Presidency University becomes 1st Cluster innovation centre in East
Presidency College
According to a news report in the Statesman, Presidency University has been declared the first Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC) in eastern India by the Govt. of India. Cluster Innovation Centres would promote innovation in and around the university system by the The National Innovation Council headed by Sam Pitroda.
CICs are expected to function as independent bodies inside the university and facilitate collaborations to create new knowledge, products, and processes. At least 20 CICs are to be set up across the country.
The CIC will be acting as a consultancy and provide services for encouraging innovative ideas, to promote inter/multi disciplinary research, training and support on innovation and entrepreneurship, ideation and execution of innovative applications and facilitating collaborations with industry and society.
It would organise workshops, conferences, focused group discussions, lectures, to ewncourage participation from University, relevant local/national Industry, research institutions, civil society and the government.
The interactions would help in sharing, licensing and/or development of knowledge or technology between the University and interested parties. The CIC will play the role of a facilitator to spur entrepreneurial activity within the University and in the cluster. To safeguard the interests of all parties, it is necessary to put in place intellectual property (IP) management practices, which the CIC will spearhead. The innovation centre will also be able to dig into the repository of IP held by the University and transfer/license/commercialise these, bringing revenue to the institution.
The CIC will also stimulate faculty to constantly re-define and reinvent the education process, thus enabling the University to become more competitive both at the national and at the global level.
Malabika Sarkar, vice chancellor, Presidency University said, “Presidency has been declared the Cluster Innovation Centre, the first in eastern India. This is a development to be proud of.” She said it would help the university in achieving a synergy of research, academics and industry.
Presidency University started as Hindu College in 1817, was rechristened Presidency College in 1855 and finally was awarded University status in 2010.