Fancy tech solutions are fine, but they need to solve real-world problems: Harish Hande, co-founder, SELCO | Technology News

Harish spoke to indianexpress.com on the necessity to discuss failures in an sincere method and be taught from the identical, the tech options related to the agricultural poor, and the way AI would possibly influence applicable tech. Edited excerpts:

Venkatesh Kannaiah: Inform us about your Influence Failure Conclave and learnings through the years.

Harish Hande: You have to perceive that nobody likes to talk of failures. One would possibly suppose it is a aspect within the company world, however it’s prevalent within the influence sector, too. There’s plenty of self-glorification. Perhaps it’s as a result of there may be that stress to lift funds, or that funders may be eager that their influence is magnified.

That’s the reason we started this Influence Failure Conclave for an sincere appraisal of what had gone incorrect and the way issues may very well be modified. The primary one was held in 2018, and later in 2022, and not too long ago in 2025. It’s an SELCO Basis initiative.

We within the influence sector communicate of our achievements in glorified phrases, and nobody desires to rock the boat. Except we communicate of our failures, we are going to carry on attempting to reinvent the wheel. We have to normalise the phrase failure, maybe have a good time it and be taught from it. Earlier, there was plenty of worry and hesitation among the many contributors, however now it has gone down. There’s much more openness, and hopefully, there can be learnings for social enterprises and people within the influence sector to show round.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: You speak concerning the lack of readability on downside statements and tech options that would resolve these issues. Are you able to elaborate?

Harish Hande: There’s a dichotomy between wants and needs. The agricultural, frugal entrepreneur is taking a look at utilizing tech to unravel the issue of his wants, whereas the center or upper-middle-class city startup is taking a look at fixing the issue of desires. It’s taking a look at expendable earnings and for merchandise to focus on the identical.

And lots of instances, I really feel that the technical options that we give you are like saying that we may offer you a typewriter in two years. You have to perceive that the world has moved on. We’re siloed in our pondering, therefore our tech improvements too are siloed. At present we’re taking an answer and need to discover an issue it may resolve.

Take, for instance, the case of photo voltaic water pumps for small farmers. We must be clear about the issue we try to unravel. The issue is water for irrigation, and the difficulty of cropping patterns, and utilization of photo voltaic water pumps falls into that ambit. However these days, we overlook the core downside we need to resolve and get fascinated with tech, and begin selling photo voltaic water pumps, whether or not the scenario calls for the identical or not. That’s the concern. For example, why do we want photo voltaic water pumps for sugarcane in dry areas of northern Karnataka? Can’t we develop millets? Photo voltaic may be free, however water is dear.

Related is the case with electrical automobiles. The core downside we try to unravel is transportation, however should you see the discourse round electrical automobiles, one feels that it has been forgotten. We get so excited a couple of expertise and overlook about what it was supposed to unravel. Then it will all result in misplaced enthusiasm and the constructing of incorrect incentive buildings. So, with EVs, we try to place up a lot of charging stations. We have to articulate the issues we’re planning to unravel earlier than we even bounce to the expertise.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: Inform us about some tech innovations/improvements in agriculture that didn’t work out and the explanations for a similar.

Harish Hande: A few of the tech failures within the influence sector begin with funding. Funding organisations ought to get away from deliverable funding. Are you creating processes and platforms in order that extra improvements would emerge, or are you fixated on some quantity? That’s the key query. After which it turns into a deliverables sport, and the influence is misplaced.

There’s the instance of milking machines. The machines that have been made for milking desi cows didn’t work in any respect for milking water buffaloes in Assam. Now, one has to grasp the place and the way this downside arises. Innovators ought to have a deep understanding of the necessities on the bottom. It isn’t a one-size-fits-all. Now, aside from these constructing the tech, those that are implementing the tech on the bottom additionally must be sensitised. Lastly, what it has led to is that dairy farmers really feel that milking machines as tech is unreliable and doesn’t work.

There’s the difficulty of chilly storage. It really works very in another way for dry and moist ginger. Chilly storage is nice for dry ginger, not for moist ginger, and this level was utterly ignored. This tech was launched in varied areas by the federal government and by the influence sector, and it has created plenty of avoidable confusion. The identical is with chilly storage for flowers. It relies upon lots on the place the chilly storage is: is it on the level of sale, when it’s transported, or on the location of plucking? We see tech as a stand-alone, say, like a tv set that might work anyplace. However tech that has to do with livelihoods must be checked out from a distinct perspective.

Allow us to have a look at easy tech like solar-powered stitching machines which have been launched in some areas and which led to extra shirts being sewn per day. It’s a good tech however introducing it in areas with out engaged on enhancing the demand for shirts does probably not assist the individual utilizing the tech.

Identical is the case with, say, microgrids. We assume that because the tech is there it will be used the identical manner in all instances and conditions. It isn’t the case.

One builds cost schedules and patterns based mostly on some assumptions, and when it doesn’t work out, the tech has no takers, or it fails.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: Are you able to discuss innovations/improvements in medtech that did not take off or didn’t have a considerable influence?

Harish Hande: The very first thing that involves thoughts is vaccine fridges. There are such a lot of design flaws in these merchandise. Both it’s too huge, or too cumbersome, or too heavy. In resource-poor settings like rural India, managing it’s a huge hurdle. Most often, the doorways at these main healthcare facilities are small, so you have to demolish them to take the vaccine fridges in. Designers ought to perceive resource-poor settings and construct designs with empathy. There’s all the time a one-size-fits-all mentality. Many of those are maybe constructed in response to WHO specs, and don’t take Indian situations under consideration, and when totally different Indian situations are encountered, designers and producers don’t return to creating improved or totally different variations. They’ve a take it or depart it angle.

Even easy issues like chairs in dentist rooms are very cumbersome to handle in rural settings. It may well neither be folded nor shifted simply. Whereas the chance is for well being on the doorstep, design flaws make it tough for the advantages of such tech to achieve the poor in rural areas. Why can’t dentist chairs be foldable? Designers must reply.

Take the case of child heaters. It consumes a lot energy that it isn’t a viable choice in distant settings the place decentralised photo voltaic is the one energy supply. In most of our merchandise, we appear to be including increasingly more sophistication to the options, nevertheless it places a pressure on resource-poor settings..

Venkatesh Kannaiah: SELCO is a pioneer within the photo voltaic power area. What has modified through the years by way of curiosity, improvements, funding, and the way has it affected your operations?

Harish Hande: At SELCO, we had come to photo voltaic power from a perspective of decentralisation and sustainability. Now, it has grow to be extra mainstream, nevertheless it has misplaced its sustainability ethos. It has grow to be a part of the consumerist mindset and way of life. For instance, if this constructing is totally powered by photo voltaic, does it give me the suitable to place 20 extra air conditioners? That’s the query. The great thing about photo voltaic power was the chances it offered for decentralisation. That meant empowerment of the individuals and a sure democratisation. However that has modified now.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: Are you able to identify a number of profitable applicable tech options in India which have labored on the bottom?

Harish Hande: There are backpack fridges by Blackfrog Applied sciences which has developed a patented fast cooling expertise for the last-mile transport of vaccines. It will also be used to switch medical laboratory samples, insulin, breast milk, blood serum, and drugs.

There’s work occurring with spindle weaving and silk weaving applied sciences, grading of millets, and in addition with solar-powered ‘chakli -murukku’ making and even solar-powered chips making. You may even use an app on the telephone to manage the thickness of the chakli or murukku.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: Are you able to inform us about a number of tech for influence startups that caught your eye?

Harish Hande: One of many startups works on partograph, a software-based expertise that screens the situation of a girl throughout being pregnant, simply earlier than childbirth, and whether or not it’s going to be a high-risk being pregnant.

One other attention-grabbing innovation was inside one in every of Basic Electrical’s divisions that reduce down the ability consumption of vaccine fridges and child heaters by one-sixth.

There are millet graders, weeding machines, seeding machines, drying machines, and roti rolling machines.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: How is acceptable tech prone to change with AI?

Harish Hande: I see AI as an enabler to hurry up innovation for the poor. I feel it will assist researchers velocity up their seek for alternate options and give you options quicker. The worry that AI would disrupt jobs is a bit misplaced. We have to see AI as an enabler and never as a decision-maker. Use AI successfully, and maybe we received’t go on reinventing the wheel.