Signs Statement of Intent with NITI Aayog to kick-off Tinker Lab Initiative building 10 IoT Labs for young Indian innovators
NITI Aayog, which, as a part of its flagship Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has introduced the Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATL) initiative in the country, today signed an Statement of Intent with Intel India. The SoI includes creation of 10 laboratories, aimed at fostering curiosity, creativity and imagination in young minds; teaching skills such as computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing; and developing a design mindset among students.
As per the release, the SoI signing ceremony at the NITI Aayog office, was attended by key dignitaries, including Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, Rosalind Hudnell, Vice president – Corporate Affairs at Intel Corporation, and President of the Intel Foundation, as well as Kishore Balaji, Director of Corporate Affairs Group, Intel South Asia.
The key objective of setting-up these ATLs is to build relevant skill set must among youngsters and to provide access to technology to help create solutions for social impact. The ATL’s will act as exemplars for the remaining 490. During this time, these laboratories intend to impact 250,000 youth with innovation skills & skills for the future across 500 communities & schools.
Intel India will build capacities in mentors, and develop linkages with Maker ecosystem for quality improvement of projects made by youth; facilitate ideation, design thinking and prototyping workshops through industry experts and co-lead an innovation festival which reaches out to 500,000 young innovators.
The report further states that the Mission is an umbrella platform for creating an innovation ecosystem through multiple programs and policies. It promotes world-class innovation hubs, entrepreneurship, start-up businesses and other self-employment activities, particularly in technology driven areas. The ATLs are a part of this vision to ‘Cultivate One Million children in India as Neoteric Innovators’, and NITI Aayog aims to set up 500 labs to inspire a do-it-yourself innovation and tinkering culture across schools in India.
Over a period of five years, USD 15 million will be spent on building and managing 500 ATLs, including fab labs in schools & communities around the country, for children between the ages of 12 to 18 years. The goal is to have one million youth build innovation capacity to solve the problems of local community. The 500 labs will be live by March 2017, said the release.
Intel has been driving multiple interventions, such as the Intel Tech Challenge that provides ideation and maker skills among school students, the set-up of 100 IoT centers across universities that promote IoT capacity building, design thinking, prototyping and fabrication, among other projects.
Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog said, “We believe that the ability to be innovative must be cultivated at a young age. The Atal Tinkering Laboratories will provide school students the opportunity to work with tools and equipment, fostering inventiveness. Students will also be able to exchange knowledge and learn from one another through regional and national level competitions, exhibitions, workshops on problem solving, designing and fabrication of products, so that.”
Rosalind L. Hudnell, President, Intel Foundation & Vice President, Intel Corporation commented, “Intel believes that it is more important than ever to invest in youth and innovation. That’s why we are proud to be a part of the Atal Innovation Mission to launch tinkering labs throughout India, which will ultimately help millions of children across the country develop the skills they need to be competitive as tomorrow’s workforce.”
Kishore Balaji, Director, Corporate Affairs, Intel South Asia added, “Intel India strives to promote a culture of innovation and out-of-the-box thinking among the young and budding entrepreneurs. This collaboration is part of our endeavor to nurture local innovation and promote a culture of tinkering amongst our future citizens. By creating an interactive experience for school students, we want them to learn about the fantastic world of science and technology in an engaging way. We have worked with NITI Aayog on several such initiatives, and are proud to do so again.”
