The Grand Challenges is an initiative under the State’s Startup Policy aimed at looking for new technologies or innovations that can offer solutions to some of the longstanding issues pertaining to the state of Karnataka.
The startups need to register on the program’s website (startup.karnataka.gov.in/funding#grand-challenge-fund) and apply via an online form. The window will remain open till Sep 30.
Each year challenges would be posed in five identified areas and solutions selected through a rigorous selection process will be awarded an initial grant and a follow on funding for implementation of a pilot project at an appropriate scale. The winners will also automatically qualify for incubation space in the incubators supported by the government.
Under the program, five calls will be launched every year covering important priority areas like Urban Development, Agriculture, Health, Education etc. The first call targets issues surrounding Urban Infrastructure with focus on waste water management.
IT & BT Minister Priyank Kharge said, “Bengaluru is a laboratory for innovations. Sharing and transferring these innovations through a public private partnership can help solve many of the issues facing the State. We plan to launch Calls around 5 priority areas, and this is the First Call for Proposals. We hope that at the end of two years we will have the required system which will allow the government and civil society to receive consistent, reliable and real time data of the water discharge on which policy interventions can be designed.”
V Manjula, Principal Secretary at IT & BT department said that the government intends to use the vibrant startup environment in Karnataka to drive innovation through use of technology to find workable and scalable solutions to challenges faced by it. Karnataka will use the model of Grand challenges to focus attention and effort on specific problems.
Source: The Economic Times