Intel Launches The ‘Innovate For Digital India Challenge’

Intel and the government of India have Launched  Digital Skills For India Program & Announces Innovate For India Challenge

The contest will focus on the creation of products to increase technology adoption in India, to eventually develop a local technology ecosystem. The competition is open to entrepreneurs, innovators, academia, designers, engineers and makers from diverse backgrounds. Participants will be provided with mentoring by industry and Intel experts, technical know-how, and access to product kits and infrastructure, as well as commercialization opportunities. They will also be offered market linkages and access to funds at various stages to implement their ideas.

The contest will focus on innovation in two main 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.

H K Mittal, Member Secretary, National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), said, “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.”

“Innovation is part of Intel’s DNA,” said Debjani Ghosh, MD, Intel South Asia.

“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.”

Intel recently celebrated 50 years of Moore’s Law. It remains Intel’s driving force that will enable an emerging generation of inventors, entrepreneurs and leaders to reimagine the future. Moore’s Law doesn’t just drive technological change; it also creates huge economic value and drives social advancement, said the company. The contest is yet another attempt from Intel 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, CEO, MyGov. “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, Professor 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.”