The Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneur Development (IIED) Center at NIT Srinagar in partnership with School of Management, Zhejiang University, and Kashmir-based entrepreneurs on Thursday announced the results of the Covid19 Open Innovation Challenge. The competition had received project ideas in the categories of Developing Ventilators, Robotics, Personal Protective Equipment, and Face Shields.

In addition, the Challenge promotes a culture of recycling and ensures a philosophy of frugality through the "secondary innovation" process, with almost all the entries demonstrating a clear "secondary innovation" model. The "secondary innovation" is exactly the theoretical framework put forward by Prof. WU Xiaobo, Director of National Institute for Innovation Management and Academy of Global Zhejiang Entrepreneurs, at Zhejiang University. With "secondary innovation", enterprises and innovators can avoid detour and explore new markets. In recent years, the theory of "secondary innovation" has been widely accepted and applied in the world.

From left to right: Associated Prof. DU Jian, Dr. Sheikh Fayaz, Prof. WU Xiaobo, and Prof. HUANG Can

Dr. Sheikh Fayaz, Innovation Researcher at Zhejiang University, China, Prof. WU Xiaobo’s post-doctoral fellow, said that the award ceremony was a small gesture to appreciate the innovations. "Innovative products mostly come during the times of adversities. The response in terms of innovations was more than expected. In less than 10 days, with no access to mechanical/electrical shops or to engineering or university departments, unsung heroes from Kashmir managed to innovate during a physical and internet lockdown. These revolutionaries contributed more than 100 working prototypes by reusing and repurposing locally available second-hand materials. The UN named 21st April World Creativity and Innovation Day. As we celebrate the originality of our own, we would again like to extend our gratitude to the creative minds of Kashmir. Rather than waiting for the world to solve our problems, these resourceful innovators crafted their own solutions. It was a day to celebrate local ingenuity. We hope that these ideas will inspire an innovation system rooted in self-reliance and local creativity with little need for technological dependence," said Dr. Fayaz.