The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, on Sunday said that the best scientific universities and institutions of learning are not just teaching shops or degree factories but increasingly they are sources of innovation and incubators of technology and technology-driven start-ups.
“The knowledge ecosystem of public investments in science, academic institutions and universities, research laboratories, commercial applications and private enterprise has an almost magical potential. Its best example is, of course, Silicon Valley in the United States. At the core of Silicon Valley are basic science and technology campuses and their talented faculty and students, The President said while addressing the seventh convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad.
Lauding the individual accomplishments being achieved by research institutions in the country, he added that there is a need for more inter-universities collaborations. “IIT Hyderabad is not envisaged as just an add-on to this ecosystem. Rather, it needs to be the hub of this ecosystem. It must be the connecting tissue and the catalyst for a greater synergy”, he added.
Further, he urged IIT Hyderabad to break out of silos and to assist others in breaking out of silos. He said that India will judge the success of IIT Hyderabad by the vitality and the output it can ensure for not just itself but for the entire Hyderabad knowledge ecosystem.
