Accessibility among 5 areas under focus in 11th edition of NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum

Now in its 11th year, the NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum (NSIF) has attracted well over two thousand unique projects from NGOs, corporates, students and government bodies. What’s in store for the current edition? Read more to find out.

The 11th edition of the NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum (NSIF) has been announced. The NSIF is India’s largest platform to encourage the innovative use of technology and create meaningful social impact.

The program launched in 2008 by the NASSCOM Foundation in partnership with Mphasis, identifies, honours and supports, innovative technology projects, products and solutions that could address critical gaps in key developmental areas and contribute to inclusion in India.

NSIF is inviting entries from a diverse range of social innovators across NGOs, social enterprises and start-ups. The strongest innovations will win grants of Rs 10 lakh each. The areas under focus are financial inclusion, healthcare, environment, education and accessibility.

One winner from each of the above mentioned areas will receive the grant. Winners will also be given a 12-month support-to-scale mentoring by subject matter experts. They will also have access to NASSCOM Foundation’s 2000-innovator strong network of tech for good leaders in the country.

There are various pathfinders who are seeking creative ways to address key developmental issues faced by the country, and it is our focus to encourage their efforts and offer support. Through our association with NASSCOM Foundation, we hope to create social impact at scale and encourage innovations that contribute towards the progress of our society in the long run. – Srikanth Karra, Chief Human Resources Officer, Mphasis

Present at the launch announcement was Ashok Pamidi, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation who said the aim was to support the best possible tech-based innovations that make the lives of people easier.

“We may soon be able to replace braille dots with electrostatic charges allowing the visually impaired to use touch screen smartphones; Artificial Intelligence may soon govern our healthcare systems; IoT may soon be able to help bring efficiencies in our efforts towards environment conservation, machine learning may help provide better education..

Applications for NSIF are open till 15 June, 2019. Once they are, they will go through a three-stage process. The shortlisting will be done by a jury made up of industry leaders. Winners will be announced at the NASSCOM Product Conclave in November 2019.

Watch in Sign Language