Nanda Kumar Janardhanan on his work to promote technology co-innovation in energy and climate and his expectations from the Japan-India Transformative Technology Network
This interview was conducted prior to Salzburg Global's Japan-India Transformative Technology Network in-person program in June 2023.
Nanda Kumar Janardhanan is a Salzburg Global Fellow of the Japan-India Transformative Technology Network program 2023. Originally from India, Nanda is a research manager and South Asia regional coordinator at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) in Tokyo, Japan, and is working on technology cooperation in the Asia-Pacific to address climate and environment-related problems. We asked Nanda Kumar a few questions about his work, expectations from the program, and the future potential of the network.
Madhumitha Srinivasamoorthy, Salzburg Global Impact Fellow: Can you tell me about your work and how you think it relates to Japan, India, and technology?
Nanda Kumar Janardhanan: I have been a policy researcher for over two decades with experience in policy research and academic institutions. My current affiliation with IGES began in 2019, and I have been involved in energy and climate research. I'm currently involved in research focusing on Japan's technology transfer to Asia. And as part of my research, I had the opportunity to work on a concept called co-innovation as an alternative method to conventional technology transfer. To me, this program is very relevant and timely. Since it talks about India and Japan, it is a great pride for me to have the opportunity to join this program.
MS: Why the Japan-India Transformative Technology Network? How do you see yourself in the network?
NKJ: I want to thank Salzburg Global Seminar for shaping this interesting program. This is probably one of the most awaited programs from many of those working in policy research, academia, and even policy practice... First of all, India and Japan represent the global north and global South in the eastern part of this world. From that perspective, these two countries demand significant strategic importance. And the second point is that India and Japan are two important democracies in this region. And they also have long-lasting political, diplomatic, and cultural relations. So benefiting all these historical importance that is enjoyed by these two countries, how Japan and India make sort of technology collaboration transformative, I mean, that is exactly what the program is talking about.
This is something that's close to my work and close to my interest. Especially because I believe there are multiple areas between which are important when we look at India and Japan. My interest specifically falls in the environmental aspects of collaboration, which is about climate change and sustainability. I believe Japan and India can do a lot in this field together. That's what actually brought me into this program.
MS: In environmental sustainability, what do you expect from this experience?
NKJ: My expectations from this program are two kinds. First, it is about the work which I have been doing - I want to see what kind of lessons I can learn from the multidisciplinary experts who have gathered there. The concept I have been working on is called co-innovation, an alternative approach to conventional technology transfer, where developed countries and developing countries work together to fine-tune technologies. So that kind of technology development will have a bigger say in making transformative change. While I have a policy understanding, I believe that there is a lot more expertise outside the area and the experts I am involved with. As I interact with many experts who have already participated in this program, they bring in much rich experience from diverse fields. And I believe all their inputs, suggestions, and opinions about the research will help me shape my research objective and contribute to the larger cause of Japan-India relations.
MS: Regarding cooperation and meeting other people of expertise, how has your experience been so far?
NKJ: ...This platform already has much expertise from diverse fields. I think thousands of hours of research expertise are already in this platform, which different people from other regions and diverse expertise bring. So, this is a rich in knowledge sort of platform that we can have. Specifically, I look forward to learning from these participants on this plan in this program and Japan India program.
My second interest is that many new areas are evolving daily. We have seen the importance of AI shaping up in the past two years with, I mean the past year, the Chat GPT coming into the scene, but we do not know what kind of dimensions these innovative changes will bring in climate mitigation. Or in information sharing all of this. So, this is another area [where] I'm looking forward to learning from all the gathered experts who can bring in this new knowledge. And I am also highly interested in understanding how we can preserve this knowledge ... And I think that will be a more significant task for all involved in physically managing and sharing this information, saving all the data and everything simultaneously. I'm also trying to see how we can continue this relationship with all these work participants from different places to take our journey forward more rigorously. My expectations are high. And I'm also ambitious in terms of positive results. I'm looking forward to being active on this platform.
Since coming to Salzburg in June 2023, Nanda has been working alongside other Salzburg Global Fellows on a project centered around Japan-India co-innovation on sustainable mobility.
