FOR LIVING IN A SUSTAINABLE WORLD

A highly used or abused word today is sustainability. We all are talking, but how much is being understood is an altogether different story. Never before in the history was there so much noise about sustainability. Ironically, never before in the history did the world appear so vulnerable. It seems as if the predictions of many a prophets of doom will come true and the Malthusian Catastrophe may not be an impossibility, if ideas of a loud and large school of thought is heard. Though the world still goes on defying those predictions there is some reason to sit up and prepare. May be, it is this idea that has made many institutions of higher education think of congregations of minds to get views on making a sustainable world through academic seminars. It was at one of those seminars at a fairly reputed institute of Kolkata that the subject Sustainable Innovation for International Business Environment was broached upon recently.  Being a college of commerce the focus of the seminar was definitely on commerce and business, but the fact is that sustainability has a far broader domain than commerce per se. As an invited speaker this columnist could interact with diverse group of thought leaders who were there to dwell upon the idea of sustainable innovation. May be, to achieve sustainability through innovation. Whatever that meant, the one basic issue remains- whether innovation renders sustainability or are the innovations in themselves sustainable. It is neither. If we take a thoughtful look we can conclude that the only thing sustainable in this world is change. So neither innovations can make the world sustainable nor can they themselves remain sustainable. Everything changes and everything returns, like the river as Heraclitus has suggested. His doctrine of change is at the base of sustainability. What was intriguing, however, was that almost all speakers were linking innovation and sustainability to Information technology. But the point is that it is just a tool, and even though we call it a knowledge tool it is largely a business tool used for commercial exploitation. Anyway, what was talked about was how technology, particularly information technology has changed and how it has impacted life. Interestingly, no matter in how many words those so called experts tried to convince that sustainable innovation through technology was the answer to the problems of the world, their arguments appeared hollow except for the fanciful jargons coined everyday by the so called knowledge gurus of the west led by the United States. Lest the point is lost, we need to understand what is sustainable innovation and how can it help in making the world sustainable. There are various levels of innovation that are made in this fast changing environment. The first is at the ideas level where a new concept is conceived. Like the way Kerry Packer changed cricket. The game changed completely after the 70s, the T-20 being a further innovation. The second level is at the product level when adding features, giving new dimensions or ways of usage is done. The pharmaceutical industry is a classic case. The third is at the process level like what Amazon or the likes do. The fourth is the packaging level, the way those low unit priced sachets are sold. But all these increase consumption that leads to unsustainability. So there is need to focus on the fifth level, that is the consumers’ level. Only by judicious consumption can we remain sustainable.