NRDC meet to promote new ideas

 To encourage and give platform to young entrepreneurs and innovators, NRDC will be conducting its annual two-day conference - Innovate India: leveraging innovation for knowledge economy - for the first time in the City from November 19 to 20.

The event will be held at JN Tata auditorium, Indian Institute of Science.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, V Raghuram, regional manager, NRDC, said that the conference was being conducted in Delhi for the last two years.

“This is the first time we thought of moving the event out of Delhi and what better place than Bangalore, which is the hub of innovation," he said.

Parallel contests

Three parallel contests under the name of I3 forum (Ideas, Innovations and Incubation) will also be conducted under the themes - gender programme, rural technology and innovative technology.

The first contest is for young women (graduates and post- graduates) who aspire to be entrepreneurs. "We have received 30 proposals till now," he said.

The rural technology involves nearly 50 NGOs from across India, submitting technical projects that will help the community. The best 10 proposals will get full funding by NRDC and ensure that the projects are implemented within five months' time, he explained.

Projects

In innovative technology, students from engineering colleges will showcase their projects, which they do as part of their curriculum in the third year. "We are including this contest for the first time. Out of the 75 proposals that we received initially, 20 teams will get stalls to present their projects," he said. The best projects will be awarded cash prizes.

Tier II cities

Interestingly, Raghuram noticed a rise in proposals coming from tier II cities.
"The proposals from non-metro cities have definitely increased by 10 per cent in the last three to four years. Most proposals are pertaining to local methods of food processing, improving sanitary system, better method of practice in agriculture, etc," he said.