Without inventions, innovations bring diminishing returns. One can thus say that invention is the mother of innovation. Further, inventions drive the creation of new jobs and sustainable industries. The automobile industry, which employs tens of millions worldwide, came into being upon the invention of the gas and diesel engines. The expanding and ubiquitous ICT-based companies in the telecommunications, entertainment and e-business sectors etc really took off with the invention of the personal computer. The message is crystal clear: create new products if you want to create new industries.
In a retail-driven culture, like what exists here in T&T, stressing innovation alone may actually result in the loss of existing jobs and the creation of a new class of make-believe jobs (a kind of URP for buzz-word spouters and the new-fad bandwagon-hoppers). In the food, clothing, appliance and other similar retail operations which import, mark-up and sell, innovation in any of these processes can lead to improved operations which may result in either more profits for the shareholders or employee downsizing. These operations will continue to drain the foreign exchange reserves.
The position of the energy and petrochemical sectors which bring the bulk of the foreign reserves is extremely dependent on the international events over which we exert no control and hence one is not quite sure as to how innovation there is going to effect transformation economics. There can be no doubt that innovation is both useful and necessary but a strategy for its implementation needs to be carefully thought out. Exactly where and what would be the outcomes should be specified. There is an urgent need to place emphasis on supporting an inventing class. To date, this activity has not been accorded the attention it deserves.
A noteworthy attempt in this direction was the Prime Minister's Innovators and Inventors Competition which was launched when the UNC formed the government. If any new companies and jobs are to arise from this venture then there is a lot more that needs to be done. The launch of the Caribbean Invention and Innovation Centre, a project conceived and founded by the writer of this column, is one step forward. It provides inventors, innovators and small manufacturing enterprises with a facility to discuss and evaluate their ideas and also offers design and prototyping facilities to them.
The response has been good but what is emerging is that most, if not all, inventors do not have the requisite financial resources to even fund the initial prototype. This needs to be urgently addressed. It is not an expensive undertaking as most prototypes would cost less than $10,000. It is thus proposed that an Inventors Fund be established. The system would work like this. When a person has an idea for a new product, they would approach a designated facility to discuss the idea. These discussions would seek to determine the technical feasibility and novelty of the product or its use. If this stage is successfully scaled, then the design and prototype stages would follow.
With the prototype in hand the inventor can then proceed with a detailed market survey before moving on to the incubation and business phases. This type of approach would allow for the translation of ideas into products, into businesses, into jobs. What is envisaged is different from what the BDC and Nedco are presently doing. They target entrepreneurs. What is being proposed here is a focused outreach to technopreneurs. A technopreneur can be defined as a high-tech entrepreneur, like the late Steve Jobs and other Silicon Valley personalities. We can target a more modest and narrow approach to technopreneurship, one that develops new products, based on existing technologies, that satisfies societal needs.
Such an approach is more likely to succeed and also develop the foundation and infrastructure for venturing into the riskier and more costly high-tech ventures. We must recognise that the support systems for invention and innovation is quite lacking here when compared to the developed and emerging economies. While there has been movement with regard to entrepreneurial activity, a focused approach on technopreneurial activity, which would be synergistic with the proposed emphasis on science and technology education and training, could see growth in new small businesses; much needed if we are to wean the economy away from its dependence on the oil and gas sector.
It would not happen overnight, but as the Chinese say, the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. They would know as they are way down the road.
• Prakash Persad is the director of Swaha Inc