Meet the Winners of "Innovate for an Accessible India" Challenge by NASSCOM and Microsoft India

NASSCOM Foundation and Microsoft India in partnership with the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Department of Science & Technology (DST), and ERNET today announced the winners of ‘Innovate for an Accessible India‘(IAI)-a pan India initiative that fosters innovative use of technology to address problems faced by Persons with Disabilities. IAI is a unique platform that brings together technologists, innovators and other stakeholders involved in accessibility and assistive technologies to work towards a truly inclusive India.

Eleven winners were chosen from amongst 3000+ innovative solutions in the areas of education, skills and livelihood, mobility, health and e-governance. This also includes two winners for a special AI for Good Awards from across all categories. The winners have been chosen from both early-stage startups and established organization categories and will get catalytic grants of INR 5 lakh and 10 lakh each respectively. All the winners will also be supported with customized industry mentorship from NASSCOM and Microsoft cloud and tech support to scale their innovations.

Here is the list of winners from NASSCOM and Microsoft India

1. Mobility

Kickstart Gati: The Kickstart Services Private Limited product is an electric vehicle that can easily accommodate a wheelchair when needed.

NeoFly: Wheelchairs with push rim design that enable movement of 2-5 times the distance on a single push and NeoBolt: Motorised add-on for independent long-distance mobility by NeoMotion Assistive Solutions Pvt Ltd.

2. Education

Nurturing Different Learners: A validated easy-to-use screening tool for parents to ensure early identification of Specific Learning Disability (SLD) in children. The product is created by Blink Foundation and NIEPMD

HEXIS: The six-dot portable, battery-based, low-cost electronic Braille book reader to be the means to disseminate accessible and high-quality content to students with blindness from Vembi Technologies Private Limited

E-Vision*:  This is a student-created low-cost interactive Braille Tablet (around Rs.5000) which enables the visually challenged to not just understand/ visualize how images and other forms of Pictorial data like graphs, pictures, diagrams, drawings, charts, maps, etc look like but also interact with them.

Development and dissemination of tactile graphics*: From Raised Lines Foundation - IIT Delhi Technopark-ITEC, the product comes as textbooks, concept-based books, storybooks, learning manuals. It also has learning aids like colouring kits, geometry kits, drawing boards, 3D models, accessible print.

* Will not get any grants.

3. E-governance & Access

Cluster Training Modal: Creation of standards for accessible premises available to a potentially large number of organizational users through an app. The product is created by Vidya Bhawan Society and v-Shesh.

From SignAble, the mobile app provides a live interpretation of speech in Indian Sign Language (ISL) to enable seamless communication between a hearing-impaired and a hearing person.

4. Health

Splinter Band: A wearable for autistic people, that reads and helps convey any emotional or physiological change from Globsol Innovation Labs Pvt Ltd.

From Sohum Innovation Labs India Pvt. Ltd. & VAANI, Deaf Children’s Foundation (Trust), this is a novel device and system to screen newborns for hearing loss to prevent speech loss & disability in resource-poor settings.

5. Skilling and Livelihood

Early MyDost: The beacon(s) based engine helps people with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) through mobile based audio/visual or text based instruction of the tasks when they come close to any user equipments. The product is the brainchild of V-shesh Leaning Services Pvt Ltd

Inclusive Divyangjan 2.0: It is an app to unify all the relevant information and services a Divyang individual will make use of in her/his life.

6. AI4Good

ScreenPlay: The game is a screening tool for autistic kids and adults from Kidaura Innovations Pvt. Ltd.

This AI4Good award is a special mention which will get and additional INR 5 Lakh in catalytic grants.