Notes on tech

Since over a month, I have been reading this book called "The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid", by C. K. Prahlad (Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Corporate Strategy and International Business at the University of Michigan Business School).

The book has a case study on Jaipur Foot (India) that provides a prostethic foot for just $30, instead of the $8000 they charge in the US. The best part is that the prosthetic foot is as good in quality and functionality as those available in the west.

The reason I felt blogging about Jaipur foot, is because this morning I ran across an entry in Paul Kedrosky's blog that points to a Bloomberg article on how India might be on the forefront of another outsourcing boom - surgery. The article states that getting a surgery done is cheaper in India. Here is my take, it might not only be cheaper. It might also be world-class and innovative.

In the case of Jaipur foot, not only do they provide a prosthetic foot for cheap, they even have improvised upon the fundamental design to take care of lifestyle (squatting, sitting cross legged, walking on uneven surfaces etc) of the majority of the amputees in the developing countries. Usually each new patient is outfitted with a custom prostethic is a matter of just three hours. The Jaipur foot camps have been held in over 19 countries.