Technology Management and Business Development

Considering the need of effective management of technology portfolio of the Institute, TMBD Cell has been constituted in 2009-10. The objectives of the TMBD Cell are to:

• document new and emerging technologies that are either developed or being developed by the Institute,
• projecting the good work done by the Institute by implementing the Technology Management Plans,
• integrating technology management aspects including IPR management with R&D and business development,
• safeguarding new intellectual property generated by the Institute and exploiting available IPR portfolio,
• creating high performing network of R&D professionals and organisations,
• ascertaining products development,
• reaching out for the benefit of the North Eastern Region by extending appropriate technological solutions,
• entering into productive partnership through MoU/Agreements,
• enhancing international cooperation,
• interacting with user agencies for identifying challenging technical problems for progressive R&D, and
• competency development.

Major activities carried out are as follows:

I. TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES:

1. Publication of CSIR-CRRI Technical Reports

CSIR-CRRI has started publication of CSIR-CRRI Technical Reports with the following objectives:

• To reduce the time taken in translating R&D works into field usage through formulation of codes and specifications
• To project the good work carried out by CSIR-CRRI
• To give clear recommendations on the topic to be utilized with confidence by the field engineers
• To be taken as technology gate-keeper for the entire profession including IRC and BIS
• To bring out State-of-Art on important topics

2. Launching of Corporate Technological Responsibility Initiatives

CSIR-CRRI has identified and launched three major areas to focus our efforts in a consolidated manner. These are “Save the Aggregates”, “Reduce the Traffic Congestion”, and “Road Safety”. CSIR-CRRI has taken these initiatives as Corporate Technological Responsibility initiatives reflecting our commitment to the profession.

The above initiatives are undertaken to project our good work done in these areas and to indicate to the profession that CSIR-CRRI is committed on the objectives as technology mission. The initiatives will also add to the brand image of CSIR-CRRI apart from projecting technical contribution to the objectives. Logos are to be designed for each initiative that would be printed on all our documents such as letterhead, envelopes etc.

1. Save the Aggregates
2. Reduce the Traffic Congestion
3. Road Safety

3. Product Development initiatives

TMBD Cell has also undertaken plans towards development of various products as a systemic activity and by involving various agencies.

4. Technology Management Plans

TECH-D initiative was launched to discover and project technologies out of the work both carried out and being carried out by the Institute. For each technology, a Technology Management Action Plan (TMAP) is proposed for systematic handling of a technological work. Under the initiative, around eight TMAPs were prepared which are under different stages of implementation.

II. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES:

1. Interaction for Business Development

Interaction with various agencies was made to communicate the good work done by the Institute and also to trace newer and challenging technical problems for further R&D activities. It made reaching out to our stakeholders and associating them with our activities.

2. MoU/Agreements processed:

Collaboration is the buzzword in today’s globalisation scenario wherein the technology is changing very fast. Only through coming together and harnessing each other capabilities, we can develop newer products and technologies. A well-documented MoU/Agreement is the key for successful collaboration wherein all parties/stakeholders are in the win-win situation. TMBD Cell processes such documents.

3. Development of Proposals

For possible project funding, proposals are to be submitted to prospective funding agencies for sponsorship. Efforts are made to develop several proposals both to exploit available technological knowledgebase as well as to work on new technological arena.

4. Road Transport R&D Network

At various forums, a need was felt to develop a network of R&D organisations and professionals. A meeting of R&D organisations during IRC Annual Session on Nov. 15, 2009 at Patna was also held. It was decided that the network shall be run and managed through a web portal with the following objectives:

• To establish the network of all R&D professionals in the roads and transportation sector
• To establish knowledge sharing mechanism
• To plan future course of action/studies for R&D purposes in the sector
• To derive output to convert into outcome as feeding mechanism for the professionals particularly to different IRC Committees
• To get the information for GRRRI every year
• To be a forum for technology management especially technology commercialization
• To disseminate technical knowledge and R&D findings
• To be a happening and one-stop site for all R&D professionals of the sector

It can be accessed at http://www.roadresearch.net.

III. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT RELATED ACTIVITIES:

For any R&D organisation, the most important asset next to human resource is its IPR portfolio. TMBD works to safeguard the intellectual property generated by the Institute through IPMD, CSIR. The related activities involve from sensitising R&D staff to take effective measures to safeguard their intellectual property to processing relevant documents and liaison with IPMD.

IV. NORTH EASTERN REGION RELATED ACTIVITIES:

There has been a strong felt need to support North-Eastern Region of our country through appropriate technologies for its overall growth. The region on one hand demands appropriate technological solutions but on other hand provides us with challenging technical problems that need to be solved and demonstrated. CSIR-CRRI has carried out several studies for the region but there is still significant scope to communicate the available technological solutions and also to arrive at effective solutions for present challenging problems.

Accordingly CSIR-CRRI interacted with NEIST, Jorhat so that it has a window to communicate with the prospective clients in NE Region. NEIST will work as a CSIR-CRRI NODE in NER to interact with different road agencies of the region and will be the face of CSIR-CRRI in NE Region.

V. Course on Project Management for Roads and Transport Sector

CSIR-CRRI has entered into an agreement with Project Management Certifiction Institute (PMCI), and Centre for Excellence in Project Management (CEPM) to organise course on Project Management for roads and transport sector. An online course as Certificate in Project Management with specialisation in Roads and Transportation (CIPM-RT) has been launched and can be accessed at http://www.cepm-csir-crri.org.