SOCIAL INNOVATION LAB
Quarterly Newsletter: January 5, 2024
|
|
|
L to R: Dr. R A Mashelkar, President, Pune International Centre (PIC); Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Vice President, PIC; and Mr. Amit Bhargava, Mentor at PIC's Social Innovation Lab (SI Lab), at the launch of PIC's ‘Waste to Wealth’ playbook |
|
|
Dear PIC Member,
Greetings for the New Year!
This year commenced with the momentous launch of the ‘Waste to Wealth’ playbook on January 1, 2024, authored by SI Lab mentors and released by Dr. R A Mashelkar. The e-book will be available on our website soon.
I am delighted to inform you that the 11th National Conference on Social Innovation (NCSI) 2023 was a great success. I would like to congratulate all the winners – Mr. Ananda Mishra, Dr. Rashmi Tiwary, and Mr. Prasad Phadke – in each category. I would also like to congratulate the winner of the Anjani Mashelkar Prize Ms. Gayathri Choda.
A CSR Roundtable was held by PIC's Social Innovation Lab as a part of the 11th National Conference on Social Innovation. Dr. R A Mashelkar, President, PIC, and Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Vice President, PIC, chaired the roundtable, thanks to the initiative from Mr. Dinanath Kholkar, Member, PIC, and Convener, Science, Technology and the National Innovation Ecosystem research vertical.
We do hope you enjoy reading this newsletter. Your suggestions, feedback and active engagement in upcoming PIC events are always appreciated.
Thank you for your continued support!
Neeraj Thakur
Head, Social Innovation Lab
Pune International Centre
|
|
|
|
A. Review of Programmes
- Launch of ‘Waste to Wealth’ playbook
- National Conference on Social Innovation (NCSI) 2023
- CSR Roundtable
- Social Enterprise Mentoring Programme (SEMP)
- Shared Service Centre – Social Enterprise (SSC-SE)
B. Blogs
C. Upcoming Policy Papers
|
|
|
PIC's ‘Waste to Wealth’ playbook launched
L to R: Ms. Archita Joshi, Research Analyst, PIC SI Lab; Mr. Prashant Girbane, General Secretary, PIC; Mr. Neeraj Thakur, Head, SI Lab; Mr. Amit Bhargava, Mentor at PIC’s SI Lab; Dr. R A Mashelkar, President, PIC; Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Vice President, PIC; Dr. Deepak Shikarpur, Digital literacy activist and PIC member; Mr. Abhay Vaidya, Director, PIC; Mr. Pradeep Bhargava, former President, MCCIA; and Ms. Apurva Joshi, PIC member
PIC organised a book launch on January 1, 2024. It was presided over by Dr. R A Mashelkar, President, PIC, and a revered figure in the field of science and innovation, on the occasion of his birthday.
The book was launched in the presence of Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Vice President, PIC; Mr. Pradeep Bhargava, former President, MCCIA; Mr. Prashant Girbane, General Secretary, PIC; Mr. Abhay Vaidya, Director, PIC; and PIC-SI Lab mentor Mr. Amit Bhargava, who represented all the authors of the book.
With 10 case studies of social enterprises working in the waste-to-wealth sector, the playbook, compiled by PIC’s Social Innovation Lab, is a guide that shares insights on the patterns and lessons learnt by those enterprises. It is a valuable resource for those working on similar themes and has important lessons for founders of similar startups to keep in mind when running a startup.
The e-book will be available on our website soon.
National Conference on Social Innovation 2023
Clockwise from top (L to R): Mr. Ananda Mishra, winner, Rural category, and co-founder, Cowbit Technologies Pvt Ltd; Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Vice President, PIC; Dr. Rashmi Tiwary, winner, Tribal category, and founder, Aahan Foundation for Social Change; Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, President, PIC; Mr. Prasad Phadke, winner, Urban category, and founder, Eco Bio Group Pvt Ltd; and Mr. Abhay Vaidya, Director, PIC, at the 11th NCSI (2023)
Dr. Vijay Kelkar; Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar; Prof. Anil Gupta, Founder, Honey Bee Network; and Mr. Abhay Vaidya at the 11th NCSI
Mr. Sushil Borde, Head, Anjani Mashelkar Foundation; Mrs. Vaishali Mashelkar; Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar; Ms. Gayathri Choda, Founder and CEO, Aarca Research; Dr. Abhay Firodia; and Dr. Vijay Kelkar, during the presentation of the 13th Anjani Mashelkar Prize to Ms. Gayathri Choda
Dr. Abhay Firodia, Chairman, Force Motors, and Chief Guest, speaking at the 11th National Conference on Social Innovation. (Seated L to R) Mr. Abhay Vaidya; Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar; Dr. Vijay Kelkar; and Mr. Prashant Girbane, General Secretary, PIC, at the 11th NCSI
The winners of the national competition for social innovators, organised by PIC's Social Innovation Lab, were declared at the 11th National Conference on Social Innovation (NCSI), held at YASHADA Auditorium, Baner Road, Pune, on November 17, 2023.
More than 200 applications received from social innovators nationwide, 18 finalists were selected across Urban, Rural, and Tribal categories.
In the Tribal category, Aahan Foundation for Social Change won the award for their innovative approach to empowering girls. The founder is Dr. Rashmi Tiwary.
In the Rural category, Cowbit Technologies Pvt Ltd won the award for their cattle health monitoring system. The founders are Ms. Diptimayee Mishra and Mr. Ananda Mishra.
In the Urban category, Eco Bio Group Pvt Ltd won the award for their Eco BioTraps, a non-electronic, 100% biodegradable mosquito and larvae-killing device. The founder of the group is Mr. Prasad Phadke.
The awards – a cash prize of Rs 50,000 – were presented by PIC Vice President Dr. Vijay Kelkar in the presence of PIC President Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar and PIC Director Mr. Abhay Vaidya. The awardees will also get mentorship from mentors at PIC's Social Innovation Lab.
At the event, the 13th Anjani Mashelkar Prize was awarded to innovator Ms. Gayatri Choda of Aarca Research for their revolutionary health screening solution, IHRA – Intelligent Health Risk Assessment (IHRA).
In his opening address, Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar emphasised that mentorship is the catalyst for providing “speed and direction” to social innovators.
Chief guest and Chairman of Force Motors, Mr. Abhay Firodia, said disruptions are the stepping stones to leadership in the new world and stressed the need for innovations to find markets and create scale.
In the valedictory address, Prof. Anil Gupta, Founder, Honey Bee Network, spoke about the rich history of social innovation initiatives, and its future.
Mr. Prashant Girbane, General Secretary, PIC, and Mr. Abhay Vaidya, Director, PIC, provided a comprehensive overview of NCSI's remarkable journey over the past decade.
The presentations by innovators were followed by a lively Q&A session, where the jury and audience asked probing questions to the innovators.
Preparation of the report of the event is in progress and will be published on our website shortly.
You can view videos of the event on PIC’s YouTube channel.
CSR Roundtable
Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar and Dr. Vijay Kelkar during the roundtable proceedings, along with Mr. Dinanath Kholkar
PIC’s Social Innovation Lab organised an exclusive CSR Roundtable and lunch along with the 11th National Conference on Social Innovation, from 1.30 PM to 2.30 PM on 17th November 2023.
The roundtable aimed at facilitating connections among CSR heads at the conference, providing them an opportunity to share insights into the CSR focus areas of their respective companies.
Secondly, it sought to propose a framework for sustained engagement with CSR leaders in Pune, envisioning the organisation of theme-based roundtables at agreed-upon frequencies to foster continued collaboration and knowledge exchange.
Lastly, it aimed at eliciting updates from participants on how their companies actively support social innovation through their CSR initiatives.
The event, structured around these key objectives, served as a platform for meaningful dialogue and collaboration among CSR leaders, laying the groundwork for future endeavours in corporate social responsibility and social innovation. The roundtable witnessed active participation from industry representatives.
Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, President, PIC, and Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Vice President, PIC, led the proceedings, alongside Mr. Dinanath Kholkar, Senior VP, TCS, and Member, PIC. Among the distinguished attendees were CSR heads and decision-makers from organisations such as Tata Power, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Electricals, Tata Trust, Reliance, Weikfield, and Forbes Marshall. Mentors from the PIC SI Lab shared valuable insights from their experiences as social innovators.
The participants from backgrounds such as healthcare, environment, education, rural development, and critical societal issues including child trafficking and malnutrition shared their company stories. CSR heads addressed the challenges encountered in the funding process.
Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar congratulated the CSR heads for their impactful work. He stressed the influence of the CSR industry and the resonance between their efforts and the PIC SI Lab’s mission – to transform social innovation into a movement.
Concluding the session, he said: “We have a billion problems, and each problem is important to solve. While each of us works towards solving these problems, we need to have measurement metrics related to the outcome. We also have to stay connected with each other and help everyone with solutions.”
Social Enterprise Mentoring Programme (SEMP)
The mentoring programme with the 2023 Mentee cohort of 9 social enterprises is over, and all the mentoring meetings will now be on a request basis.
SI Lab has completed the process of onboarding the new cohort from the NCSI 2023 finalists as mentees in the Social Enterprise Mentoring Programme 2024 batch. The mentoring programme will start on 8 January 2024.
Shared Service Centre
Over the past couple of years, Shared Service Centre - Social Enterprise (SSC-SE) has helped and encouraged 140+ social enterprises by providing various services and continues to grow. Services provided by the SSC-SE include Social Media Marketing, Pitch Deck and Facilitating Funding, Intellectual Property, 2D/3D Product Presentation Videos, Website Development, Branding, Export Documentation, etc.
|
|
|
The recent blog published in the month of December is ‘Navigating the Legal Landscape: A Comprehensive Guide to Compliance for Social Enterprises’ by Mr. Hemant Kelkar.
Do check out other Blogs by PIC SI Lab @ https://yellow-seal-502661.hostingersite.com/blogs/
Upcoming Blogs
- ‘What sparked the idea of social entrepreneurship?’, by Mr. Anil Kulkarni and Mr. Sandeep Chawda
- ‘How to see your business from a finance lens’, by Mr. Sandeep Chawda and Mr. Shekhar Jadhav
|
|
|
|
C. Upcoming Policy Papers
|
|
|
- ‘Women Entrepreneurs’ Empowerment’, a policy paper with recommendations for the Government of Maharashtra, is proposed, and work on it is in process. Dr. Ejaz Ghani, Dr. Sheela Bhide and Dr. Sangeeta Kale are the authors, along with Dr. Vishal Gaikwad.
- ‘Support System for Social Innovation in India’ is proposed, and work on it is in process.
|
|
|
|
|
