NITI Aayog join hands with WIPO to develop programs for countries in the global south

NITI Aayog, on Monday, signed a Joint Letter of Intent (JLoI) with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) under its Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) aimed at building programs for innovation, entrepreneurship and intellectual property (IP) for countries in the global south.

“Innovation is India’s strength. This path breaking partnership between AIM and WIPO will take the best of India’s innovation models to countries that are on similar development trajectories, and will enhance understanding and awareness about IPR right from the school-level and unlock the innovation potential of the world as well as foster inclusive and sustainable economic growth,” education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.

The government is of the view that the AIM-WIPO partnership will benefit many nations for whom models such as Atal Tinkering Labs and Atal Innovation Centres are needed to build their innovation ecosystems, the Aayog said in a statement issued on Monday.


“The experience of the two sides coming together helps us make these models significantly more holistic as now innovation and entrepreneurship meets Intellectual Property (IP) in a serious way,” Chintan Vaishnav, mission director, AIM said.

As one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations, WIPO is the nodal institution that releases the Global Innovation Index (GII) annually. As per the GII 2023 report, India had retained the 40th position of 132 economies featured in the GII ranking.

As per WIPO Report 2022, India has experienced sixth straight year of growth in patent filing, posting the highest growth of 31.6% globally. Importantly, a substantial increase in resident filings was the main driver of growth overall in 2022.

Atal Innovation Mission is a flagship initiative by the NITI Aayog to create a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across India.