Look back to look forward

Like most people, I remember and reflect on the massive adjustments that occurred during the outset of the Covid pandemic, such as virtual work, masks, and lockdowns, which altered the way we connect and live and make us enter the so-called “post-COVID world.” But, for me, early 2020 marked another one-of-a-kind event in my life when I returned to my hometown from Bangalore to celebrate Holi with my family (the famous festival of colors). I had no idea that I would not return to Bangalore and all the work would be remote after that. In hindsight, after two years, I can say that I learned a lot from uncertainties during the time, which also led me to shift from India to Germany for my EINST4INE project.

The most important question to me is what you learn from your experiences and situations. As a result of COVID, I was able to question and reflect on some of my most fundamental assumptions about life, work, and everything else over the course of the last two years. During this time, as I was trying to figure out what I should do, I came across the EINST4INE projects, and since I was struggling to find answers to the same questions myself at Bosch, where I was working on products at the intersection of Blockchain, AI, and IoT, I was intrigued.

I decided to apply for the project at the University of Stuttgart, looking at the role of technologies in the emergence of Innovation Ecosystems. I am trying to understand the roots of the topic to create a strong foundation for my work and make an impact at a broader level to tackle the grand challenges that we face today. I am exploring Green Hydrogen and Blockchain technologies as part of my research.

As part of my research, I started my secondment at Enel in Rome to understand the structure and processes of the Innovation ecosystem for opportunities in the long term which often have multiple conflicting goals at economic, environmental, and societal levels. It is necessary to look at the past to learn about the future, and the historic city of Rome inspires me to reflect on its rich history and culture to learn about the future and how to tackle the grand challenges we are facing i.e., sustainability.