Fostering Inclusive Innovation: UK Delegation Explores Grassroots Collaboration with GIAN
A high-level UK delegation, led by Prof. Adnan Khan, Chief Economist at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, visited the GIAN, Ahmedabad, a Honey Bee Network Institution on February 5, 2025, to discuss grassroots innovation, technology democratization, and sustainable development. The delegation included Mr. Stephen Hickling (Deputy High Commissioner to Gujarat and Rajasthan), Mr. David Perkoff (South Asia Economist, Indo-Pacific Team), Mr. Jay Shanker (Head of Economic research & Development), Ms. Moumita Bhattacharya (Senior Advisor, Economics, Climate, and Development), and Ms. Aditi Banerjee (Economic Adviser). Their discussions underscored the urgent need to amplify grassroots innovations, which often remain unnoticed despite their potential to drive meaningful, community-driven change.
Prof. Anil Gupta, Dr. Anamika Dey (CEO, GIAN), and the GIAN team showcased their extensive work with grassroots innovators & local creative communities.
They highlighted key collaborations with global partners like UNDP, UNESCO, UNESCAP, AMAZON through HBNCRIIA, and industry leaders such as SUZUKI, GETCO, GPCL, Gharda, etc.; which help in leveraging the impact of GIAN’s innovative platforms highlighting grassroots frugal Solutions.
GIAN also underscored its commitment to empowering local communities as knowledge holders, ensuring they receive due recognition and benefits for their contributions. Additionally, the need for greater resources to support product testing and lab facilities was emphasized, as these are critical for scaling grassroots innovations and bringing them to market.
Keen to witness the grassroots impact firsthand, the UK delegation expressed strong interest in visiting GIAN’s project sites. Both sides acknowledged the importance of fostering an inclusive innovation ecosystem that integrates not just large corporations but also grassroots innovators, advocating for a more frugal, democratic approach to technology and science. Going forward, GIAN and the UK delegation aim to build on these discussions and explore tangible collaborations that advance sustainable, grassroots to Global g2G model of recognising inclusive innovations. A special mention was made about vision of HBN & gian for setting up A international Academy of inclusive innovations & Knowledge Augmentation ( AIIKA) -an are of possible future cooperation
