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In this issue, we are extremely happy to publish interview of MrShabudeen K M, CEO of Inventivo Solutions Pvt Ltd.Mr Shabudeen is the founder of Inventivo Solutions, a Bangalore based start-up. He previously worked for Inet Business Solutions, as head of marketing and business development. Mr Shabudeen carries a rich experience of business development and entrepreneurship with innovative thinking and strong strategic capability. He is always driven by challenge, with good interpersonal and communication skills that provide the ability to operate effectively at all levels and across all disciplines.
Origiin: Hello Mr. Shabudeen. It is a great pleasure for us to interact with you and publish your thoughts in this interview.
Mr Shabudeen: Thank you, pleasure is all mines!
Origiin: Although India operates the biggest education system in the world, yet Right to Education is still a dream for many. Despite increased literacy rate shown in the last decades, there are big differences in the quality of education in India. What inspired you to work in this area?
Mr Shabudeen: It is rather unfortunate that despite levying a tax to fund education and enacting a law to ensure access to education for all children, the Government has not succeeded in improving learning outcome in schools. We are still stuck in the traditional chalk-and-board style of instruction.
Sadly, since teaching is no longer considered a noble profession by many teachers, poor supply of quality teachers is impacting the students. Growingly, students too are burdened with plenty of doubts expecting some support system to help them cope. Parents too are occupied in their own competitive spheres and strapped for time. Further, they too are challenged by their limited subject knowledge to assist children with their studies. This alarming situation has only resulted in several tuition centres mushrooming, acting as profit centres for many.
With the huge gap in the student-to-teacher ratio, not being able to get the teacher’s individual attention in learning leaves them to merely work by rote; instead of learning by understanding the concept.
I realized that this harmful and growing trend is only going to produce poor quality of human resource product in our country. This inspired me to innovate and launch the next generation education tool “Teacher 24/7”, which will be a boon in changing the way students will learn, happily!
Origiin: Teacher 24/7 the flagship product from your company, seems to revolutionise the whole education system for kids. What role does innovation play in this educational tool kit?
Mr Shabudeen: We are happy to see the smile and confidence in every child’s face after they take “Teacher 24/7“home. The fear of asking the teacher repeatedly to clear any doubts is no longer there. They are at the relaxed comfort of their home with “Teacher 24/7“helping them go through the very lessons taught by the teacher – any number of times, at will, till they are completely clear of doubts, in more ways than one.
Also, classes and lessons missed on account of leave of absence too, no longer pose a concern as the student remains fully updated to the current point of the curriculum and confident by simply watching the subject videos, at home, in bed, while travelling, outdoors or anywhere convenient. The student is fully prepared for school upon return and in par with the classmates.
Origiin: As we know innovation is a buzz word today but how can innovation be channelized in the right direction so that every innovative product gets translated into business growth of enterprise in the future?
Mr Shabudeen: As a matter of fact, innovation may be both good and bad. We need to understand to which segment the innovation devised is catering to, and since it is the student’s community it could be a problem if not directed in the right way. We were very particular that “Teacher 24/7“ does not facilitate anything apart from its intended purpose that can be misused by the students. For example, the Tablet PC is devoid of internet, camera, WiFi and Bluetooth etc, but equally compensating the same with value and fulfilling their education needs. And once this is achieved, I believe business growth is taken care of.
Origiin: What are the basic ingredients to have a successful innovative product in the market?
Mr Shabudeen: It is quite simple. However innovative your product may be, at the end of day, it has to be affordable and the market needs to see the value for money to determine the success of your product and to a great extent I believe we have probably achieved it with the way we have devised our pricing for “Teacher 24/7”.
Origiin: In your opinion what are the greatest challenges to innovation in India today? Is it lack of expertise or lack of awareness or a lack of strong enforcement mechanisms?
Mr Shabudeen: Innovations created at the expense of considerable investment of resources, demand a matching Intellectual Property Rights(IPR) regime. Gaining full benefits of innovation requires an effective and efficient framework across a wide range of policy areas, calling for an integrated approach and cooperation between business, governments and society.
Origiin: Are there any challenges that you face while introducing Teacher 24/7 to customers in terms of acceptability or cost etc?
Mr Shabudeen: The real challenge we look at is only to change the mindset of the parents, they need to accept the fact that things are moving rapidly and digital era has come to stay in a big way and this is how future learning is going to be. Our pricing has been one of our strengths too. We have made it very affordable that most of the parents are pleasantly surprised at the cost-on-value that “Teacher 24/7“presents in comparison with tuition fees.
It is a choice for the parents keen on supporting their children with their studies with “Teacher 24/7“, as against the hourly tuition teacher.
Origiin: How important is protection of any innovative product in terms of patent, copyright or trademark to prevent IP infringement?
Mr Shabudeen: As I mentioned earlier, it is very important because as long as we have a good legal framework for protecting IPR, which is still evolving in India, it will only encourage more innovations to be unleashed in the Indian market and help many of our start up innovative companies to compete fiercely at world level.
Origiin: Thank you so much Sir for your valuable inputs. Wish you all the best in your life!
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