WiCamp

(pronounced as we-camp)

Theme: What Innovation Is?

Date: Thursday, July 24, 2008

Time: 2 PM till 7 PM

Venue: MP Hall, Tapsya Building, Infopark, Kusumagiri (PO), Cochin - 30

Sponsor

And finally the WiCamp breaches 175 campers at God’s Own Country. The 7th edition of WiCamp that unveiled innovation across hues of firms saw some of the most exciting intellects coming in. We added to our WiCamps, two more communities Medical Doctors and Lawyers. Participating firms included MG University College of Engineering, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Yantrix, InfoPark Kochi, IB Services Kochi, Rajagiri School of Engineering & Tech, NeST IT, Malayalam Manorama, Good Earth Homes, Dr. Rajkrishnan Dental Clinic, SCMS College, Integrated Technology, HDFC Bank, The Kochi Linux User Group, and Wipro. One strong emotion among campers was: To learn on Innovation and Apply to their Lives. Here’s a quick view of the event as it was.

Learning from Gurgaon WiCamp came handy as we resorted to a very informal style of seating… two concentric circles. The event got kicked of with Dr. Rajkrishnan narrating his story on Dental Tourisms that he brought to Kerala over one decade back. The journey started with a realization that how best can India rise to the level of global healthcare at an affordable price and uncompromising quality standards. In Dr’s experience, every innovation requires resources to scale-up and this calls for a business model this is robust and agile.

Next came the very the mesmerizing CEO of InfoPark Kochi, Siddhartha who through his captivating extempore shared the Sources of Innovation. In his view innovations are often caused by great goals set by leaders, the case in point being ‘Man on Moon Mission’ speech by JFK. Innovations come through great distress, need of survival (firms or individuals), need to retain a position, need to avoid a failure (or risk), or even need to get or get rid of something. In nut shell, innovation is required to establish the lost equilibrium.

Coming to Kerala and not talking of Malayalam Manorama, would be dumb! With over 37 years of leadership in the media industry, Ajey Thomas from the firm shared the secret of Sustainable Innovation at the firm. At Manorama, innovation comes from freedom give to people and is driven in a participative manner. Participation all the way from the grassroots of the organization, including the partners and customers. A tremendous amount of First Hand market intelligence ensures survival in this hypercompetitive market where customer taste varies within inches. In this veteran’s view, innovation comes from doing a continuous value addition to your offerings and wellbeing of employees.

Talking of Sustainable Innovation, the construction industry has to play a leading role in maintaining the ecological balance while creating these concrete jungles. Mathew Varghese, the founder of Good Earth Homes shared his journey through inspiration of creating a community to live in. His Green Innovation came from the insight that when joint families breakdown into nuclear components, people often feel insecure and feel an urge to socialize more. His firm specializes in creating those communities which are closer to nature and involves a lot of innovation which conserve resources.

Innovation in Education is one of the topics that we last discussed at the Hyderabad WiCamp. Here at Kochi Dr. Nair from SCMS Management College vowed of his college to be one of the more innovative MBA colleges in India and this innovation comes from the Visionary Leader. This leader inspired unconditional listening, brainstorming, networking, experimenting and encouraging change in every day phenomenon. In his belief, innovative people don’t burn out fast!

One of the last sessions of the day came in from a Lawyer cum Software Evangelist- Jay Jacob. Jay, who champions The Kochi Linux User Group narrated his funny tale on Innovation driven by Truth and Freedom. His experience of evangelizing an Idea of Open Source (mind it he doesn’t own a product) started some 14 years back and all this while he and his team has spent Zero money on marketing. So how did it happen? Long answer short… partnering. Here’s a brilliant example of creating a Movement where there’s nothing tangible to sell, or get your living out of, but all one needs is motivation and belief.

In all, the Kochi WiCamp was a terrific experience of how different each one of us are and how much can we learn from each other.

About WiCamp

WiCamp which stands for Wipro’s Innovation Camp is inspired by the silicon-valley styled BarCamps which are un-conference like meetings. Here like minded people come over and share their learning on a topic of mutual interest through presentation, demos, videos, etc.

Who can attend the WiCamp

Students across ages! We all are students wearing different masks, working in organizations run by us or otherwise. To be more specific; invitation goes to Start-ups, Large Firms, VCs, Students, Researchers and by no means limited to the IT industry. The more diverse the more creative!

What would be the takeaway for me

Knowing people and their perspectives on Innovation and Creativity. You would also be encouraged to share your thoughts on the subject and expand your knowledge horizon.

Themes for the WiCampKochi

• How best innovation happen
• Innovation by design
• Case study discussions on innovation
• Start-up ways of innovation
• What VC looks while funding ideas
• The needs for Innovation Ecosystem

Campers

• Add your name here. Please also add your company/college name.

Discussions

• Add your name and title of discussion here.

Who is blogging

http://pavansoni.blogspot.com