MUMBAI: Today the winners of the Google Impact Challenge in India were announced, a competition that asked Indian nonprofits how they would make a positive impact on India and the world using technology. The four winners, unveiled at an event in Delhi, each received a Rs 3 crore Global Impact Award, 10 Nexus tablets and support from Google to make their project a reality.
All ten finalists of the Google Impact Challenge pitched their concepts live to a panel of judges that included Google Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora, Google board member Ram Shriram, Google Director of Giving Jacquelline Fuller, Social Worker and former Chairperson of Thermax Anu Aga and Omidyar Network India Advisors Managing Director Jayant Sinha.
The winners, as selected by the judges, are as follows:
Agastya: Launch a network of motorbike science labs to address the lack of science equipment and digital resources for rural children (www.agastya.org)
Digital Green: Scale a video hub and an online knowledge platform to help farmers gain the agricultural skills they need to lower their costs and increase their productivity
(www.digitalgreen.org)
Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship & Democracy: Create online and mobile apps to connect citizens to their government representatives in urban India (www.janaagraha.org)
A fourth winner was selected by the public to receive the final Rs 3 crore Global Impact Award.
After over half a million people voted during the Challenge’s ten day voting period, Social Awareness, Newer Alternatives was selected as the public’s fan favourite. The voting period ran from October 21 to October 30 at g.co/indiachallenge.
In addition to supporting all ten exceptional projects through the Google Impact Challenge, Google was keen to highlight the work of the Indian non-profit community. In a surprise announcement made at the event, the six runners-up in the Google Impact Challenge each received Rs 1.5 crore to scale their impact.
Ram Shriram, judge and Google board member said, “Technology is an intrinsic part of our everyday lives. Its potential, if harnessed effectively, could play a pivotal role in bringing positive change in society. The Google Impact Challenge is aimed at celebrating and accelerating the best technological innovations developed by the bright minds of our country with an agenda to make a positive impact in the society. We congratulate all the winners and wish them success for their social initiatives. ”
Nikesh Arora, judge and Google Senior Vice President said, “All the ideas were wonderful and we had a tough time choosing the winners. We launched the Google Impact Challenge to provide support to India's brightest social entrepreneurs who want to apply their innovative skills to usher in a social change. We have received an overwhelming response from social entrepreneurs working for diverse causes and are highly impressed by the innovative and sustainable business models showcased during the Challenge.”
Global Impact Awards support entrepreneurial non-profits using technology to tackle some of the world’s toughest problems. Previous awards supported ideas ranging from technology that allowed under-privileged students to access maths and science education to real-time sensors that monitor clean water. This is Google’s second country-specific Challenge
