Technology & service innovations in the world are moving at an extraordinarily
fast pace. Innovations & inventions have driven economies of countries like US,
Japan & made them pioneers in next generation technology & services. All major
companies seek innovative personnel to improve efficiency & productivity. Our
young Goans too, must be encouraged to innovate & must strive to become
solution experts. Our youth have adequate potential & can become innovators &
entrepreneurs on the world stage too. An innovative mindset must begin at home
& in school, where children should be encouraged in innovative thinking.
Currently, our youth lack the awareness of what they can achieve and the
motivation to take up innovation. We must encourage them to become solution
providers & not just service providers. Thus, motivating them to become
inventors of tomorrow.
Growing up & with interactions with friends, it seems that our trend is to join
Hotel Management or work in the Gulf. We tend to work hard & though we may be
good at what we do, we don't end up becoming CEO's or starting our own
companies. We may have the talent to do this, but somehow we are not inspired
to do the same. Generations of our youth will enter the workforce not aware of
the possibilities beyond these 2 options. We have done well in the Gulf, but
now it is time to take Goa's legacy to the next level. We have to inspire them
to explore the limits of their abilities.
Today, we just have to see the electronics market. The pace at which companies
are trying to outdo the other is amazing. Nokia was the leader in mobile phones
some years back, but today it is losing market to companies that produce
smartphones. The features provided by these new generation of phones is
outstanding. As we see, all these products had humble beginnings. But today
they've evolved, are evolving & continue to evolve. Nothing is impossible
anymore it seems. Likewise, we too must encourage our coming generations to not
just work but work with passion, providing innovative ideas & practices so as
to become top managers & leaders of their companies.
Innovation can begin at home. For this it is important for parents to provide
as much knowledge as possible to children. Keeping up with current trends &
healthy discussions are useful. Innovation is the result of some need, that is,
the need to solve a problem. An American observed that her maid, while washing
the utensils, would chip her expensive China. This resulted in the invention of
the dishwasher. Also knowledge of how things work can also lead to inventions.
It was always known that keeping food cold was a good method of food
preservation. But, this was not easy in countries with hot climate. It was
known that heat tends to transfer from an object of high temperature to an
object of lower temperature, thus reducing the hot object's temperature. What
was required was a chemical that even at room temperature would draw heat on
account of it's temperature being extremely low. Thus we have our refrigerant
without which the refrigerator would not
come into being. This is just an example, but such knowledge would be useful
to young minds. To be inquisitive & desire to research should be encouraged.
Show them how knowledge can be used to solve problems.
Organizing contests in schools or at panchayat level could be done. It would be
nice to have a TV telecast competition such as "Goan Inventor", which would
motivate, impart knowledge & introduce young minds to creative thinking.
Scholarships too, could be a way to motivate.
Your ideas & views on how we can achieve this would be great. Also if anyone
has introduced innovative ideas or practices in their workplace or even at
home, sharing such experiences could motivate others too, to be creative.
Would it not be wonderful to know that Goans are the minds behind the
innovations of tomorrow?
