Quite recently, the concept of open innovation has gained significant traction as a way to accelerate progress. It is a business practice adopted by organisations to source ideas from diverse individuals and organisations to drive innovation. Undoubtedly, collaboration and co-creation have been the buzzwords of innovation these days, and everyone, including multinational companies, start-ups and educational institutions, is entering this field with great aspirations.
With such a growing and exploratory vision, Manav Rachna Educational Institutions (MREI) has recently powered the launch of the Institute of Open Innovation, a groundbreaking initiative designed to bring together individuals working at decision-making levels in their organisations to brainstorm and collaborate on commonly identified issues and potential solutions. It will boost the open innovation revolution in India and be the driving force behind the development of new technologies, treatments, and solutions to today’s challenges.
Manav Rachna has a long history of conducting research in niche areas to find solutions to real-world problems. In an effort to flag off the OI initiative, a 2-day strategic meet was organised. The aim was also to discuss and formally launch the Institute and its constituent centres. These centres would serve as hubs for research, collaboration, and exchanging ideas, focusing on driving innovation in their respective fields.
Institute of Open Innovation
The Institute of Open Innovation is set up to develop an ecosystem for collaboration. It has plans to organise forums, workshops and events where diverse organisations bring together knowledge for fusing technology, improvising business processes and operational models, and ideating to create and implement sustainable solutions. The Institute of Open Innovation has a Centre for Future Technology that is being touted as the hub for nurturing Open Innovation and resultant incubation efforts. It will also house several Centres for Sustainability, each focused on a specific area of research, including recycling, sanitation, water, agriculture, skill development, healthcare, and cybersecurity. These centres will serve as incubators for innovative ideas and projects, providing a platform for researchers to exchange knowledge and expertise as they work towards finding solutions to some of the most pressing sustainability challenges of the time.

One of the prominent Centres for Sustainability, the Centre for Health Innovation, has been set up at the Manav Rachna campus, with a clear focus on bringing innovation in engineering and medical technologies. This is said to develop new research insights and translate research into products and services for public benefit. Their team comprises computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians, physiologists, nutrition experts, designers and technology experts with proven expertise in taking concepts to products. The team will be further guided by an esteemed panel of experts from local medical colleges, hospitals, and government research laboratories working on healthcare and decision-making stakeholders deciding on government policies in the respective areas.