New Delhi : In a bid to recognise the efforts made by individuals, groups, organisations and corporates in the sphere of social innovation, NASSCOM Foundation announced the winners of one of India’s largest platform devoted to encouraging ‘Technology for good’ – NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum.

In its seventh edition, supported by leading IT companies Mphasis and Genpact this year, this unique platform has grown from recognizing impactful projects to now actively supporting early stage, high impact projects through industry mentorship and catalytic grants.

The grand jury that selected the winners comprised of many renowned industry stalwarts like Rohini Nilekani – Chairperson of the Grand Jury, NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum 2015, FounderChairperson, Arghyam ; Mr. Ganesh Ayyar – CEO, Mphasis ; Ganesh Natarajan – CEO, Zensar and Chairman of NASSCOM Foundation ; Kalpana Morparia -CEO, J.P.Morgan, India ; Mohit Thukral -Genpact Officer and Senior Vice President ; Rama Bijapurkar – A respected expert on India’s Consumer Economy and on business-market strategy ; Rita Soni -Technology for Good expert. Genpact has always been at the forefront of process innovation and thereby is an ideal supporter of NSIF. Commenting on the initiative, Mohit Thukral, Genpact Officer and Senior Vice President said, “There is a very strong connection between technology and social good. Through NSIF, Genpact is trying to encourage innovative solutions to help them scale in terms of both, reach as well as impact.” As a firm believer of technology being a viable solution to the majority of India’s basic social needs like access to education, healthcare, employment opportunities, financial independence and energy, Mphasis has come out in full support of NSIF this year. Commenting on the occasion, Ganesh Ayyar - CEO, Mphasis said, “Our focus on true corporate social responsibility coupled with our brand promise of ‘Unleash the Next’, NSIF forms a perfect fit to our core values and provides for a great platform to identify and support innovations that can really create the India of the future.” Dr. Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman, NASSCOM Foundation said, “Our country today needs to catalyse its growth by creating an eco-system which not only produces entrepreneurs but also drives inclusion. The thought behind NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum is that technology has the ability to bring forth social change by creating this ecosystem and nurturing entrepreneurs. The Forum not only recognizes ideas and projects but also provides them with a platform to collaborate, scale and sustain development. I congratulate all the winners and hope that they will continue to bring about a positive change in India using their innovations.” Earlier known as the NASSCOM Social Innovation Honours, the program instituted by NASSCOM Foundation in 2008 has attracted a huge number of innovative projects from NGOs, corporates, social enterprises, Government departments, students and individuals, year on year. Over the years NASSCOM Foundation has established itself as a harbinger of change, driving technology for good through this program. Going forward too, NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum will keep providing social innovators with not just a platform to showcase their innovations, but also with an opportunity to bring about a social change in our society through effective use of technology for good.

Appendix: Video with further quotes from Rohini Nilekani (Chairperson NSIF Jury, Founder and chairperson, Arghyam), and the NSIF participants.

Award Category : ICT led Social Innovation by a ‘Not for Profit’ organization Vidiyal – Led by Mr K. Kamaraj, VIDIYAL and COL conducted a participatory rural appraisal that indicated a need for improved goatrearing and cowrearing practices. Through this L3F initiative, COL helped VIDIYAL establish a cooperative network amongst various agricultural and veterinary universities in India to provide women with the knowledge and business skills necessary for goatrearing and cowrearing microenterprises. Using multimedia materials in local languages, VIDIYAL trained 300 women to conduct valuechain analysis and trained to develop business proposals for their goatrearing and cowrearing enterprises.