Niti Aayog and Wipo Collaborate To Strengthen Innovation in Global South

18th September, 2024 - 7:13 am Categories: Intellectual Property News & Updates 0 Comments

The collaboration between NITI Aayog and WIPO dated back to last year when Mr. Darren Tang, Director General of WIPO, toured the AIM ecosystem. During his visit, Mr. Tang praised Atal Tinkering Laboratories and Atal Incubation Center as “Exemplary models for innovation and entrepreneurship in India”. Impressed with these initiatives Mr. Tang’s visit stimulated discussion and collaboration. This ultimately led to the current agreement between NITI Aayog and WIPO. On July 22, 2024, Executive Director of WIPO Academy Dr. Arun Kumar, and AIM Mission Director Dr. Chintan Vaishnav met in New Delhi and signed the agreement.

The joint agreement was further strengthened by the 4-day visit of the WIPO delegation to India in July 2024. During the visit the delegation attended a workshop on innovation and intellectual property. They interacted with school students and industry experts. and explore additional cooperation opportunities.

During his visit, WIPO Director General Darren Tang praised Atal Tinkering Labs and Atal Incubation Centers as exemplars of innovation and entrepreneurship. This honour highlights the valuable contribution of these initiatives to India’s innovation ecosystem.

The joint agreement aspires to share India’s expertise in youth entrepreneurship education and development and collaborate with the WIPO Academy for the assistance of other developing countries in a similar path of economic development.

NITI Aayog and WIPO are working together to boost innovation in developing countries. Their collaborative efforts include:

• Endorsing WIPO Academy’s online courses on intellectual property and innovation for Indian students
• Provide educators training in AIM laboratories and incubators.
• Integrating AIM’s expertise in design thinking, entrepreneurship, and innovation through intellectual property into educational institutions.

The joint effort, which will reach 11 million students across India through AIM Labs, will be implemented in the IP4YouthandTeachers program of the WIPO Academy. IP4YouthandTeachers was designed and launched by the WIPO Academy in 2018. Its main goal is to engage young people involved in the creative process to exploit intellectual property for the benefit of their communities and, together with the authority of the national government, to promote the use of intellectual property among young people.

At the 32nd session of WIPO’s Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP), AIM presented India’s experience in setting up laboratories and incubators, among other self-sustaining models. Other WIPO member states have expressed interest in the Atal experiment and have sought to pilot it by 2024. Therefore, the support model implemented by WIPO, AIM and NITI Aayog will also be exported to other interested countries to train their young people in the areas of intellectual property, innovation and entrepreneurship.

CONCLUSION

The collaboration between NITI Aayog and AIM plays a pivotal role in India’s journey to become a global leader in innovation and intellectual property. This cooperation contributes to the promotion of inclusive and sustainable economic growth, to the benefit of countries in the South and beyond.

Author: H.N.Mallika, in case of any queries please contact/write back to us via email to chhavi@khuranaandkhurana.com or at  Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorney.

REFERENCES

1. https://www.wipo.int/academy/en/news/2024/news_0052.html
2. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2034912