Infosys arm to award innovators in social sector

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Bengaluru, Oct 9 (IANS) Software major’s philanthropic arm Infosys Foundation on Monday said it would award innovations to reward individuals, teams or NGOs developing solutions for the social sector.

“We are committing Rs 1.5 crore this year to reward social innovators whose solutions have the potential to make a difference,” Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty said in a statement here.

Sudha is the wife of the iconic company’s co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy.

“The Aarohan Social Innovation Awards are aimed at nurturing a culture of innovation in the social sector to scale positive change across the country and provide a platform to help the solutions scale,” asserted Sudha.

The awards will be given in six categories spanning healthcare, destitute care, rural development, women’s safety and empowerment, education and sport and sustainability.

“As we look at addressing challenges people face in the country, it’s our endeavour to support individuals and non-government organsations (NGOs) act on their good intentions towards society and help them turn ideas into action,” reiterated Sudha.

The submission process for the first edition of the awards begins on October 15 and lasts till December 31.

“Adults above 18 years and residing in India can submit their entries, describing their work in the form of videos and upload on our website,” pointed out Sudha.

The project for awards must not be a commercial venture but a functioning prototype and not a concept, idea or mock-up.

“A panel of five judges will evaluate and select the winners whose submissions will be assessed on application to real-world problems, innovative use of technology, originality of ideas and ease of use,” added the statement.

The award will also offer winners an opportunity for residential mentorship at IIT Hyderabad up to 12 weeks at its campus to help them develop their solutions and scale them for social impact.

The jury will comprise of IIM-Bangalore professor Trilochan Sastry, Indian toy inventor Arvind Gupta, IIT-Hyderabad’s electrical engineering department faculty GVV Sharma, IIM-Ahmedabad visiting faculty Anil Gupta and Sudha.

Set up in 1996 by the company’s co-founders and management executives with a seed capital for corpus, the FoundationAsupports programmes in healthcare, education and rural development, arts and culture and destitute care.