NASSCOM Launches Social Innovation Honours

NASSCOM Foundation is pioneering the Social Innovation Honours to recognise excellence and encourage innovation in social development initiatives. The annual honours aim to showcase projects that demonstrate best practices through exemplary use of ICT (information and communication technology) in areas of social transformation. This honour is a celebration of innovations that bring about social change and development through the application of cutting-edge technology.
The grand jury comprises Narayana Murthy, Jaithirth Rao, Kiran Mazumdar and Kiran Karnik. The winners of the honours will be announced at NASSCOM’s India Leadership Summit in February 2009.

In creating the platform for Social Innovation Honours, NASSCOM Foundation aims to identify projects where innovation could be in the form of both a process and a result. In looking at the process, NF aims to understand systems based on transfer and sharing of knowledge across the public, private and nonprofit sectors. For NF, a social innovation can be a product, a process, or a technology, as well as "a principle, an idea, a piece of legislation, a social movement, an intervention, or some combination of them".

Terms such as social enterprise and social innovation were coined in the non-profit sector and hence continue to be associated only with this sector. However, there are many path-breaking projects that have been initiated by the government as well as corporates which deserve to be recognised and feted.

Hence the achievement of social development through the use of ICT innovations could be in terms of: increased education, better health and hygiene, employment/entrepreneurship opportunities and environment. There are three categories for nomination -- Non-profit organisation: ICT innovation for the community (non-profit) -- an innovation which helped achieve social development, or aided a community, which is not part of a business plan; Profit organisation: ICT led business model innovation (for profit) -- an innovation which helped achieve social development, or aided a community, which is part of a business plan; Government ICT led business model innovation -- an innovation which helped achieve social development, or aided a community.

Speaking about the relevance of the Honours, Kiran Karnik, trustee, NASSCOM Foundation, said, “Today we see and experience a society facing unprecedented social, economic, environmental and cultural challenges. Social innovation transforms these challenges into opportunities to improve our communities. Our work endeavours to create and curate spaces that foster these social innovations. Diverse mixes of people connect in a unique physical space to stimulate new thought, the seeds for interventions and learning opportunities for doing social good. NASSCOM Foundation is initiating the Social Innovation Honours to recognise excellence and encourage innovation in social development initiatives.”

Added Rufina Fernandes, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation, “We like to salute and celebrate the contributions and efforts of for-profit as well as non-profit organisations that have led the way, walked the talk and made a difference, whether big or small.