Tata Trusts, along with global aerospace major Lockheed Martin, has announced a revamped India Innovation Growth Programme (IIGP) in partnership with the Union Science and Technology Department to foster sustainable social and industrial innovations.
According to a statement from Tata Trusts, Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan made the announcement in the US.
The programme will be carried on by Tata Trusts’ Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (FISE), the statement said.
The agreement will extend and expand IIGP for three more years — 2017-2019 — Tata Trusts said, adding the goal is to foster a culture of innovation as well as social and industrial entrepreneurship.
Tata Trusts will support and expand the social innovation focus of IIGP through FISE.
Since 2007, Lockheed Martin and the Science and Technology Department have sponsored the IIGP with the aim of accelerating innovative technologies from the country into global markets.
The programme has produced over 350 successful innovations and added nearly $1 billion of economic value here in the past decade, the statement added.
The newly enhanced programme offers mentorship and capacity building, and provides opportunities for incubation and financial assistance.
Acceleration
Under the new IIGP, select innovators across social and industrial sectors will have opportunity to accelerate their proof of concepts for a sustainable product or service to global markets.
FISE, along with select thought leaders from the Tata Group, will evaluate innovations that have strong societal impact and cutting-edge industrial innovations.
Further, industrial innovations with high potential will be leveraged in the Tata ecosystem to ensure that inventors get the right opportunity which will help them mature their concept, Tata Trusts said.