Emerging markets have generated a lot of interest in recent times with BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China) poised to take over as the world's largest economies in the next 25-50 years. The Indian economy has witnessed rapid growth, averaging over 6% in the last decade. The benefits of economic growth however are restricted to a small portion of the population, and trickle-down is unlikely to happen quickly enough in large economies like India to counter the economic and political consequences of such disparities. The necessary growth of these economies have to be more inclusive and its benefits more diffused through all segments of society, especially the marginalised and the poor. The Centre for Emerging Markets Solutions (CEMS) has been set up as an inter-disciplinary think-tank at the Indian School of Business (ISB) with the explicit mandate to investigate these issues.

CEMS has been set up with the conviction that market-based solutions exist for a large number of the developing world's problems, as long as new products and services are developed, proof-of-concept demonstrated, and capital is made available from a variety of sources. It is also important to note that the socio-economic problems of developing countries are fundamentally interlinked and cannot therefore be addressed in isolation. There are real market opportunities in addressing the problems of developing economies. Thus, CEMS promotes the idea that the next 800 million in India and 4 billion globally be seen not as a burden but as a great opportunity.

Though CEMS has begun its work by focusing on India, its mandate is broader and stretches across all emerging markets. CEMS will act as a lab where solutions to emerging market problems are developed and then ported to other emerging markets.

CEMS takes a systems approach to economic development and focuses on six interrelated foundational elements: Small business and Finance; Affordable Housing and Urbanization; Education; Healthcare; Energy; and Philanthropy. Urbanization enables the efficient and affordable delivery of infrastructural services through scale, scope and agglomeration economies to populations across the economic spectrum. CEMS appreciates the links between education, businesses, and financing on the one hand, and income and employment generation on the other, and promotes the use of innovative solutions in them. CEMS seeks to influence public policy necessary for economic growth by creating an enabling environment for the imaginative use of appropriate technologies and solutions.