Knowledge and Technology Transfer Made in India

India is the seventh largest country in the world. With over 1.2 billion inhabitants, it is the second most populated country on Earth. India sees its diversity as a unique selling point and has masterfully adjusted to international change. The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India drive in 8% of the its GDP, they employ more than 69 million people, and they produce more than 6,000 products – ranging from traditional products to high-tech components. The Steinbeis Centre for Technology Transfer India lends support to this by placing its focus on fostering knowledge and technology transfer in India.

To achieve this, Indian SMEs must improve in areas like quality, productivity, and market access by leveraging innovations and technologies introduced to business in order to gradually enhance products and services. This would allow them to achieve forward integration in the value chain and tap into new markets, which are looking for more variety. To this end, experts from the Steinbeis Centre for Technology Transfer India are on hand to lend support.

The Steinbeis Centre for Technology Transfer India was jointly founded in January 2009 by 2E Knowledge Ventures Pvt. Ltd. and Steinbeis. It offers its customers a variety of services:

• Technology consulting and publication of research findings. Among other things, this includes projects carried out in the field of smart travel solutions, smart cities, smart villages, eMobility solutions, financing, design and project planning for photovoltaic facilities, and other facilities for renewable energies, energy efficiency, and business cluster programs for lean management (subject to approval by the Lean Management Consulting Organization of the National Productivity Council within the Indian government).
• Technology scouting, marketing, transfer, applied R&D, expert reports and evaluations of technologies and IPs. This is offered in collaboration with other enterprises in the Steinbeis network, with technology transfer partners in North America, Hungary, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Australia, and Sri Lanka, as well as with the European Enterprise Network (EEN) and an independent innovation partner in North America.
• Professional training, continuing professional development, and independent certification. These services cover areas such as photovoltaics and renewable energy, the automotive industry, smart travel/ eMobility, machine tools and production, technology transfer management, and more. The Steinbeis Centre for Technology Transfer India has been accredited as a center of excellence by the European Centre for Renewable Energy for it training courses on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Other accreditations include: certification as a national training organization by the Indian government’s Ministry for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for working in line with the country’s national solar targets; certification as a center of excellence by the National Institute of Solar Energy; certification from the MNRE as a partner of the solar energy training network (SETNET); certification as a training partner by the Indian Electronics Sector Skill Development Council and the National Skill Development Corporation; certification as a training partner by the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation of the Andhra Pradesh government. The Steinbeis partner enterprise is also currently establishing an evaluation and certification system for technical training programs.

The current projects conducted by the Steinbeis Centre for Technology Transfer India are very diverse. For example, the enterprise is currently working with select premium institutions in India, preparing training programs for innovation management at SMEs and technology brokering organizations. This project is supported by the GIZ, a German association for international collaboration. The Indian Steinbeis Enterprise also worked closely with Steinbeis Technology Transfer GmbH & Co. KG to submit offers for two large-scale projects, both of which are being funded by the World Bank through the Indian Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME). These projects are related to modernizations in automotive, electronics, and technology centers and Steinbeis has the technical qualifications to tender for these projects. What’s more, the Steinbeis Centre for Technology Transfer India is working closely with IPEX Singapore on the transfer and commercial use of technologies in India. This project is being financed by the Asian Development Bank.

The Steinbeis partner enterprise was also involved in Humboldt University Berlin’s megacity project in Hyderabad. The German Federal Ministry for Research and Education supports sustainable megacities in many cities across the globe through this project. In addition, the Steinbeis team supported technology transfer from Germany to India related to photovoltaic power inverters. As part of this project, a joint venture was established between a German company (which owns the intellectual property rights for the solar-hybrid power inverters) and an Indian SME working in the field of photovoltaics.

Together with the European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC) – as part of a project funded by the European Commission and the Union of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UECC) – a report was published on Holistic Mobility Solutions for Indian Cities along with a Compendium for Technology Transfer with Case Studies from Europe to India. More than 50 training programs have been carried out in cooperation with the experts at the Steinbeis Centre for Technology Transfer India in India and Germany – all of which were in various technology areas including: photovoltaic technology, surface coatings, molding technology, production, machine design, automotive project planning, industrial sensors, and technology transfer management.

Vineet Kumar Goyal is director of the Steinbeis Centre for Technology Transfer India and offers Indian companies technology consulting, technology transfer, applied research and development, and the development of training courses and continuing professional development programs.

Vineet Kumar Goyal
Steinbeis Centre for Technology Transfer India (Hyderabad, Indien)
su1291@stw.de