Technology-enabled inclusive innovation: A case from India

India is a country with a population of 1.2 billion and around 400 million poor people remain excluded from the formal economy. India does not offer a social security number for its residents. Rather, there exist variant forms of identification documents. In 2009, the Government of Indian initiated the Aadhaar project to create biometric technology enabled unique identities for Indian residents. In a short 8-year span, the project has made remarkable progress by enrolling more than 600 million people. The objective of this paper is twofold- (i) to review the emerging literature on inclusive innovation and (ii) to examine the case of Aadhaar Project in India from the perspective of inclusive innovation. Findings of the study reveal that the Aadhaar project has the potential to create an ecosystem of inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship, which can be beneficial for developing economies like India.