Markers of new economy

A Knowledge based economy is driven by the advances in Science and Technology .Invention and innovation becomes a constant source of inspiration to move forward. New products and technologies compete to capture the market .It generates funds to augment the research. This needs a vast pool of human resource and enterprise which is on par with the world. Ie, The research activities and business practices should be world class . Only from a World class economy , world class products will emerge .

For a knowledge based economy the most important capital is intellectual capital – this can be human and well as non human assets . The recognition of individual as an asset is a most significant advancement in the Knowledge based economy and hence creating individuals with higher and higher value becomes an essential process . Since the intellectual property rights are one of the mostly hotly chased after activities of modern day science and technology a Knowledge based society needs to move current with the world trends .

To harness the power of Knowledge we have to establish a new frame work .Knowledge becomes the most important commodity and it needs its own means of production and distribution .It also means such a market has to developed (ie, a population of consumers who utilizes such products is available). So building up a society rooted in Knowledge based economy clearly becomes a most daunting task.
Now the question is whether it is mere wishful thinking ? While it has been a natural progression of the society in the Western countries we are faced with the task of reaching upto it without even having gone through the preliminary round of establishing a necessary infrastructure which will create such a society .

The essential frame work of a Knowledge based society consists of the Centers of Knowledge production (essentially research ) ,creation of Knowledge products and integrated networks of marketing . Such an economy will also depends on high consumption of such products.
The three most promising areas of advancement are Information technology ,Bio technology and Nanotechnology. We should built Parks or Cities to promote these on large scale. “Techcities” will form the nucleus for development of such ventures.
Universities ,Research centers , Institutes , Technology labs forms the production centers of Knowledge and technology . However it is not limited to certain places and individuals working there. In a Knowledge based society virtually everyone will have the opportunity to contribute to the constant advancement of knowledge and products. Now , any product will benefit from the advancements in technology and hence the entire range of products in the modern society will come in its ambit .
Though we are one of most aggressive consumers even on an all India basis ,a realistic assessment will show that we have no industrial base to speak of, and we do not produce even 1% of what we consume ,let alone research on making them better .
We should give more autonomy and recognition to the research institutes and the scientists . Research tie ups should be promoted between institutes and industry . The scientists must be allowed to share royalty of IPR along with the institute. While such thoughts are good we must realize that there is only negligible activity in these going on in our state.