Bhubaneswar: Innovation and entrepreneurship, which are buzzwords today, are drivers of economic growth and societal development across the globe, speakers said at a 5-day Faculty Development Programme (FDP), which kicked off at the SOA Deemed to be University here on Monday.
“The need for innovation is all pervasive and if we are not innovating we are not doing anything,” Pradeep Ghoshal, Head, CSR of Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Limited (TPCODL), said while speaking at the inaugural programme of the ‘FDP on Innovation and Entrepreneurship’.
The FDP has been organised by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC) and hosted by the Institute of Business and Computer Studies (IBCS), faculty of management sciences of SOA.
Ghoshal further stated if a company stopped innovating, it would disappear as had happened in the case of Kodak which was globally known for making cameras. “Innovations are happening everyday and people can turn them into enterprise,” he said.
Punjab sold the maximum number of washing machines which were utilised for making ‘lassi’ which was an example of innovative use of a product, he said adding ‘Jugads’, which are popular in the Indian context, are also instances of innovation.
SOA Vice-Chancellor Prof Pradipta Kumar Nanda said faculty members in educational institutions, who were responsible for imparting knowledge earlier, were now required to come forward with innovative ideas and encourage students to think.
Pro-Vice Chancellor of SOA Prof Anup Kumar Samantaray said innovation was necessary for successful entrepreneurship. It helps entrepreneurs to identify opportunities, he said.
Dean of IBCS Prof Ayasa Kanta Mohanty stressed the need for bringing innovation into the classrooms while describing the FDP as a platform to learn and empower the participants.
SOA’s dean (Students’ Welfare) and coordinator of the programme, Prof Jyoti Ranjan Das, said representatives of 28 higher educational institutions across Odisha were participating in the FDP.
Dr Sasmita Pattnaik, Associate Professor at IBCS, proposed the vote of thanks.