National Capital Region comprising Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida are clusters of software development.
Pune: Major Indian and International Firms present in Pune. Pune is also C-DAC headquarters.
Kolkata: The city is a major back-end operational hub for IBM and Deloitte.
Bhubaneswar: The capital city of Odisha, an emerging IT and education hub, is one of India's fastest developing cities.
Thiruvananthapuram: The capital of Kerala, now houses all major IT companies including Oracle, TCS, Infosys, and contributes in IT export of India.
4.0 FAMOUS INDIANS IN THE TECHNOLOGY SECTOR
4.1 Raju Vanapala (Founder & CEO of way2sms.com.)
way2sms.com is India's first free sms service started in Jan 2007 in Hyderabad and having millions of subscribers currently. From May 2012 it’s owned by ValueFirst Messaging.
Mr. Raju completed his MCA (Master of Computer Applications) in 2003 and then he started a company named Way2Online Interactive India Pvt. Ltd., and in 2006 Mr. Raju started the way2sms.com website that provided free messaging (SMS) services.
way2sms.com thus became India's first free sms service started in Jan 2007 in Hyderabad and has millions of subscribers currently. It’s a PC to mobile messaging service. With the advent of instant messaging, the industry dynamics changed.
4.2 Ajit Balakrishnan (founder Rediff.com)
Rediff.com is an integrated portal offering news, entertainment, shopping and information. It was a pioneering service in India, much before specialist players had emerged in the respective verticals (which led to a loss of mindshare for rediff.com). It also runs the popular rediffmail service.
Rediffusion is one of the largest advertising agencies of India, now renamed to Rediffusion-Dentsu, Young & Rubicam Ltd. Mr. Ajit Balakrishnan is also Chairman of board at IIM (Indian Institute of Management) Calcutta. Mr. Balkrishnan has been serving as Managing Director of Rediffusion-Dentsu, Young & Rubicam Ltd. and Rediff.com since 1993 and 2008 respectively and with that he is Chairman Emeritus of the IAMAI i.e. Internet and Mobile Association of India.
4.3 Ajay Bhatt (well known as Co-founder or Co-Inventor of the USB : Universal Serial Bus Device)
Mr. Bhatt is co-founded not only USB but also develped the AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port), PCI Express, Platform Power management architecture (PPMA) etc.
He completed his Bachelor's Degree fom M.S. University Baroda, India and then did his Master's Degree from New York, USA. Then he joined the Intel Corporation.
Mr. Bhatt is also known as 'Intel Rockstar'. He is an Intel Fellow, and Chief Client Platform Architect of Intel Architecture Group.
4.4 Sabeer Bhatia (co-founder of Hotmail.com)
It was the world's first webmail service that was sold to Microsoft for USD 400 m. He later announced three more ventures - Arzoo, Instacoll and SabseBol. He had his earlier schooling at Bishop Cotton's School in Pune and later-on at St Joseph's College in Bangalore. From his childhood he was inclined towards science & technology, and joined the Birla Institute of Technology (BITS) at Pilani, where he qualified for a transfer scholarship at CalTech - one of the very tough exams of the world. After graduating from Caltech, he went to Stanford to pursue his Masters in Electrical Engineering where he worked on Ultra Low Power VLSI Design. His innovative Hotmail service with its millions of loyal followers so impressed Microsoft that it got acquired, and became an integral part of the MS offering. Today it is called Outlook.
Sabeer Bhatia and Yogesh Patel also started JaxtrSMS which is a free messaging service that allows users to send text messages for free anywhere in the world.
SATYA NADELLA, CEO - MICROSOFT
- Satya Narayana Nadella (born 1967) is an Indian engineer who became an Indian American business executive.
- He was born in Hyderabad in a Telugu family, and his father (Bukkapuram Nadella Yugandher) worked for the Indian Administrative Service.
- Nadella attended the Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet and then got his bachelor's in electrical engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology, Karnataka in 1988.
- Nadella subsequently went for M.S. in computer science at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, receiving his degree in 1990.
- In 1992, he married Anupama, and the couple have three children, and live in Washington.
- He received an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
- He is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft, succeeding Steve Ballmer in 2014. (he is only the third chief executive in the company's history)
- Before becoming CEO, he was the executive vice president of Microsoft's cloud and enterprise group, responsible for building and running the company's computing platforms.
- Nadella is an avid reader of American and Indian poetry. He also nurses a passion for cricket, having played on his school team.
- Nadella has written a book titled "Hit Refresh" that explores how he believes technology will shape the future.
- At Microsoft, Nadella has led major projects that included the company's move to cloud computing and the development of one of the largest cloud infrastructures.
- In October 2014, Nadella controversially said that 'women should not ask for a raise and should trust the system'. He later apologised on Twitter.
- Under Nadella Microsoft revised its mission statement to "empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more". In comparison to founder Bill Gates's "a PC on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software", Nadella says that it is an enduring mission.
- CEO Nadella is seen as having done well, with Microsoft stock having tripled by September 2018, with a 27% annual growth rate.
PICHAI SUNDARARAJAN
- Pichai Sundararajan (born 1972) is an Indian American, and the CEO of Alphabet Inc. and its subsidiary Google LLC.
- Pichai was born in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. His mother Lakshmi was a stenographer and his father, Regunatha Pichai was an electrical engineer at GEC, the British conglomerate. Pichai grew up in Chennai.
- He is married to Anjali Pichai (a chemical engineer) whom he met as classmates at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. The couple have two children.
- Pichai completed schooling in Jawahar Vidyalaya, Chennai and earned his degree from Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in metallurgical engineering and is a distinguished alumnus from that institution.
- He holds an M.S. from Stanford University in material sciences and engineering, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
- Pichai began his career as a materials engineer and joined Google as a management executive in 2004. He rose to become the company's CEO in 2015, as part of the restructuring process that made Alphabet Inc. into Google's parent company. In December 2019, he additionally became CEO of Alphabet Inc.
- In 2013, Pichai added Android to the list of Google products that he oversaw. Android was formerly managed by Andy Rubin.
- Pichai was selected to become the next CEO of Google on August 10, 2015.
- Pichai had been suggested as a contender for Microsoft's CEO in 2014, a position that was eventually given to Satya Nadella.
- In August 2017, Pichai was criticised for firing a Google employee who wrote a ten-page manifesto criticizing the company's diversity policies and arguing that "distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes and ... these differences may explain why we don't see equal representation of women in tech and leadership". Pichai said that "to suggest a group of our colleagues have traits that make them less biologically suited to that work is offensive and not OK".
- In December 2017, Pichai was a speaker at the World Internet Conference in China, where he stated that "a lot of work Google does is to help Chinese companies. There are many small and medium-sized businesses in China who take advantage of Google".
- On December 11, 2018, Pichai testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on a wide range of Google-related issues such as the alleged, potential political bias on Google’s platforms, the company's alleged plans for a "censored search app" in China, and its privacy practices. Pichai stated that Google employees cannot influence search results.
4.5 N.R. Narayana Murthy
He is the guru of modern IT in India. He is the co-founder of Infosys Technologies and is one of the most well-known and respected personalities in the sector.
Mr Narayana Murthy is the man who created the global delivery model of Infosys Technologies Limited, a global consulting and IT services company based in India. Born on August 20th 1946, he is an Electrical Engineer from the National Institute of Engineering, University of Mysore (1967), with a Master’s degree from IIT Kanpur earned in 1969. Rejecting job offers from companies like HMT, ECIL, TELCO, and Air India, Mr. Murthy decided to offer his services at IIM-Ahmedabad as a Chief Systems Programmer, where he received the pay of Rs.800, but found the best phase of his life, as he got to learn many things. He was the CEO of Infosys for twenty years.
In 2002 Nandan M. Nilekani took over as CEO from N.R. Narayana Murthy, who then worked as Chairman and Chief Mentor from 2002 to 2006. After his retirement in August 2006 he continues as Chairman Emeritus. Recently, after the company suffered a slowdown in sales growth, Mr. Murthy was called back as Executive Chairman in June 2013, and he came back alongwith his son Rohan, a move criticised by many.
In 2017, the CEO Vishal Sikka was removed and Murthy made a comeback, alongwith other promoters.
Mr. Murthy remains the foremost pioneer and visionary, who truly showed how the many ordinary graduates of Indian universities could be turned into dollar-billable assets.
4.6 Vinod Dham
He is known as "Father of Pentium Chip" or "Father of Pentium" for the role in the development of highly successful Pentium Processors from Intel. He is also one of the co-inventors of the Flash memory. After a BE degree in Electrical Engineering (with an emphasis on Electronics Engg.) from the Delhi College of Engineering (now DTU) in 1971, he joined a Delhi-based semiconductor company called Continental Devices as an engineer. In 1975, he left this job and went to the University of Cincinnati, in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, to pursue an MS degree in Electrical Engineering, where he specialised in Solid State Electronics.
After completing his MSEE degree in 1977, he joined the NCR Corporation at Dayton, Ohio, as engineer where he did cutting-edge work in developing advanced non-volatile memories. He then joined Intel, as an engineer where he led the development of the world famous Pentium processor.
4.7 Azim Premji
Software tycoon Mr. Azim Premji is called India's Bill Gates and has been one of the richest Indians for many years. He is the founder and chairman of Wipro Technologies - one of the largest software companies in India.
He was born in Mumbai - then part of British India - in a Muslim family originally hailing from Kutch in Gujarat. His grandfather was a noted businessman and was known as Rice King of Burma. After partition, when Jinnah invited his grandfather to come to Pakistan, he turned down the request and chose to remain in India. Mr. Premji has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree (equivalent to a Bachelor of Engineering degree) from Stanford University, USA. He has been recognised by Business Week as one of the Greatest Entrepreneurs for being responsible for Wipro emerging as one of the world's fastest growing companies. He is recognised as India’s foremost philanthropist and entrepreneur.
4.8 Gururaj Deshpande
He is an Indian American venture capitalist and entrepreneur, who is best known for co-founding the Chelmsford, MA-based internet equipment manufacturer Sycamore Networks, the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT and the Deshpande Foundation.
Presently, Deshpande is the Chairman of A123 Systems, Sycamore Networks, Tejas Networks, HiveFire, Sandstone Capital, Sparta Group, and sits on the Board of Airvana.
4.9 Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda
He is well known as Dr Sam Pitroda and "the father of India's communication revolution". He was advisor to the PM of India on Public Information Infrastructure & Innovations in the UPA governments. Originally, he started with Rajiv Gandhi govt in 1985.
He is founder and CEO of company named C-SAM, Inc. He was also the chairman of India's National Knowledge Commission and of World-Tel Limited : an International Telecommunication Union.
He completed his schooling from Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat and his Masters in Physics and Electronics from M.S. University, Vadodara and completed further studies from the US.
4.10 Pranav Mistry
He is a computer scientist from Palanpur, Gujrat, India. Pranav is founder of SixthSense and best known for his work on Sixth Sense Technology. He is a Masters in in Media Arts and Sciences from Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Masters of Design from IIT Bombay. He completed his graduation from Nirma Institute of Technology in Computer Science.
He was earlier associated with Microsoft as an UX Researcher. Later he joined MIT Media Lab as a research associate. He also demonstrated several innovations at TED India conferences. The research in the industry was earlier concentrated towards programming technologies like Java, but in the recent times, the research focus has changed towards technologies like mobile computing, cloud computing and software as a service. This shift is attributed to preference of clients towards ‘ubiquitous computing’ over standalone computing and the growing demand for low cost computing solutions.
Pranav’s work in wearable technology and ubiquitous computing took him to Samsung, where he works now, and he was instrumental in the Galaxy Gear product. As a very young technology innovator, Pranav has a long way to go.
5.0 JUGAAD TECHNOLOGY:THE GUTSY ART OF IMPROVISING AN INGENIOUS SOLUTION
The Jugaad technology is defined as a quick and innovative way of solving a problem. It is an improvised or jury-rigged solution, inventiveness, ingenuity, cleverness.
A person proficient in the jugaad technology: JUGAADU.
ESSENTIALS IN JUGAAD TECH : COMMON SENSE!
The most innovative, economical and quality method to accomplish the desired task by unusual / unimaginable means and ways.
While jugaad is currently the dominant form of innovation in emerging markets, in the West it is practiced only in isolated instances. It was the fexible mindset of jugaad-style innovators that catalyzed growth in Western economies like that of the United States during the Industrial Revolution.
Jugaad can be distilled into six guiding principles, which anchor the six practices of highly effective innovators in complex settings like emerging economies. The six principles are:
- Seek opportunity in adversity
- Do more with less
- Think and act flexibly
- Keep it simple
- Include the margin
- Follow your heart
The Jugaad concept can be contrasted with the Western (originally American) concept of a hack or kludge. Although in its general meaning "hack" is very similar to "jugaad", a jugaad can be thought of more as a survival tactic; in contrast, a hack, especially nowadays, is seen an intellectual art form. Both concepts express a need to do what needs to be done, without regard to what is conventionally supposed to be possible.
Jugaad is increasingly accepted as a management technique and is recognized all over the world as an acceptable form of frugal engineering, at peak in India. Companies in India are adopting Jugaad as a practise to reduce research and development costs. Jugaad also applies to any kind of creative and out of the box thinking or life hacking, which maximizes resources for a company and its stakeholders.
The time-tested Indian concept of jugaad - a frugal and flexible approach to innovation - can be an important way out of the current economic crisis in developed economies and also holds important lessons for emerging economies, according to an expert at the University of Cambridge.
Jaideep Prabhu, Jawaharlal Nehru Professor of Indian Business & Enterprise at the Cambridge Judge Business School, says that his 2012 co-authored book on 'jugaad' has found surprising popularity in countries such as France and Japan. The jugaad approach to innovation, he says, has important lessons for India as well. He said
"I am increasingly convinced that jugaad innovation is a frugal, flexible and inclusive way for India to grow over the next few decades. Such an approach taps into the native ingenuity of millions of India, across social and economic groups and across the length and breadth of the country". He added: "The interesting thing is that jugaad innovation also offers important opportunities for the rest of the world to follow suit. Not only can other emerging economies benefit from the lessons of jugaad innovation (I have seen the interest that Africans and Latin Americans, for instance have taken in jugaad innovation), but even the developed economies (reeling under the aftermath of the financial crisis) can benefit from it".
Prabhu's book, titled 'Jugaad Innovation : Think Frugal, Be Flexible, Generate Breakthrough Growth', is co-authored with US-based innovation strategist Navi Radjou, and Simone Ahuja, founder of a market consultancy based in the US and Mumbai.
The book teaches the unique Indian approach to innovating and building businesses and has now been translated in French, Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch and Italian (due out 2014) in addition to English and has sold widely in India. It has been widely received in Japan and France, Prabhu said.
The book discusses six underlying principles of 'jugaad' innovation: seek opportunity in adversity, do more with less, think and act flexibly, keep in simple, include the margin and finally follow your heart.
It cites several examples in India where low-cost innovation led to effective solutions and revenue streams. The book argues that a frugal and flexible approach to innovation can generate breakthrough growth not only in the developing world but also in the West.
During research, the authors discovered that the entrepreneurial spirit of 'jugaad' is not limited to India. They define the Hindi word 'jugaad' as an improvised solution born from ingenuity and using scarce resources.
They discovered that it is widely practised in Argentina, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, India, Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines, and other emerging economies.
Brazilians call it gambiarra
the Chinese, zizhuchuangxin
the Kenyans, jua kali
and the Americans call it: do it yourself (DIY).
To generate breakthrough growth in today's hypercompetitive global economy, you need a fresh and powerful approach: proponets claim it is precisely what jugaad innovation is all about.
Frugal innovation is not limited to durable goods such as the GE US$800 EKG machine or the US$100 One Laptop Per Child but also services such as 1-cent-per-minute phone calls, mobile banking, off-grid electricity, and microfinance.
5.1 Some examples of Jugaad technology
Chhotu Kool fridge: A tiny refrigerator sold by Indian company Godrej, the Chotu Kool may have more in common with computer cooling systems than other refrigerators; it eschews the traditional compressor for a computer fan. (It may exploit the thermoelectric effect.)
Foldscope: The Foldscope is a tough origami microscope assembled from a sheet of paper and a lens. Developed by a Stanford engineer, it is designed to cost less than US$1.
Jaipur leg: A low cost prosthetic developed in India, the Jaipur leg costs about $150 to manufacturer and includes some clever improvisations such as incorporating irrigation piping into the design to lower costs.
Mobile banking: Mobile banking solutions in Africa, like Safaricom's M-Pesa, allow people access to basic banking services from their mobile phones. Money transfers done through mobiles are also much cheaper than using a traditional method. While some services can be accessed on a mobile alone, deposits and withdrawals necessitate a trip to a local agent.
Nokia 1100: Designed for developing countries, the Nokia 1100 is basic, durable, and - besides a flashlight - has few features other than voice and text. Selling more than 200 million units only four years after its 2003 introduction made it the best selling phone of all time!
Sorghum beer: In Africa, several companies including SAB Miller and Diageo, following in the footsteps of local home brewers, have made beer more affordable by using sorghum or cassava in place of malting barley and reducing packaging costs by selling kegs not bottles.
Solar light bulb: In some Philippine slums, solar skylights made from one liter soda bottles filled with water and bleach provide light equivalent to that produced by a 55 watt bulb and may reduce electricity bills by US$10 per month.
Tata Nano: Designed to appeal to the many Indians who drive motorcycles, the Tata Nano was developed by Indian conglomerate Tata Group and is the cheapest car in the world.
The Dabbawalas: another solid Indian jugaad innovation is of the Mumbai dabbawalas. Their legendary error-free service in Mumbai aided by a unique coding system has made them stuff of B-school analyses. Also, it has been frequently asserted that dabbawalas were awarded a Six Sigma certification by Forbes magazine. This is a myth perpetuated by those who inferred the accreditation from the 1998 article in Forbes. In 2007, an explanation was provided by the lead author of the article, Subrata Chakravarty.
"Forbes never certified the dabbawalas as being a six-sigma organization. In fact, I never used the term at all. As you know, six-sigma is a process, not a statistic. But it is commonly associated with a statistic of 3.4 errors per million operations, and that is what caused the confusion … . I was impressed by the efficiency and complexity of the process by which some 175,000 tiffin boxes were sorted, transported, delivered and returned each day by people who were mostly illiterate and unsophisticated. I asked the head of the organization how often they made a mistake. He said almost never, maybe once every two months. Any more than that would be unforgivable to customers. I did the math, which works out to one mistake in 8 million deliveries-or 16 million, since the tiffin carriers are returned home each day. That is the statistic I used. Apparently, at a conference in 2002, a reporter asked the president … whether the tiffinwallahs were a six-sigma organization. He said he didn't know what that was. When told about the 3.4 error-per-million statistic, I'm told he said: "Then we are. Just ask Forbes". The reporter, obviously without having read my story, wrote that Forbes had certified the tiffinwallahs as a six-sigma organization. That phrase was picked up and repeated by other reporters in other stories and now seems to have become part of the folklore”.
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