Technology Trends Driving Innovation

Intro

Meet Your Facilitator

Meet Your Facilitator - Bala Ramadurai

Entrepreneur, Professor, Author and Innovation Coach

• Marie Curie Research Fellow at Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
• PhD from Arizona State University, USA (Materials)
• BTech from IIT Madras, India (Metallurgy)

Prof. Bala Ramadurai - Professor

• IIT Madras, Chennai, India
• Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City, Mexico
• Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune, India

Bala Ramadurai - Author

Bala Ramadurai - Innovation Coach

Bala Ramadurai - Entrepreneur

Spirelia

Innovate with Confidence

• The Invention OS
  

  

  AI Agent	Function	Core Benefit
  Uttishta AI	What to Invent	Strategic IP & market intelligence
  Utkarsha AI	Where to Invest	Future forecaster of technologies and strategic investment analysis.
  Karmaja AI	How to Innovate	Guided, structured workflow for solution generation.
  Narasimha AI	How to Protect	Efficient capture of invention details.

Courses Taught

Design Thinking

Human Centred Design of products and services

Innovate Like a Boss

Systematic Innovation using methodologies like TRIZ, Brainstorming

Technology Forecasting

Love to keep in touch

https://balaramadurai.net/about/

bala@balaramadurai.net

http://in.linkedin.com/in/balaramadurai

My LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/balaramadurai/

Short Intro of Yourself

• First Name
• Your area of work
• One technology challenge you're currently facing
• Your favorite innovation from the last decade

What is Innovation?

A Story

What Was Intended and What Went Wrong?

The Two Voices

• Voice of the Customer was clearly identified
• But Voice of the Product blew him off-track

When Both Voices Align

• We hear the voice of the customer
• We also hear the voice of the product
• When they meet = Innovation!

But How Do We Know?

• How do we know when the voice of product will meet the voice of the customer?
• When you know what these voices of products are
• These are the Trends of Innovation

Can be applied to services as well

The 8 Laws of Technology Evolution

Background

Discovered by Genrich Altshuller, pioneer in the field of TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving)

Based on analysis of over 2.5 million patents

The 8 Trends

1. Law of increasing ideality
2. Law of increasing dynamism
3. Law of transition to super system
4. Law of transition from macro to micro
5. Law of shortening of energy flow paths
6. Law of completeness
7. Law of harmonizing of rhythm
8. Law of uneven development of parts of a system

Source - Darrell Mann, TRIZ Journal

1

Law of Increasing Ideality

The Concept

Cost is TIMES

TIMES — The 5 Resources That Define Cost

Cost = T + I + M + E + S

Ideality increases when functions rise and TIMES costs fall

Defense Example: Evolution of Mine Clearance — Saving Lives

Ideality ▲ — T↓ S↓ E↓ at every generation, while lives saved ▲

Try applying this trend

• Underwater mine countermeasures
• NBC protection & casualty evacuation
• Soldier survival & disaster response

Activity 1: Ideality Analysis

1. Pick a defense technology you work with
2. Identify its key functions
3. List the resources it consumes (TIMES)
4. How can you increase functions while reducing resources?
5. Write down 3 ideas

Time remaining:

2

Law of Increasing Dynamism

The Concept

Increase the number of hinges or moving parts in the system

Make rigid systems flexible

Defense Example: Evolution of Early Warning — Protecting Airspace & Lives

Dynamism ▲ — More flexible = more lives protected from unseen threats

Try applying this trend

• Body armour & ballistic protection
• Short-range air defense systems
• Camouflage & concealment systems

Activity 2: Adding Dynamism

1. Think of a rigid system in your domain
2. Where can you add "hinges" or increase flexibility?
3. What degrees of freedom can be added?
4. Sketch your concept

Time remaining:

3

Law of Transition to Supersystem

The Concept

The function that the product carries out is absorbed into the "supersystem"

Integration and convergence

Search Engine

Defense Example: Evolution of Battlefield Casualty Response

⌚ Wearable → 🧠 AI triage → 🚁 Auto-medevac → 🏥 Hospital ready

Supersystem ▲ — Life-saving functions merge into one seamless shield

Try applying this trend

• Battlefield management & command-control
• Airborne surveillance & reconnaissance
• Electro-optical systems & drone detection

Activity 3: Supersystem Thinking

1. Identify a standalone system in your work
2. What is its supersystem?
3. How can functions be absorbed by the supersystem?
4. What new capabilities emerge from integration?

Time remaining:

Synthesis: All 8 Trends

The Complete Picture

1. Law of increasing ideality
2. Law of increasing dynamism
3. Law of transition to super system
4. Law of transition from macro to micro
5. Law of shortening of energy flow paths
6. Law of completeness
7. Law of harmonizing of rhythm
8. Law of uneven development of parts of a system

Using Trends for Forecasting

• Analyze current state
• Apply trend patterns
• Predict future evolution
• Identify opportunities for innovation

When Product Meets Customer

The Love Story

In Defense Context

• Product = Defense technology/capability
• Customer = Armed forces, nation's security
• Innovation = Meeting evolving threats effectively

Now What?

① Apply

• Use these trends in your current projects
• Analyze existing systems
• Forecast future developments

② Learn More

• Study TRIZ methodology
• Explore technology forecasting

③ Teach Others

• Share with your team
• Conduct internal workshops
• Or invite me 😄
• Build innovation culture

Resources

1. Karmic Design Thinking by Dr. Bala Ramadurai
2. And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared, by G. Altshuller
3. Trends of Evolution of Technical Systems, by G. Altshuller
4. TRIZ Journal
5. Hands-On Systematic Innovation by Darrell Mann

Advanced Topics

• Technology S-curves
• Patent analysis for trend identification
• Competitive technology intelligence

Stay Connected

Love to keep in touch

https://balaramadurai.net/about/

bala@balaramadurai.net

http://in.linkedin.com/in/balaramadurai

My LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/balaramadurai/

Thank You

2026-DRDO-IITB

Selfie Time!