22-Oct-2019: Data Security Council launches national repository ‘TechSagar'
Data Security Council of India (DSCI), in partnership with the National Cyber Security Coordinator’s office, unveiled a platform that will enlist businesses and research entities working across 25 areas such as internet of things, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cyber security, etc. which could enable targeted search of India’s capabilities across technologies.
Losses due to cybercrime globally is 2.5 per cent of GDP. Our aspirations of growing to $5 trillion economy by 2025 are being seriously threatened by the losses due to cybercrimes. In order to combat the growing threat from cybercrime, there is an urgent need to collaborate and develop Cyber Technology capabilities in India.
TechSagar repository will facilitate new opportunities for businesses and academia to collaborate, connect and innovate in future. The platform will provide actionable insights about capabilities of various companies and startups, academia and research. It will allow targeted search, granular navigation and drilldown methods using more than 3,000 niche capabilities. The repository currently features over 4,000 entities.
TechSagar will be frequently updated with new entities and information to maintain its relevancy and usefulness. Cyber technology capabilities have become central to our National strategic outlook and there was an urgent need for developing TechSagar. Start-ups, enterprises, academia, researchers, and R&D institutes in the country need to synergise their efforts and work in tandem to make India a Technology leader.
1-Oct-2019: AIM, NITI Aayog’s Atal Tinkering Labs and UNICEF India launches ‘The Gandhian Challenge’
On the 150th birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, AIM, NITI Aayog’s Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and UNICEF India, including Generation Unlimited, have launched ‘The Gandhian Challenge’. This innovation challenge provides a platform for every child across India to ideate innovative solutions for a sustainable India of their dreams, using Gandhi’s principles.
The winners of The Gandhian Challenge will be awarded in New Delhi by NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission and UNICEF on the occasion of Children’s Day in November. The contest – open for every child in India from 2 October to 20 October – also celebrates 70 years of partnership between Government of India and UNICEF India to enable Every Right for Every Child.
Through this partnership, AIM and UNICEF recognize every child’s ability and right to voice their dreams for a world of their choice, following Gandhi's principles. Our aim is to support them to thrive as young innovators and entrepreneurs.
The problem statement for the Gandhian Challenge is: “Share your innovative solutions/ideas to create a futuristic and sustainable world of your dreams, following Gandhi's principles.”
Ideas and solutions to the Gandhian Challenge may be expressed through broad categories: Art & Innovation (Letters, poems, painting, videos and photos, among others) and Science, Technology & Innovation (Robotics, IoT, sensors and 3D printers, among others).
All applications must be submitted on the challenge page on https://innovate.mygov.in/the-gandhian-challenge/ , Government of India’s citizen engagement portal. All applications must have an ATL code. Children in schools without an ATL can obtain the ATL code by visiting or calling the nearest ATL school. The list of nearest ATL schools in every district can also be accessed on the challenge page mentioned above.
“Participation is a core right of every child and enabling their meaningful participation is of critical importance,” said Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque, Representative, UNICEF India. “Challenges like this help us understand children's point of view with a willing to re-examine our own opinions and attitudes, and envisage solutions through a child-rights lens.”
The most innovative, sustainable solutions/ideas will be showcased as a symbol of a larger movement by children taking root in every district of India. Children across India can access to more than 8000 Atal Tinkering Labs across all districts to support their innovative ideas.
In ATLs, students of class 6th to 12th acquire a problem-solving attitude, develop innovative solutions leveraging technologies like 3D printers, robotics, miniaturised electronics, IOT and programming and DIY kits, with support from teachers and mentors.
About AIM: AIM is the Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country. AIM’s objective is to develop new programmes and policies for fostering innovation in different sectors of the economy, provide platform and collaboration opportunities for different stakeholders, create awareness and create an umbrella structure to oversee innovation ecosystem of the country.
Six major initiatives of AIM:
- Atal Tinkering Labs-Creating problem-solving mindset across schools in India.
- Atal Incubation Centers-Fostering world class start-ups and adding a new dimension to the incubator model.
- Atal New India Challenges-Fostering product innovations and aligning them to the needs of various sectors/ministries.
- Mentor India Campaign- A national Mentor network in collaboration with public sector, corporates and institutions, to support all the initiatives of the mission.
- Atal Community Innovation Center- To stimulate community centric innovation and ideas in the unserved /underserved regions of the country including Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
- ARISE-To stimulate innovation and research in the MSME industry.
About UNICEF India and Generation Unlimited: UNICEF, an integral part of the United Nations, works with governments, communities, civil society organizations, the private sector, and other partners worldwide to advance children’s rights, and is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Generation Unlimited is a new UNICEF-led global partnership that aims to ensure that every young person age 10-24 is in some form of school, learning, training, self-employment, or age-appropriate employment by 2030. It aims to co-create and scale up proven solutions related to secondary age-education, skills for learning, employability and decent work, and empowerment, with a focus on girls.
22-Dec-2021: Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog launches Vernacular Innovation Program (VIP) to Empower Innovators, Entrepreneurs in 22 Mother Tongues
With an ambition to empower innovators and entrepreneurs across the country, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog has come up with a first of its kind Vernacular Innovation Program (VIP), which will enable innovators and entrepreneurs in India to have access to the innovation ecosystem in 22 scheduled languages by the Government of India.
To build the necessary capacity for the VIP, AIM has identified and will be training a Vernacular Task Force (VTF) in each of the 22 scheduled languages. Each task force comprises of vernacular language teachers, subject experts, technical writers, and the leadership of regional Atal Incubation Centers (AICs).
To get the program rolling, AIM NITI Aayog is launching a train-the-trainer program where it will collaborate with the Design Department of IIT Delhi to coach the VTF in design thinking and entrepreneurship and the adaptation of these subjects in the 22 languages and cultures. Furthermore, industry mentors have joined hands to lend design thinking expertise, and CSR sponsors have agreed to generously support the program. Upon training the task force over the period of December 2021 to April 2022, the ecosystem will be opened to vernacular innovators.
Launching the VIP, Vice Chairman NITI Aayog Dr. Rajiv Kumar said, India derives its identity from the diverse social and cultural fabric with regional languages being one of the most prominent cultural assets.
“Vernacular Innovation Program strengthens the design and innovation capabilities of our communities, thereby assisting local entrepreneurs, artisans and innovators to seamlessly assimilate the knowledge cum technical materials that AIM will develop. This would assist India in building a strong local network of design experts and innovation practitioners,” he said.
Speaking during the launch, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog said, the program will be a stepping stone in the journey of the Indian innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem which will cement the cognitive and design thinking attitude in young and aspiring minds.
“This one of its kind initiative by Atal Innovation Mission, will help in overcoming the barriers of language and empower innovators in the farthest areas of the country,” He said.
VIP is an initiative to lower the language barrier in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship such that will systematically decouple creative expressions and languages of transaction said Dr. Chintan Vaishnav Mission Director AIM, NITI Aayog at the launch event of the program.
Dr Chintan further said, the struggle of not being able to expose one's idea or innovation to the world is quite important to address, especially in India with its great diversity of languages. The VIP has a national audience owing to the magnitude of the problem that vernacular innovators face.
Quoting the 2011 census, he said only 10.4% of Indians speak English, most as their second, third, or fourth language. Not surprisingly, only 0.02% of Indians spoke English as their first language. Ten years later these numbers are not likely to be very different. “Why shouldn’t we then create equal opportunity for the vernacular innovators who represent the staggering 90% of our population. After all, we know for sure that this excluded population, no matter which Indian language they speak, is at least as creative as the rest,” he stressed.
India may be the first nation in the world to launch such an initiative where an innovation ecosystem catering to 22 languages plus English is being built. By providing access to learning in one’s language and culture, AIM looks forward to enriching the local, regional, national and global innovation pipelines.