Innovating to connect the dots for social benefit

Young minds are constantly concocting bright ideas that have the power or ability to make the ‘difference’ required. However, lack of required support like exposure or funds, often prevents them from growing to their fullest potential. It is these revolutionary ideas that the NASSCOM Social Innovation Awards aims to recognise and felicitate. The awards recognise innovation in the use of information and communication technology (ICT) for social development. This year’s winners will be announced on February 8 at the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum 2011. The 21 finalists this year include four enterprising teams/ individuals from Mumbai.

No wasted efforts
Bangalore-born friends and final-year MBA students Pavan Murali and Gayatri Hegde’s The Kabadiwala is an online customised portal and SMS solution, that connects kabadiwalas with households and recyclers. “We are the intermediaries, so that people on the generating side have incentive to segregate the waste and give it to the kabadiwalas, who can in turn make more money,” says Murali, who credits the idea to their experience at an internship with the Bangalore-based waste management group Daily Dump.

“The way it works is simple — the concerned people (wholesalers, kabadiwalas and homemakers) get in touch with us, and we in turn put them in touch with the proper party, to everyone’s benefit,” adds Hegde. The pilot will take another three months and will be tested in Mumbai and Bangalore. 

Enabling exploration
It’s been a long journey for student Samiran Saha and his team from VES Institute of Technology. From tinkering with software to seeing it reach the national finals of the Imagine Cup (a worldwide competition organised by Microsoft) to being finalists here. Explore, their under-development software application, helps the visually or cognitively impaired user maneuver a computer with ease. “It serves as a single platform where people can learn, connect, share and collaborate,” says Saha.

Explore’s primary aim is to provide help using automation and speech interfaces and it works at the OS level too. Saha with his friends - Siddharth Shah, Ankit Koradia and Ramesh Patel, initially developed the software primarily for education. In addition, Explore features keyboard-simulated Braille using six keys, as an alternative means of communicating via the computer. This application works for regional languages too. 

Unique angle
How do you shoot pictures without being able to see? Partho Bhowmick devised a way and in 2006, started Blind with Camera, a platform for the visually impaired to share their ‘Inner Gallery’ of images — their imagination and point-of-view of the visual world.

The first-of-its-kind in India, the project which started with one student, now includes over a hundred, all trained in photography and who exhibit their works in galleries across the country. “The project includes helping the visually impaired use still, video and mobile phone cameras using non-visual (touch, sound, warmth of light) and intuitive senses, in addition to providing training handbooks and resources on photography in Braille format with raised images,” says Bhowmick. 

On record
Tata Interactive Systems which usually works with e-learning solutions, has now branched out to helping the learning disabled with patient management software. “The software preserves records of these students which helps in managing their files,” says Albert Lewis, chief technology officer, Tata Interactive. The software was first used at a disability clinic in the city in 2003, and now the updated version is being used at KEM Hospital.

Matching technology with need
The kind of technology used depends on what kinds of resources you need. For example, you work through events, then a platform like social networking sites would help. We use different technologies like JAWS, Screen Reader Access which helps the visually disabled maneuver computers and the internet. ICT is a huge help when it comes to overcoming barriers usually faced by the disabled, even in terms of something simple but useful like designing wheelchairs.
— Rohini Ramkrishnan, researcher, DRDF

Technology reduces costs
We aim to use contemporary technology to improve efficiency and reduce costs. We have upgraded our services by using BPO technology. Internet has become part of people’s lives, so we are in the process of developing an online application system which allows us to log into one web interface. Our service needs to reach every part of the country; and technology married to telecom is the perfect bridge to do this.
— Nishit Kumar, head, Communication & Strategic Initiatives, Childline

ICTs aid connectivity
In day and age where everyone is using technology for their benefit, NGOs should not be falling behind. In my opinion, it can benefit them in two ways. One, it can leverage connectivity with other NGOs and educate them about the best practices in the market, which is essential to improve your own efficiency. And secondly, it will enable them to connect to the youth who account for such a large part in our population demographics.
— Ajay Bijoor, social worker and IT consultant

We are 100% online
Everything at CRY is online, from account system software to our fund-raising gateways to our recruitment. We have database management software for our donors and volunteers. All our information dissemination is done using video and web conferencing. Being online makes things accessible, brings in accountability and transparency. Also, ICT helps by its sheer convenience and cutting down on communication costs. And there is maximum utilisation of resources.
— Priya Zutshi, senior manager, CRY