Kanpur, U.P. 03 March 2021 āStartup Innovation and Incubation Centre (SIIC), IIT Kanpur in association with North Delhi Municipal Corporation (North DMC) organized a Tech Talk, titled āUsing Tech Innovations to Build Smart & Sustainable Citiesā on 2nd March 2021. Dr Deepak Sharma, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Karol Bagh Zone, North DMC delivered the talk on town planning initiatives taken by the North DMC and the challenges faced therein. He threw open sector-specific challenges at the participants and invited them to devise product-based, civic tech innovation to address the same, under the Civic Tech Innovation Launchpad (CiTe).
Dr Sharma emphasized on the need for efficient waste management and the current processes in place, North DMC. One of the key challenges he explored was social and economic inclusion of rag pickers, who collect door-to-door household waste, in the formal sector. The informal sector does not provide them protection against health hazards they have to withstand as the result of waste collection practices.
CiTe is the first-of-its-kind initiative, supported by North DMC and SIIC IIT Kanpur, to invite startups & innovators to solve the civic issues in North DMC. Startups & innovators selected under CiTe will receive up to INR 25 Lakhs worth innovation fellowship and prototype development support, with a chance to refine those solutions in unison with the leadership and officials there. In the current call for application, the focus areas are critical civic issues for North DMC – waste management, water management, town planning, and sanitation & hygiene.
Commenting on the CiTe initiative, Shri Himanshu Gupta, IAS, Deputy Commissioner, North DMC shared, āThe initiative will provide a well-deserved platform to theyoung Indian minds passionate to solve civic issues. Such facilitation must be promoted rampantly across the nation to promote purpose-driven innovation. This initiative aims to provide support to an Atmanirbhar Bharat and is just the beginning of putting India on the map of social innovation.ā
Thanking Dr Sharma for his time and positive support, the CEO of SIIC IIT Kanpur, Dr Nikhil Agarwal also expressed his views about the initiative, āWe encourage young innovators, startups, and students to apply for CiTe and work with SIIC and North DMC officials towards solving the civic issues. After a very positive response in Kolhapur, we expect Delhi to take this initiative to new height sat nurturing pragmatic innovation and entrepreneurship in India.
About Tech Talks:
Tech Talks is SIIC IIT Kanpurās way of bridging the gaps between real-world challenges and the innovations capable of addressing those, combining an interactive methodology with entrepreneurial potential. Supported by the Capri Foundation, the selected solutions would stand a chance to win INR 2 lakhs for further developing their prototype, besides world-class support from the IIT Kanpur ecosystem.
About Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC), IIT Kanpur
Startups and social enterprises are widely regarded as the key to addressing developmental challenges, especially in emerging economies such as India. With pathbreaking innovation brewing at incubatee startups, SIIC IIT Kanpur aims to create impact at the bottom of the pyramid. Established in the year 2000, Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC), IIT Kanpur, is one of the oldest technology business incubators with many successes under its belt. The multifaceted, vibrant incubation ecosystem nurtured over two decades aims to fill all the gaps on the road to convert an idea into a business. SIIC has developed the experience base and ecosystem that become critical ingredients in developing early-stage, technology-focused startups disrupting paradigms across the domains such as agriculture, healthcare, aerospace, energy, water, and education.
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