Digital Access to Scientific Equipment Repository for Research and Innovation: A Study.

The competitive strength of a nation's economy depends upon the availability and access to research infrastructure which includes both hardware (that is, equipment) and software, largely catering to the scientific fraternity in the country. Scientific equipment is a vital element in research infrastructure; its access and availability enables scientists to efficiently carry out research and development. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to recognize the significance of scientific equipment in research and development infrastructure. It is significant to recognize that scientific equipment and research infrastructure are intimately associated with policy frameworks that facilitate and enable procurement, maintenance, and disposal of scientific equipment, and management systems for providing information on accessibility, sharing of equipment, and trained manpower. The present article highlights the creation and operation of a web-based database that catalogues scientific equipment located at various academic and research institutions across the country. Such inventorization of institutional record of scientific equipment is necessary for facilitation of access and resource sharing which will result in optimum utilization of equipment. It is hoped that the findings of the study contained in this article would be of immense use to the government, researchers, and academicians including industry, leading to policy actions, appropriate incentive structures for strengthening and fostering the innovation ecosystem in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]