"I am still thinking of a machine that can work smart"

In words of Bill Gates at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the founding of IIT's at the Flint Center, Cupertino, CA. What he is referring to, is the new era of "the man and the machine" moving towards acquiring the "Infinite technical propensity of the universe". In other words, a new Yug is in the making.

The theme tries to reflect on the boundaries of the infinite continuum, daring man to dream.

It is the human mind's existence and capability that has developed the gadgets capable of doing anything and everything, but of course, only at the command of man. As simple as this thought may be to us now, managing the emerging ideas will be as fascinating and stimulating as Asimov's creative works.

The idea of Jigyasa is to manage the unexpected. No matter how inspiring, the vision of the technology horizon is of today, sooner newer technologies will come rushing along to make it outdated. The potential of this effort hence, is not only to connect world-class thinkers, but also to introduce the concept of "capacities for transformation". Jigyasa "In Search of Enlightenment." The premise is that our world is in a period of historical transition, and that many traditional assumptions no longer work. In fact, the concept assumes that we need to bring diverse thinkers and leaders at all levels together in multiple networks of "generative dialogue" to begin to talk about what principles of transformation will dominate our thinking about governance, education / learning, economic development, leadership and social interaction. Parallel to this need for generative dialogue is the need to begin to test new concepts, methods and techniques.

The present day manager needs to understand the customer psychology in this era of digital upbringing. Today the acquisition as well as the delivery of services has to be technology based. The question that arises: Is the technological revolution actually successful in replacing the human factor that has been responsible for cutting edge technologies. Also, is this change perpetual or time bound?

Success increasingly depends on a corporation's ability to identify and apply new technologies. Industry is turning to technology management to source new technologies and commercialize their non-core assets. Strict selection criteria ensure that only commercially viable technologies are admitted. Technologically superior emerging companies are provided with a comparative advantage in the marketplace.

Technology Management's rapidly expanding portfolio consists of companies worldwide in industries ranging from software, electronics and industrial components to environmental, telecommunications and biotechnology.

The age of "flexible specialization" coupled with the "de-institutionalization" of innovation has inevitably led to a situation where no company can expect to meet its technological needs entirely from internal resources. Foresight in its earlier sense is dead It's a clarion call for all those who care to ride the coming wave… a beckoning siren which if left unresponded, shall sweep all those dreams we all so carefully nurture.

Objectives of Innovation:

• Utilize new technologies to build "capacities for transformation."

• Create an environment for interaction that would target emerging 21st century technologies and introduce them into the thought process and activities of the corporates.

• Introduce the feasibility and use of 21st century technologies to the corporate realm and see how these present a basket of unthinkable opportunities. The objective would be to create a framework of ideas and methods for the future based on a balance of human, spiritual and money values conducive to the evolution of the new pedigree of corporates.

Let's join the quest for knowledge, the voyage of discovery! Anew!!

* Contributed by -
Vinayak Arora,
Persuing Masters in Business Administration,
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.