NITI Aayog, which, as a part of its flagship Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has introduced the Atal 
Tinkering Laboratories (ATL) initiative in the country, today signed an Statement of Intent (SoI) with Intel India. The SoI includes creation of 10 laboratories, aimed at fostering curiosity, creativity and imagination in young minds; teaching skills such as computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing; and developing a design mindset among students.
The SoI signing ceremony at the NITI Aayog office, was attended by key dignitaries, including Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, Rosalind Hudnell, Vice president – Corporate Affairs at Intel Corporation, and President of the Intel Foundation, as well as Kishore Balaji, Director of Corporate Affairs Group, Intel South Asia.
NITI Aayog and Intel India Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATL) initiative
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The key objective of setting-up these ATLs is to build relevant skill set must among youngsters and to provide access to technology to help create solutions for social impact.
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To make this possible, government think tank NITI Aayog has signed a two-year SoI with Intel India for the creation and management of 10 ATLs. These ATL’s will act as exemplars for the remaining 490. During this time, these laboratories intend to impact 250,000 youth with innovation skills & skills for the future across 500 communities & schools.
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Intel India will:
o Build capacities in mentors, and develop linkages with Maker ecosystem for quality improvement of projects made by youth
Facilitate ideation, design thinking and prototyping workshops through industry experts
Co-lead an innovation festival which reaches out to 500,000 young innovators
NITI Aayog Atal Innovation Mission
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The Mission is an umbrella platform for creating an innovation ecosystem through multiple programs and policies. It promotes world-class innovation hubs, entrepreneurship, start-up businesses and other self-employment activities, particularly in technology driven areas.
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The ATLs are a part of this vision to ‘Cultivate One Million children in India as Neoteric Innovators’, and NITI Aayog aims to set up 500 labs to inspire a do-it-yourself innovation and tinkering culture across schools in India.
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Over a period of five years, USD 15 million will be spent on building and managing 500 ATLs, including fab labs in schools & communities around the country, for children between the ages of 12 to 18 years.
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The goal is to have one million youth build innovation capacity to solve the problems of local community. The 500 labs will be live by March 2017.
Intel India’s Innovation Initiatives for Students
Intel India has been at the forefront of enabling Government and academia improve innovation and develop a sense of tinkering among youth. Towards this, Intel has been driving multiple interventions, such as the Intel® Tech Challenge that provides ideation and maker skills among school students, the set-up of 100 Internet of Things (IoT) centers across universities that promote IoT capacity building, design thinking, prototyping and fabrication, among other projects.
