NASSCOM Foundation in collaboration with Mphasis has announced the launch of the ninth edition of the NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum, a platform that fosters innovative use of technology to create sustained social impact. The program instituted since 2008, selects, awards and support to scale innovative ICT based projects, including products and solutions that has the potential to address critical gaps in key developmental areas and thus contribute to inclusive growth.
Building on its strength from past many year’s successes and learnings, the Forum is confident of receiving valuable entries this year as well, from a diverse mix of social innovators including NGOs, Social Enterprises, For-profit Enterprises and Individuals.
With support from Mphasis, the Forum will award catalytic grants to the tune of Rs. 60 Lakhs to scalable innovations with a potential to create large scale impact in Primary and Secondary Education in India.
With support from Accenture Labs, the Forum will provide technology development and advisory support to select NGOs and social innovations.
The projects will also be provided with support to scale services and industry led mentoring. The focus areas that Forum will accept applications are Education, Primary Healthcare, Accessibility, Livelihood and Agriculture, Environment and other socially relevant areas. With an aim to drive CSR capital to grow and scale social innovative programs, the forum will support to help scale innovative solutions in these themes that are aligned with the Government’s development priorities for inclusive development and empowerment of the underserved and the poor.
Commenting on the occasion, Puneet Bhirani, Chief People and Administrative Officer, Mphasis, said “Technology when integrated with education has the potential to catalyse the impact at a significant level. It brings efficiency, productivity and scale that can positively affect educational outcomes for a large underserved section of the society. We are hopeful that, this year too, NSIF will attract entries from innovative social enterprises which will have the vision to impact and scale and thus contribute to inclusive development of India”.
“Accenture is honoured and excited to be a part of this initiative,” said Sanjay Podder, Managing Director, Accenture Labs, Bangalore; “Our Accenture Labs are committed to driving social transformation through our Tech4Good programs. Applying our cutting-edge technology and research, our technologists are dedicated to creating innovation solutions to support social entrepreneurs. We look forward to working with NASSCOM Foundation to solve critical social problems utilizing the power of emerging technologies at-scale.”
Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Chair, NASSCOM Foundation said, “NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum, steps into its 9th edition with a clear focus towards building an Inclusive India by using technology solutions for social good. As one of India’s largest social innovation platforms, this year, NSIF will move a step forward and not just give grants and mentorship, but also provide end-to-end technology solution to a chosen social innovation and technology advisory to two others. We are glad to continue our partnership with Mphasis and find a new partner in Accenture to help us in our journey to solve the hardest of the social challenges from across the country.”
NSIF has supported many innovative initiatives over the years and helped enhance developmental impact in India. In The last edition, three impactful projects received grants and a cohort of six projects is undergoing mentoring support through the Forum.
Applications for NSIF 2017 will remain open till 30September, 2016.
