SYNOPSIS of IMC Inclusive Innovation Awards. Executive Summary

Transcription

1 SYNOPSIS of IMC Inclusive Innovation Awards Executive Summary The Indian Merchants Chamber instituted IMC Inclusive Innovation Awards in the year 2012, a first of its kind Award by any business or industry chamber in India. The objective of the Award is to recognize product or service innovations which are inclusive, capable of commercial exploitation, sustainable and scalable and to provide financial and mentoring support to the innovators to facilitate taking the product or service to the market. The Award, in the first year itself, 2012, found all round appreciation and interest. The Award amount of INR 2,000,000 (USD 33,333 at exchange rate of USD 1 = INR 60), by far the largest award amount, sponsored by Mr Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, a renowned investor, made a huge impact. The partnership of Electronic Media-Zee Business Channel, Radio BIG FM, as also support from our member businesses, member associations and members of Parliament and State Legislature helped us in reaching out to target groups in rural and urban areas. Challenges were plenty all through the process. But, the credibility and the commitment of all associated with the Project from the Chair of the Committee to the Chair of the Jury, the Knowledge and other partners and, above all, the reputation of the Chamber itself, a more than 100 year old Chamber of which, Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, was honorary member and which is known for entrepreneurial support, especially to SME sector, facilitated in meeting those challenges. The novelty of the concept more from less for more and more people ( 2012), affordable excellence ( 2013 & 2014) hel ped us in creating a difference and attracting good number of entries, 73 in number in first year, 123 in second year increasing to 234 in the third year. Each year, the visibility created by the earlier year s award and the fact that it is actually happening (in any such new process, especially, where award amount is so large, there is skepticism) and making a difference to the nominees and winners created a buzz. These Awards have made a momentous impact on the activities of the Chamber and its recognition as a chamber with innovative and contemporary thoughts and ideas and ability to implement them for growth and development of business community as a whole. It has been noted with interest by governmental agencies and has had remarkable impact in terms of supporting entrepreneurship and working with entrepreneurs to enable them to take their truly inclusive, marketable, sustainable and scalable innovations to the market. The Project experience and processes established by the Chamber can be used in any part of the world; it establishes proof of concept. We strongly believe that IMC Inclusive Innovation Awards Project is making a difference to lives of many and will go a long way in strengthening

2 entrepreneurial spirit of innovators with limited reach and resources and help in overall nation building endeavors of the Chamber. 1. Briefly, describe how your project originated. How did the idea come about, what needs were identified and why? The Indian Merchants Chamber instituted IMC Inclusive Innovation Awards in the year 2012, a first of its kind Award by any business or industry chamber in India. The objective of the Award is to recognize product or service innovations which are inclusive, capable of commercial exploitation, sustainable and scalable and to provide financial and mentoring support to the innovator to facilitate taking the product or service to the market. The brochure for the 2014 Cycle is available on our website As a business chamber, we facilitate businesses to understand the business and economic environment for doing business coupled with societal trends. One area of concern for all, of late, has been the social disturbances which, to some extent, have been the result of growing gap between haves and have-nots. This has led to the need to ensure that the bottom of the pyramid does not feel alienated when, the businesses and the owners, benefit and move up the ladder of economic growth and inclusive growth and inclusive development are emphasized as sustainable business models. While one needs to focus on inclusiveness, one cannot lose sight of innovations which are the backbone of development of the human kind and benefit all segments of the society; be it in the field of science or technology or any other field. One of the thoughts that came to our mind was the impact that innovations can make when they are inclusive and with this thought, we started exploring areas where we could make a buzz around this theme. We invited Dr Ramesh Mashelkar, a renowned scientist and one of the early thought leaders on the subject to deliver lecture at our half yearly general meeting in He, while describing the concept of inclusive innovation, mentioned that inclusive means more from less for more and more people and that inclusive innovation refers to making available products/services at very low cost without compromising on quality. Inspired by his talk, we took our deliberations forward and, our research indicated that the challenges are several; starting from identification of such innovations (which often take place in far flung areas) by innovators who do not have much wherewithal and then, to facilitating their work and reach to the market. There were few organizations working in this field, there were awards for innovations, and, even at national level, the National Innovation Foundation was acknowledging work of innovators but, special focus was required on inclusiveness of the innovations. Also, there was need for support in terms of funding and mentoring for these innovators and we felt that a Chamber like ours could play a pivotal role in this initiative. In this background, we decided that one of the ways to reach out to such inclusive innovators could be instituting Awards so that people from all over could apply and we could identify the

3 most promising inclusive innovations. Further, the Award Amount had to be attractive. We mentioned this thought to Mr Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, leading investor and philanthropist, who liked the idea and our approach and agreed to sponsor an award of INR 2,000,000 ( USD 33,333 at exchange rate of USD 1=INR 60). The amount was truly attractive as most of awards for innovations are in the range of INR 100,000 to INR 200,000 (USD 1666 to USD 3333 at exchange rate of USD 1=INR 60). We decided that we will recognize inclusive innovations which are ready for launch or just launched, are marketable, scalable and sustainable so we achieve the objective of making a difference to lives of many, such that the benefit of excellent quality and yet affordable new products/services are made available to excluded sections of society. 2. Describe your project based on the category selected (Context, innovative character, invested resources, difficulties met). This innovative project conceptualized by our Chamber is, to the best of our knowledge, first of its kind by a Chamber which supports entrepreneurship and facilitates growth and development of entrepreneurs, who might themselves be excluded from the mainstream finance providers since, they often do not have the reach and resources but, who find solutions based on local issues which can be commercialized and benefit much wider populace. The Inclusive Innovation Awards Project (the Project) involves providing initial financial support in the form of Award money which helps such innovators meet their immediate needs or use such funds as seed capital for bank funding and also facilitating their reach to capital providers and mentors. We faced several challenges. In the first step, we had to reach out to larger sections of the society, in the interiors of the country where people do not have access to information on what is happening in large metros like Mumbai and also to people who are not conversant with English language. One of ways of reaching out to people across the country would have been through newspapers but, cost would have been prohibitive considering the vastness of the country and number of language papers that we would have had to use. We also had to explain the concept of inclusiveness the fact that it does not mean that the product or service is just economical; it must be of high quality and must address needs of larger sections of the society. We found strong support from a Television business channel on TV, one which had large viewership in non-english language segment, who carried announcements of the Award and also came on board as media partner, telecasting episode on the Awards after the function. Similarly, we got support of a radio channel that played the announcement on radio channel reaching out to people in rural areas besides urban area.

4 We also sent out mailers to our members and others and also got support from various organizations working in this field to reach out to innovators. We also used social media and, in this cycle of 2014, we had one large digital agency as our partners who also helped in reaching out to lot of people through digital media. All these ensured that awareness is created and entrepreneurs are inspired to apply for the Awards. The next challenge was to evaluate the entries. The entries came in from across the country and in 2014 cycle, also from out of India. Domain knowledge was required to evaluate the entries besides knowledge of business. One of the international consultancy firms helped us establish robust process for evaluation. Several of our members from business, finance, investment banking, consulting and other fields as also leading business houses helped us in evaluation of entries. We had very powerful Jury chaired by Dr Mashelkar himself. List of Jury Members for the 2014 is given at the end of the synopsis. The process that we adopted was, broadly, as under: Listing of entries as received and in house verification of completeness of the entries. Evaluation of entries by first level screening jury each Jury Member was sent about entries for evaluation on criteria of innovativeness, inclusiveness, marketability, scalability and sustainability. Each entry was sent to more than one Jury Member for evaluation. Collation of data from evaluation by Screening Jury and short listing of entries for consideration of Main Jury. Screening Jury members are also invited to participate in this meet. Short listing of 5 nominees by the Main Jury from out of short listed entries. Presentation by the 5 nominees and Q & A session with them on the day of the Award Presentation ceremony audience includes businesses, fund providers and also management students besides Jury Members. Selection of the Winner. In the 2014 Cycle, we introduced a new category of Gen Z, young thought leaders youth in the age group of 13 to 23. There were four nominees in this category and one was selected as the Winner. The Award Amount for this category is INR 200,000 ( USD 3333 at exchange rate of USD 1 INR 60). The investment in the Project is significant in terms of voluntary contribution. One of our past presidents and the Chairperson of the Committee, IMC Inclusive Innovation Awards, who conceptualized, implemented and now spearheads this Project, Mrs Bhavna Doshi, former

5 partner of member firm of KPMG in India devotes significant personal time on the Project on voluntary basis. Each of the Jury members and all other partners and their staff also spend significant time on voluntary basis. Besides this, we do get student volunteers to support the work and also get support from governmental and other agencies, who help in reaching out to people all making voluntary contribution of time. IMC staff of 3 people work on this Project besides support from President and Vice President of the Chamber, the committee members of the Chamber, the Director General and other senior and administrative staff lending supporting hand as and when required. The Project cost is primarily funded by Mr Rakesh Jhunjhunwala which also includes the travel cost, stay cost and local conveyance of the nominees for the Award. 3. What have been the results and influence of this project? (Short and long term impact, measurable data, benefits) The Project has received excellent response and is gaining in popularity and reach year after year. In the first year itself, there were 72 entries from different states of the country. Next year, 2013 cycle, entries increased to 123. This year, 2014 cycle entries jumped to 234. The entries came in from 20 States of India, one entry from Taiwan and three from USA. There was significant interest from large corporate, research institutions as also government departments who sent in entries for their inclusive and innovative projects. The Project has created a buzz that we had set out to create and is noticed by large businesses too. The Nominees have been receiving inquiries from large business houses for collaboration. The products/services are being commercialized and the benefits have started reaching the intended sections of the society. Interest is shown by our members to mentor and provide technical guidance and assistance to projects/areas of their domain knowledge. We are in the process of establishing a dedicated cell to work with identified applicants besides the nominees and help them bring about improvements so that, they too can commercialize their innovations. A video clip from the Winner of 2012 cycle, Mr Rajnish Jain who is based in Uttarakhand located in the northern part of the country quite far off place is attached. We have also attached a brief presentation from Mr Bharagavan Mohanlal from Kerala located in the southern part of the country, the Winner of 2013 cycle he is not conversant with

6 English but, has made an attempt through support of one his colleagues to make this presentation is attached. Winner of 2012 Cycle: Mr. Rajnish Jain, Uttarakhand The Product: Generation of electricity and charcoal from pine needles Central Himalayas have large tracts of mono-culture pine forests where excessive forest fires spread through pine needle litter and destroy natural resources. Avani, the project of Mr Jain employs rural folks to collect these pine needles before they burn, and convert them in to clean energy for rural needs (cooking charcoal and electricity). This regenerates biodiversity, reduces carbon emissions, drives rural economy and, above all, creates jobs in the villages. Status on November 20, 2014 as per Mr Jain s communication with us: Avani Bio Energy received the prestigious IMC Inclusive Award for the year 2012 for its innovation - generating clean electricity, cooking charcoal and employment from environmentally harmful biomass - pine needles, which spread forest fire and destroy the ecosystem services for the rural poor such as water, herbs, timber etc. The award not only helped the organization to get National recognition for the project, but the prize money also helped the organization in setting up the first 120 KW power plant. Due to unforeseen delay in the implementation of the project, the cost of the machines had gone up and financial support from IMC, helped the company to focus on implementing the project. Avani Bio Energy has now set up the 120 KW power plant, which is grid connected and now being operated by locally trained youth from the nearby villages. During the collection of pine needles, more than 100 people from the villages received employment. The company has identified the locations for new units and plans to set up more power plants in the year Winner of 2013 Cycle: Mr. Bhargavan Mohanlal, Kerala The Product: Marine reversible grearbox with Z-drive system The currently used outboard system on boats used by fishermen is a very expensive system which consumes about 7-8 litres of kerosene per hour. For a boat working 8 hours, the daily fuel expense is around INR 3000 (around $50 USD). The alternative was to use a diesel engine which would consume only litres of diesel per hour, bringing down the daily cost to about INR 900 ($15 USD), but a gearbox which could be coupled with the diesel engine was not available. Mr. Mohanlal, invented this gearbox together with a Z-drive system which also made beach landing possible without disturbing the fishing nets laid down by the fishermen in the vicinity.

7 Status on November 27, 2014 as per Mohanlal s organization communication to us: Yesterday we delivered the final lot of equipments to the Matsyafed( Govt of Kerala organisation ), completing the order of 100 nos of the order. As an innovative start-up company, it is a landmark for us. Both Mohanlal( innovator) and myself are indeed indebted to the financial support you offered us at a critical time when we had the order with us but didn't have the funds to make it. With the help of the NIF and support from you, we could deliver the order. The Kerala Govt is planning to launch the new system officially in the coming days to popularise the system. As you may be aware, the Govt had already announced a subsidy of 50% to the first 100 pieces to the fishermen, considering the enormous fuel savings and pollution control it brings about. We are presently waiting for the launch of the system,after which we are confident that most of the fishermen will convert to our system - once they have hands-on experience. It is also encouraging that companies like Ashok Leyland and Greaves have shown interest in the product.we will keep you updated on the developments as it happens from our side. Winners of 2014 Cycle Category A: Mr. Nitin Sisodia The Product: Hearing screening device for new borns Award Money : INR 2,000,000 ( USD INR 60) Sohum, the hearing screening device for new borns, is a non-invasive medical device and a system solution to do mass screening of newborns for hearing loss in resource poor setting to prevent speech loss. Sohum uses brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER or ABR) technology which is the gold standard in auditory testing. The system solution also involves providing access to an appropriate aftercare cycle for the newborns screened positive with a network of audiologist. The device has unique algorithm which provides high sensitivity and specificity, does not need sedatives, can be used in noisy and extreme environments, is low cost and creates employment. Gen Z Category: Ms Shalinikumari The Product: Modified Walker with Adjustable Legs Award Money: INR 200,000 (USD INR 60) About the Young Thought Leader/Innovator and the Product Moved by the difficulties faced by her grandfather, Ms ShaliniKumari, aged 13 at that time (now 16 years) started working on designing a walker to help the physically weak to climb stairs. The product, adjustable walker is now developed. The walker has a spring and self-locking front

8 legs. This adjustable walker also has a foldable seat, a horn and a light attached to it. The walker can take up to 100 kg weight and can be adjusted to different environments. Currently a 12th grade Biology student, Ms Kumari wants to pursue a career in Medicine and loves to dance and paint in her free time. 4. Can your idea be applied in other parts of the world? (Please explain how and why)? We believe and are confident that this idea can be applied in other parts of the world as well. There are number of budding innovators working on inclusive solutions all around the globe and if they can be identified through a robust process and their projects can be facilitated through financial and other support, it will make a huge difference to the society at large. It will help these innovators become more confident and economically stronger. All these will ultimately, lead to establishment of entire eco-system of growth and development for what, Dr Mashelkar describes as, excluded sections of the society. This will not only help businesses but, also bring about greater equality in the society. The fact that this year IMC received four applications from out of India is itself a proof that there is need for such projects elsewhere in the world too. 5. Argument why your project should be selected among the finalists and presented at the 9th World Chambers Congress? An innovation that meets the test of Affordable Excellence is Inclusive Innovation. Affordable excellence is ultimately the need of the hour which promotes innovation and thus leads to entrepreneurship. Successful entrepreneurship then, leads to economic growth which directly impacts the growth of a Nation. So, promoting these inclusive innovations and their innovators with commercially scalable products and services, a Chamber makes its visibility and acceptability all the more powerful with more and more recognition from the business community, who are the ultimate investors in these innovations. Recognition of our Project and our efforts in conceptualizing and successfully implementing this innovative and revolutionary Project will bring to the forefront this concept, encourage many more such inclusive innovators to participate in the process, more business chambers across the world to implement such projects and many such projects becoming highly successful ventures. Supporting such ventures by providing visibility and advocacy is one of the missions of any chamber which also brings significant visibility to a chamber leading to all round recognition of the activities of chamber.

9 6. You may enclose a letter(s) of support which can attest to any measurable results and achievements of the project. The letters may be endorsed by a company, a chamber of commerce, an ICC national committee or a government agency. Appreciation video from Winner of 2012 cycle - Mr. Rajnish Jain Presentation and letter of thanks and his achievement, from Winner of 2013 cycle, Mr. Bhargavan Mohanlal List of Jury Members for 2014 Main Jury Dr. Ramesh Mashelkar : Jury Chairperson, IMC Inclusive Innovation Awards National Research Professor, President of Global Research Alliance, a network of publicly funded R&D institutes from Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe and USA with over 60,000 scientists. Mrs Bhavna Doshi: Chair, IMC Inclusive Innovation Committee, Sr Advisor, KPMG Prof. Anil Gupta: Executive Vice Chair, National Innovation Foundation and Professor, Indian Institute of Management Mr. M L Bhakta: Senior Partner, Kanga & Company, leading law firm and Independent director of Reliance Industries Limited (the largest private sector company in India) Mr. Sameer Modi: Vice Chairman & Managing Director, K.K. Modi Group Mr. Ravi Pandit: Co-founder, Chairman & Group CEO, KPIT Technologies Ltd. Mr. S. Santhanakrishnan: Founder Partner, M/s. PKF Sridhar & Santhanam, Professional Service Provider and Non Executive Chairman of Catholic Syrian Bank Ltd Mr. Dhanpal Jhaveri: Partner and CEO, Everstone Capital, an India and South East Asia focused Private Equity and Real Estate investor. Ms. K. J. Udeshi: Deputy Governor (Retired), Reserve Bank of India Mr. Manish Gupta: Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Solidarity Advisors, an Investment Advisory Firm Screening Jury Mr. Amit Sharma : Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer, Tata Consulting Engineers Limited Mr. Abhiraj A Choksey : CEO & MD, Apcotex Industries Ltd Mr. Anand Kulkarni : Sr Vice President, Supply Chain Management at KEC International Ltd

10 Mr. Anil Kamath : CTO, Efficient Frontier, Inc. Mr. Anil Ruia : Managing Director, The Kolhapur Sugar Mills Ltd. Mr. Ashwin Shroff : Chairman, Excel Industries Ltd.& Excel Crop Care Limited Mr. Asit C. Mehta : Chairman, Asit C. Mehta Financial Services Ltd. Mr. Bishwambhar Mishra : Director, Mahindra Institute of Quality Mr. Dhanpal Jhaveri : Partner and CEO, Everstone Capital Mr. Dhushyant Dave : Director, Puneet Advisory Services Ltd. Mr. Harshad Gandhi : Business Consultant, Excel Industries Ltd. Mr. Hiranmay Mahanta : MD, Techpedia.in Mr. Hiren Shah : CEO, Global Wind Power Ltd. Mr. Kewal Handa : Managing Director, Pfizer Limited Mr. Mahesh Marve : Sr. VP & CTO, Tata Consulting Engineers Limited Mr. Nammalvar : President, TE, Atul Limited Mr. Ninad Karpe : Managing Director & CEO, Aptech Limited Mr. Nipun Mehta : Founder & CEO, Blue Ocean Capital Advisors Mr. Pradeep Chinai : MD, Exedy India Ltd. Dr. R. Venkateswaran : Sr. Vice President & CTO, Persistent Systems Ltd. Mr. S. V. Govindaraju : GM - R&D & Technical Services, Apcotex Industries Limited Dr. Santosh Shetty : Chief Operating Officer, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital Mr. Subrata Dutta :Vice President (Marketing), SBU Head, Everest Industries Ltd. Mr. Tanil Kilachand : MD, Polychem Ltd. Vice Admiral N M Nadaph (Retd) : President, Walchand Technology Group Mr. Vijay Crishna : Executive Director, Godrej & Boyce Dr. Vikram Chatwal : Chairman, MediAssist India Mr. Y. B. Gadgil : Vice President, Operations, Apcotex Industries Limited