Mumbai: Samsung, India's leading consumer electronics brand, has announced a shortlist of 100 teams for its flagship CSR initiative - 'Solve for Tomorrow', designed to foster an innovation ecosystem in the country. This shortlist includes 50 teams each from the ‘School’ and ‘Youth’ track who will now compete further in the national education and innovation competition.

This year, the shortlists have been done regionally, which has helped the competition reach out to the next generation of Indian Innovators residing in the remotest towns of the country, such as Khurda in Odisha Kachar and Kamrup Rural, in Assam and Amreli in Gujarat. The top 50 ideas submitted in the Youth Track covering the ‘environment and sustainability’ theme are not only unconventional but also extremely future-focused. Issues like deforestation, plastic waste management, marine pollution, carbon emissions, unsustainable packaging, and poor water management came across as the areas most critical to the youth.

The ‘School’ track, on the other hand, submitted their ideas under the ‘community and inclusion’ theme. Their ideas focus on out of the box solutions for critical issues such as mental illness among school students, lack of an inclusive environment for the LGBTQ community, poor access to digital literacy among economically weaker sections of the society, and the existing gap between academic learning and technical skilling to become job-ready.

A total of 232 participants representing the 100 teams will now gear up for the next phase of the ‘Solve For Tomorrow’ competition, where they will be equipped with presentation and effective communication skills through expert training and mentoring. This will help them prepare for the regional rounds commencing mid-July.

"Samsung believes that our youth possesses immense power and potential to drive positive social change. Our flagship CSR programme ‘Solve for Tomorrow’, has, for the first time this year, created a category for school students to cater to their unique skills and ideas. The improvement in the quality of ideas is a testament to the creativity and innovative mindsets they possess. For the first time this year, we also decided to go deeper into the five regions – North, South, West, East and North-East - to ensure we have a more broad-based participation from some of remotest regions of the country. We have received some really well-articulated ideas, and it is incredibly inspiring to see such presentations and clarity of thought coming from the young lot", said Samsung Southwest Asia corporate VP SO Chun.

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow has grown purposefully this year by supporting themes such as the environment, community and inclusion. The separate tracks – youth and school - have given equal opportunities and a level-playing field to all the competing teams. It is incredible to see such thought-provoking ideas coming from young minds across the nation. Together with Samsung, our endeavour is to encourage a problem-solving mindset in the next generation that will act as a catalyst in improving the start-up ecosystem in the country,” said Prof. Preeti Ranjan Panda, MD, FITT, IIT-Delhi.

The next stage will witness two teams from five regions – north, east, west, south, and north-east - being selected in each track, forming a national pool of 20 teams. The Top 20 teams will undergo an intensive series of training along with rigorous mentorship programmes by Samsung and industry experts to enhance their technical and soft skills. These teams will also attend an ‘Innovation Walk’ at the Samsung Regional Headquarters in Gurugram and Samsung R&D Centres across India.

Solve for Tomorrow 2024 track details:

This year, the 'Solve for Tomorrow' programme introduced two distinct tracks – School Track and Youth Track, each dedicated to championing a specific theme and targeted towards different age groups. Both the tracks run simultaneously, ensuring equal opportunity and a level playing field for all students.

School Track: The School Track, is tailored for students aged 14-17, focusing on the theme “community and inclusion”. The winning team will be declared as the “Community Champion” of Solve for Tomorrow 2024 and will receive a seed grant of INR 25 Lakh for prototype advancement. The schools of the winning teams will also receive Samsung Products to boost educational offerings, encouraging a problem-solving mindset.

Youth Track: The Youth Track, targets individuals aged 18-22, with a focus on the theme “environment and sustainability”. The winning team will be declared as the “Environment Champion” of Solve for Tomorrow 2024 and will receive a grant of Rs 50 Lakh for incubation at IIT-Delhi. The colleges of the winning teams also receive Samsung products to boost their educational offerings, encouraging social entrepreneurship.

Samsung India has partnered with the Foundation for Innovation & Technology Transfer (FITT), IIT Delhi. The strategic collaborations for the third edition also include the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology; Manthan, Office of Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India, and the United Nations in India.

First launched in the US in 2010, Solve for Tomorrow is currently operational in 63 countries globally and has seen over 2.3 million young people participate worldwide.

Samsung India Reveals the First Shortlist of 100 Teams of ‘Solve For Tomorrow’