Blog Details
- Member
- January 4, 2026
Why Open Innovation in India Needs a New Approach
Introduction
India stands at a critical moment in its innovation journey. The country has abundant talent, diverse institutions, grassroots creativity, and growing global relevance. Yet, innovation efforts often remain fragmented—confined within silos of academia, industry, government, or startups. Models borrowed from other countries have delivered partial success but fail to fully align with India’s institutional complexity, social diversity, and strategic priorities. What India needs is not more openness by declaration, but a carefully designed way of enabling collaboration that respects context, builds trust, and evolves over time. Open innovation in India must therefore be approached not as a fixed model, but as a living system of ideas, partnerships, and practices.
Outlining the Core Insights
The central insight guiding this roadmap is that innovation does not progress in a straight line. Ideas compete, combine, mature, and sometimes fail—often influenced as much by institutions, regulations, and culture as by technology itself. In India, openness works well in some domains, struggles in others, and frequently takes hybrid forms. This reality calls for an approach that recognizes uncertainty, allows multiple pathways to coexist, and learns continuously from practice rather than assuming one best model. Instead of forcing uniform solutions, this roadmap emphasizes sequencing, adaptation, and design—creating conditions where collaboration can grow naturally and sustainably.
Summary of the Roadmap
The roadmap proposes a phased journey for open innovation in India, moving from trust-building and shared understanding, to scalable collaboration models, and finally to system-wide transformation. Early efforts focus on developing a common language of collaboration, identifying where openness adds value, and strengthening individual and institutional capabilities. The next phase concentrates on scaling what works—through regional clusters, sector-specific platforms, and repeatable collaboration structures. Over the longer term, the aim is to embed collaborative innovation into the fabric of Indian institutions, making it a normal way of working rather than a special initiative. Throughout this journey, learning from both success and failure is treated as a critical asset.
Key Details and Strategic Direction
At the foundation of the roadmap is the need to align understanding across stakeholders—universities, public institutions, corporations, startups, and society—about what collaboration truly means in the Indian context. This is followed by designing institutional arrangements that reduce friction rather than impose rigid rules. Capability-building plays a central role: leaders, researchers, and innovators must develop the ability to work across boundaries, manage shared value, and navigate uncertainty. Platforms such as innovation challenges, shared testbeds, and mission-oriented programs act as practical spaces for experimentation. Importantly, policy and standards are treated as evolving supports, not fixed constraints, allowing insights from real-world collaboration to shape future rules.
Action Needed Now
The most urgent action is to shift the conversation—from asking whether open innovation should happen, to asking how it should be designed for different contexts. Institutions must move beyond isolated pilots toward deliberate learning cycles, where experiences are captured, reflected upon, and improved. Trust-building mechanisms, recognition of collaborative effort, and flexible intellectual property approaches are essential enablers. There is also a need for neutral, credible actors who can convene diverse stakeholders, translate ideas into workable structures, and sustain momentum across sectors and regions.
Closing Note on Uniqueness
What makes this roadmap distinct is not a new slogan or imported framework, but a way of thinking that treats innovation as an evolving system rather than a static program. It acknowledges that progress emerges through interaction, pressure, and adaptation—and that lasting change comes from designing for this reality rather than resisting it. By embracing this perspective, India can shape an open innovation pathway that is both globally relevant and deeply rooted in its own strengths.