Frugal Technology Innovation begins with identifying opportunities that arise from adversity. Innovative minds reframe problems and convert them into opportunities.
Frugal Innovation” is defined as the art of overcoming harsh constraints and innovating sustainable products with limited resources. As a concept, it is not new and has been around for at least a decade, largely prevailing in the socio-economic context of developing countries like India, Kenya, Brazil, and China, where we have seen examples of frugal innovation by grassroots entrepreneurs to multinationals across sectors. At the grassroots end, examples include clay refrigerators used to store vegetables in rural areas where the lack of electricity is a constraint to baby warmers designed to help premature babies maintain their body temperature and preserve their lives. At the multinational end, pioneers of frugal innovation include the likes of GE, Siemens and Renault-Nissan, who have built low-cost solutions overcoming the constraints of energy and environmental challenges.