Role of Academic Initiatives for Technology Management at the Base of the Pyramid: Empirical Evidence From India

Abstract

Technological interventions are adopted in emerging economies to enable sustainable development and empower marginalized communities at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). Emerging economies are becoming significant contributors in BoP development with the active initiatives from academia-driven organizations engaging in rural development. However, the technological development practice is fragmented and requires unified technology management practices to analyze salient features that lead to a sustainable rural transformation. This study adopts a case-study methodology and obtains primary and secondary data from two distinctive centers of an academia-born organization. The findings enfold three intrinsic characteristics of the technology development process targeted for the BoP sector: the emergence of demand-driven technology, inclusive innovation practices leading towards self-reliance and trends of sustainable green technology. The formative contribution of this research enriches the management of technologies at BoP by connecting the developer’s perspective for innovation practice inclined towards knowledge sharing, inclusiveness, empowerment and sustainable development, thus creating a roadmap for effective policy development focusing on the sustainability of BoP technologies in emerging economies.