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Innofest in Jaipur.

Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable.
William Pollard

And that is the change that we are looking driving as part of Innofest. Innofest recently held as part of Rajasthan IT Day in Jaipur saw 3000 people visiting about 15 stalls including the Honourable Chief Minister of Rajasthan Sri.Vasundara Raje.
Innofest1-jaipur

As part of this we had some grassroot level innovations on display including Makersbox setting up a pop-up Makerspace. A mini makers area…

 

Gesture Hardware workshop by Balaji Lakshmanan who runs imakerobots saw very disciplined younsters taking their seats in time for the sessions with their laptops ready to code..His self balancing minibot created a riot running around and making friends with other robots.

Some of them got to build their first robots… using just the following, Styrofoam Cup, a Motor, A Fan, Some Wires, and a bit of Jugaad, spreading the message that everyone can innovate and build.

Workshop on  Open Source Hardware 101 – What is an Arduino, What is a Raspberry Pi – how do they work, can I build something, let’s build a sensor that reacts to sound, to light, to plays music.

And workshops on

3d Printing 101  – What is 3D Printing, what can 3D Printing do – can I 3d Print, what all can I make with it. Experience 3D Printing, and take home your first 3D Printed accessory

Must say were very well received with people, students especially queuing up to take part and waiting patiently for the classes to begin.

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3d printers built by Aha3d printers their own prototype was on display and gliders, on road vehicles, drones that were not flying but so that people can see and experience the same.

We have heard of vending machines which dispenses cola, but ever heard or seen of vending machines that can dispense papers and files which is very much needed for college students. Ankit and his band of college students did just that and hoping refining the product going forward.

Jaipur Belt which supports the back for long working hours of construction workers was also on display. Jewelry that can keep the track your loved ones safe was also on display. Content Kiosk that can be displayed offline especially in areas with no internet and chairs that can be put together by even a child was on display.

Innofest will come to a city near you.. If you are running a makerspace, or built an innovative product or know of someone who has built an innovative product.

Reach out to me at

@inno_fest

@parthibhasastry

Or just apply at

http://innofest.incubatehub.com/#incubator

Follow our community on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/Innofest.in/

 

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India innovated and celebrated @Inno_fest #IndiaCanInnovate

With whatever little humility we can garner, we created a platform for showcasing, inspiring, and celebrating innovation in India – in less than 27 days!!

20931485302_e541c3daaf_bWith the awesome support from our partners, sponsors, believers, dreamers, creators, speakers, patrons, volunteers and each and every one who was a part of InnoFest – we rocked it J

You asked us – Why the focus on Innovation?

Well, the trigger for this innovating idea was a little report that caught our eye. Our entrepreneurship deficit has grown while our innovation deficit is slipping. If we don’t build our innovation capability, two things will happen. First, we will not be able to solve the myriad problems that are specific to India. Second, our current national winners like Flipkart and Ola might lose out to their global competitors over time.

And how do we address the Innovation deficit?

There is no shortage of imagination and creativity in India. We need to build our skills where this imagination and creativity is applied to generate unique solutions to local problems. To give innovation scale – to make it grow; to inspire young minds to innovate…

Sharad Sharma, Co-Founder of iSPIRT and Co-Convenor of Innofest, said that “If companies can innovate and transform their functioning and performance radically, why can’t countries? The idea of Innofest is to distil the best ideas in enterprise and inspire individuals, corporates and Government organizations to take innovation to the common man. We are delighted that the Government has stepped in, in a big way to enable this transformation and this cooperation between public bodies and private enterprises will lay the foundation for radical transformation in the country.”

And… we were pleasantly shocked (that is not a phrase, I know :).

From robots and cars to 3D chocolates: we saw it all !!! (Click here for the complete array of displays that were a part of innovation).

Innofest was a phenomenal success. We reached the message via TV (CNBC Awaaz), RadioCity, Hoardings, and most importantly social media to over half a million individuals across the country. Over 1200 participants attended Innofest and immersed themselves into activities like maker-space, experience zone, young innovator’s zone, etc. The team curated and showcased over 75+ innovations from across India that ranged from an 11-year boy who had developed a mobile charger to Team Indus who are building a spacecraft that will go to the moon. The main session with our patrons – Nandan Nilekani, Mohandas Pai, Jayant Sinha, and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw was a huge hit with some of the most inspiring speeches one could experience(Videos shared below). Of course, Minister Babul Supriyo’s singing and dancing was just the finale that Innofest deserved.

A team of 10 committed and highly enthused volunteers – spread across 5 Indian cities – worked remotely and delivered Innofest 2015. And how…

The craziness of schedules, deadlines, and record turn-around times was exhausting yet exhilarating to the core… From media, sponsorships and venue discussions to the unlikely innovations that we experienced – it was indeed an unforgettable experience for each one of us.

And not surprisingly, we have been flooded with requests from all parts of the country – from individuals/companies/cities, offering to host the next Innofest – and it feels good and satisfying …

20948742491_2e3fe98f8e_bWhile we go about thinking what to do – this is a call for volunteers for our next. We anticipate it to only get bigger and better and we will need all the help that we can… because we cannot create this magic without YOU.

Do let us know how you can help us. Think.Innovate.

#IndiaCanInnovate.

Just let us know 🙂

Guest Post contributed by Ritika Singh, Proud Volunteer for Innofest

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As somebody rightly said “it was all a notion but hey, its innovation now”

What’s more, when you give this notion a Woodstock fever! That would be Innofest’2015. My participation was courtesy iSPIRT and Avinash, with whom I was interacting for my startup. One thing lead to another, and like a typical startup guy, I asked for a discount. Voila, got a free pass.

So, the day was 22nd August, a Saturday; excitement was there in the air, I am still at home but the thought of meeting fellow entrepreneurs along with rockstars of the startup world was good enough a reason to put that extra zeal on my steps.

And then, I reached the Venue – IISc, one of the best campuses to have a Woodstock for Innovation. One could get a glimpse of what’s- in-store – we see a band tuning-up their instruments center stage; the batmobile; the crew in their black T-shirts going about giving a final touch to the venue. But the black T-shirts were for real and they were the volunteers who had put the InnoFest event together and I was told – in less than 27 days!!. True startup spirit this J

The registration was smooth – go to the designated counter, pick your tag, go online.

Yes, we were provided with wifi, and it helped a lot of participants, especially students. And there were quite a lot of them who had traveled from Pune, Hyderabad and New Delhi just to attend the event. The sheer number of youngsters that participated showed the startup spirit that the country is experiencing. I interacted with few of them; they were 2nd year, 3rd year students. Gone are the days when they were worried about only grades; now they are worried about the next big thing and identify themselves as the ones who can lead it.

Once inside, there were booths showcasing various products, I was particularly interested in hearing the discussions by, as I mentioned “rockstars” of the ecosystem, and that was happening in Hall C. And I was hanging around the venue. But then, you can’t keep your curiosity down when you see an exhibition area and some strange things hanging from the trees. The exhibition area was showcasing some of the best products that the young minds had developed. I didn’t venture inside all the arenas but it was jam packed, felt like I was in a ‘mela’ where the kids are intrigued by everything that they see but here it was students and grownups showing the same spirit and instead of the usual ‘throw the ring,’ it was all about technology. The discussions were very informative and in a different format. It was packed; every inch of the hall was occupied so much so, that the black T-shirts had to become bouncers to get the speakers to the podium. The discussion varied from – where are the cut-copy-paste ventures heading to the scope of product manufacturing in India. Manufacturing would be the next thing that India will experience, fuelled by product innovation. Be it making 60k chapatis in one hour, i.e., a 1000 chapatis a minute by Akshaya Patra or 3D printing of a knee joint. Again as Mr. Shridhar Venkat, CEO- Akshaya Patra, said, it started with a jugaad but now it has become an invention. And Mr. Kunal Shah, CEO-Freecharge, reaffirmed “ a jugaad/ hack becomes an innovation when it works”. Think audacious but be smart.

Through the afternoon, there were different DIY camps around the venue and workshops on crowd funding etc.. Once outside the Hall C, I thought I will explore a little, that’s when I heard someone strumming the guitar and singing the blues. I went in the direction of the sound only to discover that I can have my lunch and listen to him. Perfect. And if you are not into live music there was a Dj mixing up a deep house. Just when I was thinking ‘all in all a good day’, there were people milling about the main auditorium and realized it’s not yet over, the heavy weights who started the startup revolution and put India on the world map were yet to address. Mr. Jayant Sinha, Prof. Anurag Kumar, Mr. Nandan Nilakani, Mr. Mohan Das Pai, Mr. Sharad Sharma, Smt. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Dr. Kshatrapati Shivaji, and Mr. Babul Supriyo. And I expected serious power talk by these gurus, instead it was a combination of power talk, motivation, humor and out right Woodstock when Mr. Babul Supriyo took the auditorium by storm with his songs combining it with witty one liners. One never expected the heavy weights to let their hair down and take a jibe on one another, be it, ‘I was asked to come for one hour a month back to discuss something and I am still here’ or ‘Ministry will work on subsidy for the entrepreneur ecosystem but you will become rich’ or Mr. Babul Supriyo asking Mr. Jayant Sinha ‘are you texting the center that Babul Supriyo is going to sing, again’ !!

Disruption – what they did and that is what innovation is all about.

It was clear from the interactions, events and speakers that India is experiencing a mammoth change in the field of technology innovation and everybody – the policy makers or rock star entrepreneurs or the heavy weights – all of them are supporting it in whichever way they could. Innofest’2015 was one such event to bring all the stakeholders on one platform and celebrate a notion that will become innovation tomorrow.

It was one the best initiatives that I had attended; the only thing that I missed was tasting the ‘3D printed chocolates.’

There’s always a next time J

Guest Post by Rajesh K, ProgrammedV

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Innovation @ Innofest 2015

Here is small write-ups of stalls I visited and could relate better with innovations at stalls@Innofest. Wish that innovation stalls were open for viewing by public,children and youngsters. Captured innovations to share and motivate readers to dream.

Let me start with TeamIndus, prototype design and aerial vehicle. Young guys have been able to innovated on large scale and serve as motivation for all to dream big and achieve.They stand to demonstrate that fundamental innovation can happen in India too.

Kisan Raja , powerAdapter to enable farmers to swtich on motor pumps in the field from his home and save the effort to walk across a long distance.

Visited stalls of 3D printers PRAMAAN and PRAMAAN-Mini. Learnt  what items can be made with 3D printers and raw materials used to create items like keychain, table tops, flower pots. Wish the innovators work to enable audience to relate to product easily, something like create some pre-designed items, make items and share with audience to take home(for charge). Connected auidience has ability to share with more people.

vSkin is a wearable glove to creates a sense of touch on the users’ fingers in a virtual setting.  One can feel the hand movements while working with a digital piano or use glove as part of video conferencing calls to perform remote handshake. The innovators are currently in age group of 19 to 22 years.

Tesseract is a Virtual Reality headset. The prototype headset works with content created or stored on a laptop; new ones work with mobile phones also. Wish Tesseract becomes complimentary item with XBox for customers to think about. They have sourced optics from China, acrylic lens from India and manudactured in China.

RideLogik helps with charging base for the smartphone. Wish they provide more value propositions around the vehicle efficiency and performance. Though they can integrate with any vehicle that runs based on electronic control unit, their focus is 2-Wheelers. They need to develop channels to reach existing 2-wheeler owners.

Found innovation of insulin pen to enable diabetes patients to take care of their health better more connected at ground level.The innovator has patent filed In India.
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Shrishti  has displayed multiple innovative items. Though I am not covering all of them, I would like to cover the chair they have made using old newspaper. This chair can be used for outdoor purpose too and would not spoil in rain.  A means for paperwallas to become furniture makers? Here is my photo on the chair to say that chair was stable with my body weight.
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Plugzee is device to turn any audio speaker system into a Bluetooth speaker. The device plugs into the 3.5 mm audio jack of speaker & lets you stream music wirelessly by Bluetooth pairing with a smartphone. They have leveraged crowsourcing to transform innovation to reality. Already started to ship last week- that is nice.

For more innovative items present in the stall, please check Madan article Passion and policy – startups and ministers at InnoFest 2015!

Guest Post contributed by Srinivasan

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Promote innovation and entrepreneurship to achieve sustainable economic growth

We are at a profound moment in India’s history. We have a young and energetic workforce, a robust macroeconomy and a strong leadership at the Centre. This is our chance to power India forward. A key aspect for achieving sustainable economic growth and providing jobs to our youth is to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. We need to do more to enable our young people to think creatively, create innovative solutions, and take them to market and achieve global scale.

The government is committed to creating a supportive environment for innovators and entrepreneurs. Major initiatives such as smart cities, direct benefits transfer and ‘Digital India’ will create a large, domestic market for innovative products and services. Additionally, streamlined policies, new infrastructure and an overall thrust on fast-tracking innovative ideas through public, private and public-private initiatives will see more innovations hitting the market.

Indians are known for their ingenuity. Our creative thinking, when applied to problem-solving using meagre and locally available resources, Jugaad, is universally recognised.

The number of innovations highlighted by the National Innovation Foundation are an eye-opener to the innovative thinking that Indians bring to play while solving problems. Anumber of these innovations are centred on addressing issues in rural India, which can tremendously impact our economy and society.

Over 750 MNCs have their R&D centres in India. Many of these are creating products and solutions for global markets. India is where the zero, cataract and plastic surgery, high quality crucible steel, buttons, ink, and rulers were invented. So, despite such a rich history, why is India today not Innovation Nation?

Our innovations have largely been about affordability and designing solutions for local problems by making incremental changes in existing products and solutions. We have focused on process and price, not enough on product innovation. Examples of innovation abound: cheaper and faster drug discoveries; faster and better ways of creating software to make air travel safer; modifying existing farm tractors as a rural transportation solution; lowering telecom prices; organising over 3.6 million small milk producers in a cooperative movement and creating a global dairy brand; fighting hunger and malnutrition by using technology and forging strategic partnerships; Mumbai’s ‘dabbawalas’ delivering lakhs of meals to people with a home-grown, un-automated process with precision; and more.

But this innovation is often not apparent to the world, because it is usually localised and not scaled up. We need to encourage innovators to scale up their solutions to global levels, particularly in the developed world. The government’s new policies and programmes are designed to make it easier for innovators to find larger markets for their solutions and products.

Today, we need a two-pronged approach: one, encouraging and enabling more product innovation; two, facilitating innovators to scale up their solutions for commercial success or social good. To that end, we require a grassroots-driven movement that will celebrate and inspire entrepreneurship.

Many ecosystem players, such as the Indian Software Product Industry Roundtable (iSPIRT), the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), the department of science and technology (DST), the tech startup accelerator TLabs, the Indian Institute of Science, the 10,000 Startups initiative of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), Paytm, Practo and the Anita Borg Institute, are coming together in Bengaluru on August 22 at Innofest to jumpstart this process.

In tandem with the just-announced ‘Start Up India, Stand up India’, the India Aspiration Fund and the Atal Innovation Mission are encouraging startups like never before.

Guest Post by Sh. Jayant Sinha, Union minister of State for Finance. This article was first published in ET

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India Inc’s Innovators Are Setting The Stage For The Ecosystem

Steve Jobs, the late co-founder of Apple Inc and one of the greatest innovator from the tech world, believed that innovation was the only way to win, and by no means did he just see innovation in making things more complex. An advocate of simplicity, he also reiterated, “Simple can be harder than complex; you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.” That’s why we, at GHV, believe “Innovation is not just doing something new. Sometimes it means pushing the existing more powerfully and elegantly.”

Innovation or doing things differently is something that has set the momentum of the “startup scene” in India. It is because of thinking differently, the “old wine in a new bottle” syndrome that has revamped and fuelled the success of top startups in the country today. Innovation is all about bringing something new and exciting to the customer. Given the cutthroat competition in the market today, innovative products and ideas are the key to differentiating yourself from others in the race.

Successful businesses often anticipate future trends and develop an idea, product or service that allows them to meet this future demand rapidly and effectively. It is not just about fulfilling the pain points of the consumers, but also being able to preempt the future needs of the consumers before they even feel them. In essence, predicting and fulfilling a future void and working on its solution in the present, staying ahead of the curve. Innovation can help you stay ahead of your competition as markets, technologies or trends shift, thereby giving you a definite edge.

This year, India has slipped 10 places in the Global Innovation Index to a disappointing 76th position. Imagine what we can accomplish as a nation if more people were to focus on innovation. We can easily transition to become a nation of job creators than job seekers.

Renowned global brands like 3M, GE, Lego, Nestlé, Pepsi and Starbucks are all from different industries, but have been constantly innovating their products. These companies have successfully created and supported an internal innovation capability that drives new products into the marketplace year after year with remarkable success. In fact, the very reason behind their success is that they made innovation a critical capability within their organisations. These companies recognised innovation as a key driver for success by enhancing the value that the business was delivering to customers.

With Indians like Nikesh Arora and Sundar Pichai, leading the heavy weight ‘innovating’ companies like SoftBank and Google, we are looking at a complete change in the way India and Indians are perceived globally; whether it is Indra Nooyi, Satya Nadella, Ajay Banga or Shantanu Narayen.

Innovation helps large companies survive challenges. According to Clayton Christensen, disruptive innovation is the key to future success in business. For companies to become market leaders and retain that position, they have no choice but to innovate and disrupt an existing technology or market by recognising opportunities.

For example, Patym had revolutionised mobile commerce in India. Earlier, people were wary of storing their debit or credit card information online. The company created a secure digital wallet where a user can put in a small amount without threat of online and credit card fraud. The payment solutions provider uses an RBI approved semi-closed wallet that is being used everywhere, right from Domino’s Pizza to Zivame to Uber. The company now has over 80 Mn mobile wallets and more than 15 million orders per month.

Innovation is that one thing that all successful businesses worldwide have in common. Innovation is a part of their culture… it’s in their DNA.

To foster a spirit of innovation in today’s youth, iSPIRT is hosting InnoFest, a daylong event focused on kick starting the next wave of innovation in the country. The event to be held at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore on 22ndAugust 2015, will offer young innovators a platform to present their ideas and interact with like-minded people from across the country. The daylong fest is meant to celebrate innovation and bring forward ideas that can become game changers for the nation.

Guest Post by Vikram Upadhyaya

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When it Comes to Startups, an 80% Fix is No Fix

In this polytheistic world of entrepreneurs, who is the Startup Initiative for?

There are many types of entrepreneurs. There is the self-employed vegetable-vendor type, the Thelawala. Then there is the small businessman in Okhla or Peenya who has grown to be in GST net. And how can one ignore the technology entrepreneur who graces the pages of ET every day . Even these tech startups come in many shapes and sizes. Some are after mainstream `Bharat’ consumers; others are building mass-luxury brands.Then there are fast followers in global markets or those who are rattling ferocious global players. And who can ignore startups that are filling white spaces in the safer domestic market and are aspiring to be national leaders.

What’s the one tool all successfulIn this polytheistic world of entrepreneurs, who is the Startup Initiative for? If it’s for all the various types of entrepreneurs, then it will quickly succumb to the 80% syndrome. Policy-makers will address things that are the common denominator for all types of entrepreneurs. While this is necessary , it’s not sufficient. As any product manager in the technology industry will tell you, this 80% fix is a recipe for failure.

To make a critical mass of changes, a persona-based policy making is needed. The biggest problem for Thelawala type entrepreneurs is absence of easy credit. For Peenya and Okhla business Peenya and Okhla businessmen, it is the inspector raj. For technology star raj. For technology startups it’s outdated regulations that thwart venture financing.

Each of these types of entrepreneurs is in pain today . Last year 54% of the funded technology startups redomiciled themselves outside India. This year, iSPIRT estimates, the exodus has accelerated and the number of companies redomiciling out of India will be 75% of all funded startups! There is crisis on another front too. India’s Global Innovation Index has been falling for four years in a row. We are no longer in the top 85 countries of the world! This innovation deficit has a bearing on sustainability of the entrepreneurship boom that we are witnessing right now. We are overly reliant on copy-paste entrepreneurship and this can only sustain if we keep MNCs out like China has done.

The most important decision for a policy-maker is focus on a specific type of entrepreneur. Only then the `how’ comes into focus and a cross-ministerial approach kicks in. Some of this is starting to happen. Later this week, there will be an important announcement by the Ministry of Finance about addressing venture-financing gaps in areas beyond e-commerce, neighbourhood commerce and consumer tech. There is a lot of work to be done to bring Startup India initiative to life. A nuanced henotheistic approach is needed (henotheism: involving devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of others). It can be done. Early signs give reason for cautious optimism.

 

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Build, Create, Connect, Improvise and Explore at the Makers Pavilion @Inno_Fest

We are celebrating innovation, innovatively.And we mean it.

We will be showcasing some of India’s best innovations – the ‘real stars’ of our show – the makers, innovators, dreamers and creators.

Who knows, you might just get ‘inspired’ to innovate and fulfil your own dream! And if not, you might just walk out in ‘awe.’

Makerrs Pavilion

We look forward to a round of applause… watch the videos to know what we mean…

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Innovation has to be the starting point for entrepreneurs

Innovation significantly expands your options, possibilities, and opportunities

That there is enthusiasm about entrepreneurship across India is apparent, and clearly visible. A number of our young citizens are now thinking about starting a business rather than taking up a job. And that’s a good thing, because we need more job creators.

However, in India, innovation is often not the starting point in our thought process for our entrepreneurial journey. Most of our innovators and entrepreneurs are not thinking of how we can solve the problem with a radically different solution or approach. Most of our aspiring entrepreneurs do not think of creating or inventing new products and solutions.

That’s why we see India falling to 76th position this year in the global innovation index. Even within the BRICS nations, we are the lowest-ranked country on this index. Interestingly, while all other BRICS nations have strengthened their position, India has slipped 10 points from 66 last year, to 76 this year.

This has to change.

There is nothing wrong in building a strong me-too business. However, me-too concepts or even incremental innovations on existing concepts limit your own options and opportunities. On the other hand, innovation expands your possibilities, options, and opportunities, significantly. It provides you a fresh new canvas to paint on, rather than trying to fit your signature on a painting that already has other signatures.

But, for innovation to become a part of our mainstream thinking, we need to create an enabling ecosystem and a conducive environment for innovators and entrepreneurs to convert their ideas into products and businesses. I am glad to note that things are improving on this front. A number of private initiatives are creating the infrastructure and resources for entrepreneurs to innovate. Initiatives like Innofest, of which I am a committed patron, which celebrate and showcase innovation, are important to bring innovation at the center of our thought process.

Innofest is a festival of innovation, ideas and inspiration, to be held in Bengaluru on the 22nd of August 2015. I will be there. I hope to see you there too.

#IndiaCanInnovate @Inno_fest

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A Day In Radha’s Life @ Innofest ‘15

innofest_logoThe stage is set, I have received my invite to Innofest’15 and look forward to the day with great anticipation. I have just completed my engineering degree from Davanagere, and have received two offers, both through campus interviews. Both seem interesting, and both are in technology, after all thats where everything is today.

And yet! I am not sure if thats where i want to be. You see, i have this dream. I have this idea of creating an instant water purifier pen. You put the pen into a glass or a bottle of water, and electronic pulses instantly destroy all germs in the water, turning it safe. Even a child can drink it. Imagine what it would do to the lives and productivity of all those millions who don’t have access to quality drinking water.

I dearly want to create this product. Do i have all i need to bring it to life? Do i know everything i need to get going? Will my being in Davanagere allow me to reach out to everybody i need to?

Thats when I heard of Innofest, a new grass root movement and festival of innovation. Reverie over, back to the air-conditioned weather of Bengaluru, in an UUla cab from aunty’s home to IISC. Always amazed at how green this city is. And wondering if Bharat, the founder of UUla, uses his own product? Well, i will ask him that as I have signed up for a hands-on workshop with him this morning.

Lots of excited faces. We head to the zone, and are immediately hit by the brilliant arty stuff that decorates the venue. Lovely, innovative, bright stuff, that seems to ring fence the entire venue. There is the torn jeans that Bharat first made his passionate pitch to taxi drivers in Rhennai in.

And that half chewed pencil bears mute testimony to Mansal’s mood as he made the pitch that got him his first 100K in funding. I am pleased to find they seem to be a tapestry of history of entrepreneurship. Hey, they are the kinda cool gang i would love to be a part of. Make a mental note to save all my torn jeans…

See the Showcase zone and the Google Lunar X-Prize contenders, the one and only Team Indus – what a coup it would be if they got the $30Million purse on offer if they put a vehicle on the moon by December 31st? They are the final three shortlisted globally. Who says its all about getting billions of dollars in funding? This is as much about the pride of india as it is the future of India.

A tune. from a flute. Whats that? A youngish dude playing the flute surrounded by ardent fans? Over a steaming kulhar chai with him, I find out his name is Hari Prasad, and he’s trying to create a tourism destination out of every town in india. Do you know each of the 800 districts has its own tourist attractions, customs, food, clothes and artefacts that can be very beautiful? Talk about stimulating conversations, and he’s not too bad looking…

At the UUla workshop- chap sitting next seems interesting, so start talking.. He’s is from Ramgarh- and i immediately ask him, so do you have Gabbar’s autograph?He bursts out laughing…. UUla is so intriguing. Ever heard of a cab company that doesn’t own a single car. I haven’t. So how does it work? Get into the nitty gritties, And guess what, impress Bharat enough to get a meeting with him to present my idea next week. Zowie, things are moving for me.

After the UUla workshop, which clarified a few of my financial thoughts and closed out a few open loops in my mind, i ask Ram what else is there to see. Well, turn out, there’s more, so much more.

For instance, Makerspace which is just behind the main auditorium where I walk towards for the unveiling of the grants. There are some 3D printer demos that seem exciting. I make myself a thunderbolt, like an Indra’s vajra or Zeus- some thing about Innofest makes me feel like “I have the power”.

And the day progresses. And things continue to happen. And i keep getting hit with high after high. Finally, end of day. 100 meetings and 100,000 ideas richer, I head back, abuzz, on a high. Will I be able to sleep? I know not. However, I do know where I am headed. And let me give you a hint. Both of my prospective employers are going to be disappointed.

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iSPIRT announces the launch of InnoFest 2015

 innofest_logo

      A ‘first of its kind’ marquee event to kick-start the next innovation wave in India, where

     Bengaluru takes the lead in showcasing Public-Private Partnership.

 

With iSPIRT, we are happy to announce the launch of InnoFest – a day long Innovation festival jointly organized and sponsored by Public and Private Enterprise. The event, to be held at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore on August 22nd 2015 is significant – in a daring break from a ’traditional event’ format, InnoFest shall be run as a festival celebrating Innovation…

Here is why…

India needs this movement; not only for Indians, but for the aspiring and emerging worlds’ 5 Billion people, as compared to innovations focused on the one billion in the first world, who are already well served. This is the only way India can avoid the middle income trap, as we grow at 7-8%. The vibrancy of grass root innovation cannot be experienced through speeches and panel discussions within enclosed halls; its energy and exuberance has to be felt and unleashed.

The Patrons of this event are Mr. Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance, Government of India; Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Former Chairman of Infosys and Former Chairman of UIDAI; Mrs. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon and Mr. Mohandas Pai, Chairman of the Board, Manipal Global Education.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Pai said, “The idea of InnoFest is absolutely aligned with the Government’s thinking. If we are going to increase productivity, employment and opportunity for everyone in this country then we need a grassroots movement that will bring the best ideas to the table. Our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has great vision in developing 100 smart cities across the country as well as a digital India and a leading science and technology program; innovation will certainly be a key driver for all these initiatives.”

Why Innovation, you may ask…

Simply because we have an ‘innovation’ deficit in the country today! We are no doubt an enterprising nation, but we still have a long way to go when we look at being an ‘innovative’ nation. However, please note that there is no shortage of imagination and creativity in India. We need to build our skills where this imagination and creativity is applied to generate unique solutions to local problems. InnoFest is the platform to tackle this challenge.

We strongly believe that to reduce the innovation deficit in India, we need to operate at two levels: the individual and the policy. InnoFest uniquely brings these two elements together:

  • The Young Ignited Minds: will sharpen their innovation skills in a fun and experiential setting
  • The Government of India: will activate thoughtful policies that will help fulfill the innovation potential of India

InnoFest will have various programs like MakerSpace, Product Zone, Hall of Fame, Young Innovators Zone, Townhall and eminent speakers across a galaxy of disciplines including Naveen Tiwari (InMobi), Rohan Shravanan (Notion Inc), K Ganesh (CEO, Portea Medical), Arundhati Nag (Film Personality), Vijay Chandru (Strand Life Sciences), Bhavish Aggarwal (CEO, Ola Cabs) and Phanindra Sama (RedBus).

According to Sharad Sharma, Co-Founder of iSPIRT and Co-Convenor of InnoFest, “If companies can innovate and transform their functioning and performance radically, why can’t countries? The idea of InnoFest is to distil the best ideas in enterprise and inspire individuals, corporates and Government organizations to take innovation to the common man. We are delighted that the Government has stepped in in a big way to enable this transformation and this cooperation between public bodies and private enterprises will lay the foundation for radical transformation in the country.”

InnoFest has been conceived as a day-long festival of ideas and inspiration that will exponentially multiply innovation across the country and make India into a Product Nation. iSPIRT strongly believes that a robust software product ecosystem is the key to rapid growth across the country. More than 1,000 professionals are expected to participate, pan India.

So, if you want to change the world AND put your own dent in the universe; make sure you are at InnoFest !!

Further details of the event are available on the Innofest website & FAQ’s can be accessed here.