Frugal Engineering and Innovation According to Who?

     I think that there is a problem with trying to tie in or tout frugal engineering as a social innovation venture. Basically, equating the change or management of social development as a market transaction puts the power of social innovation in the hands of entities that based are based on making a profit instead of any sort of social redesign. For example, the article "The Importance of Frugal Engineering" touts Tata Motors' Nano as a great invention that will put so many more Indians behind the wheel. This is great if the end goal is for everyone to be driving. There are some great benefits to having a major increase in mobility, but do they outweigh the costs of putting millions more into an unsustainable, fossil-fuel based system, and is there innovation going on or simply a replication of the development process seen in the most developed nations? What makes the Indian market different than what's been done before? I see developments like this as another pipeline of money that flows toward a concentrated core of enterprises and one that perpetuates an adherence to the same set of ideas that has manufactured dramatic and increasing socioeconomic inequalities elsewhere. There seems to be a very mixed bag of solutions to immediate needs in the developing world, many of which are short-sighted.

     There are no doubt some innovations, such as mobile telephony, that have revolutionized the way developing economies do business and the speed at which cultural ideas and norms spread. What I am wary of is how these technologies are used to push social change. How many new technologies or social platforms come out of the countries that need them the most, and are created by those who need them? It might be a cynical view, but I think so much of social innovation that is heralded as a triumph is a means of casting the producer/consumer relationship in a friendlier light. With so many billion potential customers, why wouldn't every major corporation be clamoring to establish early market share?

     The bigger picture that I would like to see addressed by social  innovation and frugal engineering is "how much is enough?" The American standard of living is far beyond unsustainable, yet that seems to be the stereotype of success. Frugal engineering should focus on a sustainable stable-state rather than breeding a dependence on consumption to fuel itself.

Source:
Sehgal, Vikas; Dehoff, Kevin; and Panneer, Ganesh "The Importance of Frugal Engineering." strategy+business. May 25, 2010.