Skilling and reskilling for the DeepTech ecosystem

What is the DeepTech Ecosystem?

India’s reliance on Science and Technology (S&T) for national development and economic growth is nothing new. India’s prowess on various areas of S&T such as atomic energy, space, missile technology, biotechnology have been globally recognized.

While the recent thrust on DeepTech builds on some of existing pillars of Science, what makes Deep Tech different are twofold: the process and end-use. Deep Tech, if not explicitly, at least implicitly indicates the involvement of start-ups in the innovation and commercialisation process. Start-ups help in hurrying up the research, development and commercialization of the technology of the new product along with managing the risky radical innovations. In terms of end use, Deep Tech indicates the use of advanced science and technology in addressing social and economic problems.

DeepTech tries to solve big problems by using tangible scientific discoveries or engineering innovation. Many startups in energy, materials, chemicals, computer sciences, energy and clean technology are considered as deep-tech startups.

In addition, some of the recent information technologies such as AI, Quantum Computing, AR/VR, Cloud, Cyber Security, Nanotechnology, Blockchain, Autonomous Robotic Systems, 3D Printing are also included in the deep-tech classification. As per the NASSCOM Report 2021, there are more than 2100 deep tech start-ups in India. Deep tech start-ups have grown at 40% CAGR since 2014 and are expected to accelerate further.

What kind of skill sets are needed

A common trend observed is that most DeepTech start-ups are founded by technical founders like researchers, scientists and engineers. Many of them do not have formal training in business and management. It is therefore important that the technical founders enhance their skill sets in business management to increase the success of their start-ups.

Apart from the top management, DeepTech start-ups also need a talent pool with strong exposure to technology areas highlighted above. However, mastery of just the science and technology is not enough. Awareness about the steps that are needed to translate scientific discovery to commercial products or services is critical.

The basic requirement for middle and entry level employees is the strong technical skills in any areas of the DeepTech. However, it is necessary that the employees are emphasized about quality and the need to be flexible. A major bane of academic curricula in many universities is that they are not frequently updated in line with the developments and requirements of the industry. If India has to emerge as a strong country for DeepTech, then the curriculum has to be cutting edge. India has a strong edge in IT. Developing new courses in areas that are adjacent to IT such as AI, cybersecurity, blockchain, cloud, and so on would help to leverage our existing strengths.  

The need to reskill

The relentless forward march of technology accelerates obsolescence. Therefore, to be relevant it is important for companies as well as employees to constantly reskill themselves. Nowhere has this been more prominent than the Indian IT Services Industry. For the last two decades, the Indian IT Services Industry has contributed immensely to job creation and GDP. However, in recent years some of the leading IT services companies have made digital centric solutions as their thrust areas, in line with their client requirements.

Many of the technologies that are relevant for providing digital solutions have a deep-tech footprint. This has resulted in a major movement for reskilling the existing employees to the new technologies to stay relevant. Similar examples could be seen in other industries as well.

The imperatives

There is a need to create capacity to meet the demands for such reskilling. Universities and other institutes of higher education should specifically create cells that can cater to the reskilling requirements. Since reskilling requires a strong understanding of the direction that industry would take, such reskilling centres should have faculty members that are drawn from the industry. In recent years, many institutes have launched separate online programs to prepare the workforce for opportunities in these areas. The online data sciences graduate program recently launched by IIT Madras is one such example.  

The Government of India has also begun various initiatives that would offer courses with high quality content for those who cannot go back to college. The National Program on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) and the Massive Online Open Courses (MOOC) are platforms that are available for anyone who would like to strengthen their skills in a relevant area. In addition, there has also been an emergence of edtech platforms that are addressing this reskilling requirement. However, given the breadth of reskilling and the large demand, more such initiatives should be conceptualized.

The author is Dr. Thillai Rajan A., Professor, Centre for Research on Start-ups and Risk Financing, Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras and Co-Founder, YNOS Venture Engine Start-up.