India Allows Government Scientists to Own Companies

摘要

In 2001, Swami Manohar and three colleagues at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore invented the Simputer, a simple and cheap hand-held computer. But as civil servants, the com-rnputer scientists by law could not commercialize their invention. "I had no choice but to resign," says Manohar, who is now chief of intellectual property and strategy at Geodesic Limited, a telecom firm that bought the company Manohar and his colleagues founded after leaving IISc in 2001. Indian scientists will no longer be forced to make such a stark choice. On 24 February, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research issued regulations that permit researchers at government-funded institutions to hold equity stakesrnin scientific enterprises and spinoff companies. The "historic decision," says Science Minister Kapil Sibal, will "unleash the latent entrepreneurial potential of Indian scientists."