City Based NGOs and Start-ups – Headstreams, Pratham Books and Nubesol Tech, Dominate at National Level at the Prestigious NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum 2017
Highlights the proven Innovative prowess of Bengaluru
NASSCOM Foundation, in collaboration with industry leaders Mphasis and Accenture, today announced the winners of the ninth edition of the NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum – a platform that fosters innovative use of technology to create sustained social impact. Arguably, the largest Social Innovation Honours in India, NSIF received over 1300 applications this year out of which, 9 winners were chosen after going through a rigorous two level Jury process in the categories ofPrimary and Secondary Education, Primary Healthcare, Accessibility, Livelihood and Agriculture, Environment and other socially relevant areas.
City based NGOs, Headstreams and Pratham Books were adjudged winners in Mphasis Primary and Secondary Education categorywhile the start-up, Nubesol Technologies Pvt. Ltd. won in the Livelihood and Agriculture category.
The Arivu-Disha digital application developed by Headstreams makes English learning fun for students from Government Schools wherein, students are able to listen to bi-lingual stories and play different games enabling English to come naturally to every child.
StoryWeaver, created by Pratham Books, is India’s first digital, open source repository of multilingual children’s stories. StoryWeaver provides users with asset of tools to help them read, translate, create, download, share and print content for free.
KrishiSuchak is a smartphone-based Android App developed by Nubesol Technologies. It is a simple chat based communication platform between farmers and agriculture experts to exchange information using text messages, photos, voice messages, and videos in English or any local languages. Farmers from any place can ask for help or solutions to their problems through the app. The questions are routed through a series levels before they reach the right expert who then advises farmer in a one on one communication using KrishiSuchak. Farmers can ask questions on pest control, nutrient management, crop care and market intelligence and farmer grievances. Services are currently available in English and Kannada. KrishiSuchak is offered free for all the farmers.
Both Headstreams and Pratham books will receive catalytic grants from Mphasis while all the winners will be provided with support to scale services and industry led mentoring as well.
The complete list of winners included:
| ​​Category | Winner |
| Mphasis Primary and Secondary Education | Headstreams – For enhancing English learning for students from Government Schools through their Arivu-Disha program.
mGuru – For developing affordable English and Mathematics learning mobile applications for students from low-income backgrounds. Pratham Books – For creating StoryWeaver, a free online open source repository of children’s books. |
| Accessibility | BleeTech Innovations Pvt Ltd. – For creating a wearable device, that alerts individuals with hearing impairment about important sounds and activities that they must be vigilant of. |
| Primary Healthcare | Incredible Devices – For developing, an automated Catheter Reprocessing System that monitors and standardizes the process of cleaning catheters, vastly reducing the health and safety risks associated with treatment of cardio vascular diseases. |
| Livelihood and Agriculture | Nubesol Technologies Pvt. Ltd. – For developing KrishiSuchak, an android application that delivers relevant agricultural information to farmers free of cost. |
| Environment | Shelter Associates – For building an end-to-end GIS based solution that maps sanitation infrastructure across slums. |
| Other Social Issues | Grameen Foundation India – For providing mobile banking services and financial education to women borrowers in rural settings. |
| Youth Innovators | Andrews S – For developing PhysioFastHeal, a wearable device that aims to aid the physiotherapy treatment for patients suffering from a stroke or cerebral palsy. |
The jury that selected the winners comprised of many renowned industry stalwarts like Debjani Ghosh, Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group, Managing Director, South Asia, Intel Corporation; Padmaja Ruparel, President, Indian Angel Network; Sanjay Podder, Managing Director and R&D Head- Accenture Labs India; Sara Chamberlain, Director Digital, at BBC Media Action, India; Puneet Bhirani, Executive Vice President – Chief People & Administrative officer, Mphasis; Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Executive Chairman, Founder, 5F World, Chairman, NASSCOM Foundation.
Commenting on the occasion, Puneet Bhirani, Chief People and Administrative Officer, Mphasis, said “Digital technologies and disruptive innovation play a pivotal role in solving developmental issues economically and at scale. In this edition of NSIF, the applications stood out for their innovation quotient, contextual use of relevant technologies, sustainable operational models and high impact potential. I would like to congratulate all the winners and wish them the best in their endeavours to positively transform development outcomesâ€.
Sanjay Podder, Managing Director, Accenture Labs, Bangalore said, “Technology is playing an increasingly critical role in accelerating social transformation and we are committed to support social entrepreneurs in applying emerging technologies for social reform. Accenture Labs is pleased to facilitate this ‘Tech for Good’ initiative, helping to build digitally-enabled innovative solutions to address the most pervasive social concerns such as health, education and gender equality. We congratulate the winners on their achievement and honour their contributions in changing the way our world works and livesâ€
Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman, NASSCOM Foundation said, “India is a country on the verge of change; a change being brought about by a unique amalgamation of technology with high intellect and a will to succeed against all odds and complexities. NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum celebrates this change by honouring its true flag bearers and showing them the way to scalability and greater impact through catalytic grants, mentoring and technology assistance. I would like to congratulate the winners and believe that these solutions can fuel the growth of our country towards solving the problems in Primary and Secondary Education, Accessibility for all, Livelihood and Agriculture, Healthcare, environment and other social issues.”
As India’s leading “Tech for Good†platform, the Forum receives interest from numerous innovators each year from far corners of the country. Through focussed support, the Forum has helped scale some of the most impactful initiatives fostering inclusive development.
