Igniting the power of innovation: Agenda for Sri Lanka

Wijesinha:  How seriously is the country taking the need to be innovative?

De Alwis: From an academic point of view, we face significant difficulty convincing students with regard to why we are learning and doing things differently now in Sri Lanka and this needs to be addressed. If the generation that is going to take over the country one day is having a mindset spilling all over the place, we will not be able to realise the path of innovation.

It is good to have vision statements such as to be the ‘Wonder of Asia,’ but it is important to put things in place before we work towards that. I don’t think we have addressed the aspirations of the younger generation.

Fernando: There have been efforts and the Nanotechnology Institute is an example of the Government trying to encourage innovation. We need many more innovative programs to achieve this. With the pace of innovation taking place around the world, I don’t think we can be happy with the way things are happening. Nevertheless it is the beginning, but we seriously need to see how we can accelerate the process.

Wijesinha: Comparing models from around the world, what is the best that could be adopted to increase the R&D spend?

Amaratunge: Each country does things differently. It’s a combination of direction along with a type of innovation. I am hesitant to say that there is a particular model to follow as the conditions of each country are different. Some countries have achieved innovation through military dictatorship, whereas others seem to have achieved it though commercialisation. It’s best that we develop our own model considering the circumstances we are in, while taking into consideration our social and political conditions.

Wijesinha: What are the views of the private sector in stepping up participation in R&D expenditure?

Goonawardena: Investing in R&D is not a short-term deal. JKH took a view in terms of what we have gone through in the past 30 years, which is that the private sector was on survival mode during the war period. Looking at the future, it is difficult to consider a particular model. It is clear that if the private sector doesn’t start looking at things differently and the country doesn’t look at the future in a manner that is value adding, doing more of the same would mean that we will be left behind. The key to this is to invest in the beginning and play at every end. We will play the role of venture capitalist to fund any product that we believe can be globally competitive and we will play right at the end by taking it to the market. This is almost a new business venture. We will use our business acumen to debate and direct the scientific knowledge as strategies that emerge from that. We need to start creating a scientific ecosystem with the commitment of commercialisation as the key to the whole game.

Wijesinha: Innovation being fairly new in Sri Lanka, how do we allow the building of world class talent for innovation?

Amaratunge: If you don’t have school labs to inspire young people, then we won’t have scientists. It has to go all the way down to the primary levels. It is unfortunate in Sri Lanka that only 30% of the labs are suitable for O/L science where as for A/Ls there are only less than 1% well-equipped labs. Clearly the infrastructure at that level needs to be built just the way Sri Lanka has built its cricket infrastructure. Virtual learning for science is not enough.

Wijesinha: Apart from the school curriculum, how can we create young people who have a passion for science and technology?

Fernando: Science is a part of everyday life but we take it for granted.  NSF’s science popularisation programs are directed to take science to the people. We have a special focus on school students since we feel they are the ones to be enriched. We require several partners to take this forward, therefore we need as much support as possible. It’s not a matter of creating more talented people; retaining them should be prioritised as well.