NEW DELHI, Apr 24: Intel India unveiled the Intel and DST “Innovate for Digital India Challenge”, which will focus on the creation of products to increase technology adoption in India that will eventually result in the creation of a local technology ecosystem. It will be open to aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, innovators, academia, designers, engineers and makers from diverse backgrounds. Participants will be provided mentoring by industry stalwarts and Intel experts, assistance in terms of technical know-how, access to product kits and infrastructure, and commercialisation opportunities. They will also be offered market linkages and access to funds at various stages to help make their ideas a reality.
The challenge was designed in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology (DST), with support from the Department for Electronics and Information Technology, MyGov.in and will be managed by IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE). Present at the occasion were HK Mittal, Member Secretary, National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB); Gaurav Dwivedi, CEO, MyGov.in; Rakesh Basant, Chairperson, CIIE, IIM-A; Vikas Jain, Co-Founder, Micromax Informatics and Debjani Ghosh, Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group and Managing Director, Intel South Asia.
In a statement that was read on his behalf, Secretary, DeitY, RS Sharma, said, “We are delighted to see industry leaders like Intel contributing to nation building and joining forces with the government in its journey to transforming India into a knowledge economy. With this challenge, we expect to see breakthrough ideas and ingenious innovations that will solve some of India’s key challenges.”
The challenge aims to encourage the creation of intuitive, easy-to-use solutions that can increase access to critical services imperative for development. Eventually the best ideas will get help for commercialisation leading to the creation of a local technology ecosystem furthering the government’s Make in India vision. The challenge will encourage the application of the principles of frugal innovation and a strong understanding of Indian lifestyles. It will focus on innovation in two broad areas. The first is innovation to create the ideal citizen’s device platform, including biometric sensing capabilities, peripherals using other sensors, intuitive user interface, gesture recognition, multilingual support and voice support. The second area is innovation to deliver eKranti/MyGov applications to accelerate delivery of e-governance services on a mobile platform.
“Innovation always leads the way to finding the most creative solutions to societal challenges. Generating innovation is not the job of the government alone. Therefore it gives me great optimism to have Intel come forward - through Public Private Partnerships - to accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship in India', said HK Mittal.
“Innovation is part of Intel’s DNA,” said Debjani Ghosh. “This challenge will combine Intel’s history of game-changing innovation and world-class technology with the government’s bold Digital India vision and the immense entrepreneurship talent in the country to create a sustainable tech ecosystem that is innovating for India. We are excited to collaborate with DST to launch the Innovate for Digital India Challenge to champion new solutions to make technology more effective in India as a channel to drive real ground-up development. Through this challenge, we aim to bring to market tangible products and solutions that will help make Digital India a reality.”
This is the first time Intel has launched such a challenge in India, having done so in other countries previously.
More than 180 Indian school students have participated in the Intel® International Science and Engineering Fair to date, with 18 Indian winners, who have minor planets named after them. The Intel® Higher Education Program has reached more than 235,000 students and 4,500 faculty members across 550 institutions to date.
The Intel Innovate for Digital India Challenge is an attempt to foster grassroots level innovation that will help bring technology to every household in India.
“The MyGov platform is designed to link government and citizens,” said Gaurav Dwivedi. “We are proud to support this challenge by connecting the government with entrepreneurs and innovators to come forward with solutions made in India, for India.”
Speaking about the role of CIIE-IIMA, Rakesh Basant said, “Incubation centers play a critical role in helping entrepreneurs scale up and are an essential part of the Indian ecosystem to build a digitally empowered country. We are excited to collaborate with the government and Intel to create a platform for young innovators across the nation to showcase their ideas and support them in their journey from ideas to products.”
The first stage of the challenge is the “
Application” stage, which will focus on building awareness about the challenge, collecting ideas from the applicants online, and judging the top 50 entries. The judging and shortlisting to the final 20 entries will be completed in June 2015.
The second stage, from July to September 2015, will be the “
Accelerator Program” stage, rolled out for the top 20 teams in Bengaluru and Pune, with access to grants of Rs.2 lakhs per team. Twenty minimum viable products will be made ready at the end of this stage. At the end of first two months of accelerator program, the top 10 teams will be identified. They will be given access to development grants of Rs.5 lakhs per team.1
The “
Go-To-Market” stage will be held from September to November 2015, where the top 10 teams will showcase their solutions to the experts through prototype days and additional mentorship from design houses. This stage will also include field immersion experience.
In the “
Pilot Launch” phase between October 2015 and January 2016, Intel and IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) will help create market linkages for the top 10 entries by connecting them with appropriate ecosystems and industry partners for productisation and commercialisation.
The Intel and DST Innovate for Digital India Challenge will culminate with the “Investments and Showcase” stage in January 2016. The last stage will have final showcase of products by the top 10 teams, concluding with the announcement of the top three teams and access to a seed fund of Rs.20 lakhs per team.
More information on the Intel and DST Innovate for Digital India Challenge is available at www.intelinnovatefordigitalindia.intel.in
