Advances in science and technology through frugality

Transforming Disciplinary Traditions Comment on "Problems and Promises of Health Technologies: The Role of Early Health Economic Modeling"

“…14 Nonetheless, the concept of frugality can be applied anywhere to design low-cost, high quality solutions, including sophisticated technologies (eg, gene circuits on paper for identifying pathogens, robots made of cellphone parts). 15 Prime et al 16 examined the Arbutus Drill Cover System, which is a reusable double-layered surgical-grade cover that fully encloses a hardware drill and transforms it into a surgical grade drill. Developed by a team of Canadian and Ugandan engineers, surgeons, nurses, reprocessing staff and managers, it costs around £1500.…”

Science Is Indispensable to Frugal Innovations

“…Moreover, as observed in the examples covered above, frugal innovations encompass both grassroots and sophisticated types, with the latter being termed as advanced frugal innovations (Rao, 2017a). In other words, an advanced frugal innovation is systematically created through rigorous application of scientific methods, whereas its grassroots brethren are typically makeshift contraptions that are realized through very talented innovators possessing significant ingenuity.…”

“…But, cases of advanced frugal innovation are not rare exceptions. Other than the 25 examples of frugal innovation recently examined by this author (Rao , 2017a), the majority of examples qualify as advanced frugal innovations due to the degree of sophistication in science and technology needed for their systematic realization (see, for example: Rao, 2013). …”

“…The scientific framework based on engineering design measures that are advocated in this study applies to both the grassroots and advanced frugal innovations. Therefore, both the collider for particle physics (Downer & Zgadzaj, 2014, Rao, 2017a) and the earthen refrigerator or MittiCool Fridge (Rao, 2013) need the ingenuity of their creators in using such a engineering framework to realize these game-changing innovations with the collider also needing advances in other relevant knowledge areas, such as particle physics, for its completion.…”

CHALLENGES IN MOVING FROM INCREMENTAL TO RADICAL LOW-COST INNOVATION IN EMERGING AND TRANSITION COUNTRIES: Institutional Perspectives Based on Rechargeable Battery Innovation in China and Point-of-Use Water Purification Innovation in India

“…The literature however appears to be lacking in theoretical underpinnings, specifically they seem to evade the fact that particular forms of innovation may be a result of specific structuring of institutions and not just a result of firms overcoming resource constraints and institutional voids. In addition, the relevance of advanced scientific skills in achieving low-cost innovation has only been dealt with superficially by illustrating in hindsight how advanced science and technology can lower costs (Rao, 2017), rather than offering a prognosis of what institutional mechanisms need to be in place to ensure development and commercialisation of low-cost innovations. A more exhaustive review of the various terminologies and examples of low-cost innovations is not imperative because this has been sufficiently dealt with (see Agnihotri, 2015;Hossain, 2017), instead I focus on the role of institutions in developing low-cost innovation competencies and offer a critique of relevant 'conceptual' studies that support my justification for this study.…”