Indian innovator award to be announced Nov 22

NEW DELHI - The Indian Innovation Initiative (i3), a competition on innovative technologies, has received 1,000 entries this year compared to 250 last year. The winner will be announced Nov 22, an official said Friday.

i3 is a joint initiative by Agilent Technologies, Confederation of Indian Industry and the Department Of Science & Technology (DST). The winner will be announced at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.

The initiative aims to promote innovation and R&D in India by providing the winner with financial support to realize the plan, along with mentoring by top professionals including those of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad.

“Building on the success of i3 2009, this year we have grown larger in terms of reach, participation and recognition. I3 2010 has permeated the smaller cities, where talent is immense but opportunities are few. We received almost 1,000 entries as compared to 250, which was the total number for last year,” said Parmeet Ahuja, president and country general manager, Agilent Technologies (India).

Of the 1,000 entries, the final shortlist was reduced to 50.

The organisers said the scope of the initiative was widened this time to cover a wider spectrum of industries including water, transportation, energy, environment, internal security applications and education among others.

“The focus of this year’s competition will be on identification of non-patented projects that have direct potential to be industrialized or commercialized,” Ahuja said.

–Indo Asian News Service