My friend Professor Sudhir Jain is now Director (President) of one of the “new” Indian Institutes of Technology, the one located in India’s fastest growing state, Gujarat. IIT Gandhinagar has aligned with office equipment maker Ricoh’s innovating lab based in California.
“We floated a proposal to Ricoh Innovation Inc (RII) to get involved with us, to which they have agreed. We will develop technology focused on improving interactions between people and information. An emerging market like India offers huge opportunities. Ricoh Innovation Center wants to understand the Indian market through us. Our students shall get involved in doing this,” Dr Jain was quoted as saying in Business Line.
RII develops technologies for Ricoh, specializing in office imaging equipment, production print solutions, document management systems and IT services. “One of the projects initiated at the institute in joint collaboration with RII was Book Snap, as a part of which our students had developed a library linked software for them,” Professor Jain said.
What this means
They say capital flows quickly across the globe. But when ideas and innovation meet passion and zeal, I think you see an even faster flow. A new institute in India collaborating with the California unit of a Japanese company, that is an example of extreme global R&D, wouldn’t you say?
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
