Towards a National Innovation System

Indian industry must see R&D as its way of building a future based on proprietary technology

Over 30 years ago, three economists — Chris Freeman in the UK, Bengt-Ake Lundvall in Sweden and Richard Nelson in the US — began talking of National Innovation Systems. It helped that they represented different countries and approached innovation from an international and comparative perspective, greatly enhancing our understanding of what makes an effective ecosystem. Innovation largely happens at firms, so they began there. Firm capacity is affected by both what they do themselves and the institutions around them. The trade regime can foster production for the world or an inward-looking mindset. The education system provides skilled (or not!) labour,