Confederation of Indian Industry summit to focus on intellectual capital as the new wealth of nation

The 13th edition of the **Confederation of Indian Industry** (CII) innovation summit in this tech hub on 13-14 July will be on the intellectual capital as the new wealth of nations, said India Inc’s lobby on 7 July. “The two-day summit will focus on strengthening the spirit of India to build an ecosystem that fosters and celebrates innovation as the main pillar of national wealth,” former CII president and Infosys co-founder S. Gopalakrishnan told reporters here. With the theme on ‘The New Wealth of Nations - Innovation and Intellectual Capital’, captains of the industry will brainstorm on diverse subjects such as Teens as Innovators to disrupt businesses, Rise of Machines and Future of Human Labour. The summit would also deliberate on **India's digital transformation** into a cashless economy, expectations on the e-commerce industry-scaling the consumption economy, role of society and culture on innovation, rise of personalised/precision medicine, role of technology in continuing education and intellectual property rights. Noting that in the new world order, innovation would be the most important factor in defining the growth of development, the former Infosys Vice-Chairman said India should embrace the change that innovation across all spheres brings in. “It’s high time we re-looked at the conventional definition of wealth. Innovation and Intellectual Property (IP) will be the new wealth of nations,” asserted Gopalakrishnan. The industry’s apex body has been working on a multipoint agenda to include the larger society for inclusive growth. “We help the industry, especially **MSMEs** (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) to cope with the changes in the business landscape and in job creation by innovation,” said CII Karnataka’s chairman Kamal Bali. Debarati Sen, 3M India Ltd Managing Director, said India had emerged as a hub for innovations and houses the world’s largest youth population. “Identifying the scope and talent in the country, we are collaborating with the CII, instituted the Young Innovators Challenge Award in 2014 with a vision to create a forum to recognise innovative ideas with a social relevance,” added Sen.