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The newspapers are all a gaga about India, being the “World’s Back Office” or the “World’s Engineers”. OK, that’s pretty cool - but who are the World’s architects ? . India is executing, but who is doing the thinking?

Where exactly is India innovating? IT Services, BPO, sure. Put products/original content? questionable!

And YES, there are significant innovations happening on a small to medium level in many areas. From the dabbawalas of Mumbai to Lijjat pappad to solar cookers

But I am talking about the global game changers. The big kahuna, the mother of all inventions, the next best thing. ….. Okay, settle down. The IMF says India will become the 3rd largest economy in the world in 2007 by [1] PPP.Since PPP is a relative index, let me propose one more. Where would India stand if measured by an Innovation index ?

Apart from the Offshore Services Industry - when looked at from a macro economic level - a true game changer, not much has happened, has it?
Oh the questions that raises, and I will name just a few….

1. Why hasn’t India produced an internationally recognizable Apple or Yahoo or Google or a [2] Microsoft?
2. Why are some of the most celebrated movies in India usually a hotch potch (uncredited) copies of foreign movies, and even more so the music? And this is an industry all about creativity.
3. Why isn’t there a single Indian cellphone (device) company a la Nokia, Samsung or Motorola?
4. Why was Instant Messaging or VoIP not invented in India?
5. ….. YouTube, Skype, Blogging……
6. At a more granular level - Java/J2EE, Ruby on Rails, Linux, ……

and so on and so forth…..

My 15 year working life is now split equally between India and the US, and let me mention some of the things that I see in the US as far as innovation goes. These are not the obvious academic-business-finance linkages, but these are people traits and help the US sustain its prime position in the global economy.

• A propensity to innovate - no chalta hai attitude. Restlessness
  • Every one is trying to innovate something or the other. Whether it is inventing something as simple as a nipple adapter for babies that fits any mineral water bottle[[3] BabySports] or it is something as cool and futuristic (and I own one) as a [4] robot vacuum cleaner.
• A respect for the innovator.
  • People take risks and risk takers are rewarded. The smartest people are trying to become entrepreneurs and build businesses.
• An ability for taking risks. This is very important and also benefits the rest of the world.
  • Try and imagine the early offshore services pioneers; messrs Kohli, Narayana Murthy, et al; trying to convince customers that it was “sound” logic to ship work 10,000 miles away to people whom you could not see and people agreeing to do it.
• The world’s participation
  • The US is composed of people from practically every country in the world. This melding of diverse viewpoints and experiences creates a more thinking and open culture, which manifests in a creative and innovative people.

The above are some of the reasons why you see so many successful entrepreneurs of Indian origin in the US. These traits make the average Indian in the US look way smarter than he/she is.

So back to India, Why are we so proud of India as the world’s back office? Why not the Front Office? Why are we not the architects of tomorrow - why do we remain the engineers?

We should be proud of what we have achieved, but we should not be content. We do not have to emulate the US, but we do need to be restless and hungry and ambitious. And we need to innovate.

About Author:

Sandeep Kaujalgi is the Chairman & CEO of [5] Collabor , an interactive technologies company which builds social and corporate communities through the integration of Telecom, Internet, Media & Entertainment (TIMESM) and the Chairman of [6] Birbal , a innovative portal in India.

He was the Co-founder & Country Manager of Siemens Nixdorf in India. He has held senior roles in the offshore outsourcing industry including at [7] Infosys, [8] Syntel & [9] Virtusa. He was most recently the President & CEO of i-Vantage.

Sandeep is a Charter Member of TiE Boston, and an advisor to New York based M&A Firm. He writes his personal blog at [10] 24 x 5.5.

Views expressed here belong to the author and do not represent those of the ThinkingStreet or the author’s employer.