– Funding grant of INR 60 lakh plus mentorship to 5 winning NGOs/NFPs
– Awards recognize innovative solutions for mobilizing social change in India
– New award category introduced – innovation in mobile domain by government
-Partnership with NASSCOM Foundation, through NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum, enhances reach and makes the selection process more robust
New Delhi, June 25 2014: Vodafone Foundation today, launched the fifth edition of their flagship initiative ‘Mobile for Good Awards 2015’, in partnership with NASSCOM Foundation, through the NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum. The Awards recognise and support emerging talent and innovative mobile solutions from NGOs and ‘For profit’ enterprises that facilitate community empowerment and inclusive growth.
This year, 11 winning innovations will be recognised across two categories – ‘Leading Change Maker – NPO’ and ‘Leading Change Maker – For Profit’. Innovative mobile driven solutions in four critical areas of Health, Education, Agriculture & Environment and Women Empowerment & Inclusive Development will be selected from both the categories. This year, there will also be a special award for a Government led solution for achievement in the NPO category.
Vodafone Foundation will provide a grant of INR 1.2 million to five winning NGOs/NPOs in addition to structured mentoring, monitoring and impact evaluation support from partner institutions, incubators etc. for them to achieve a larger impact. All winning projects will also be featured in the soon-to-launch, first of its kind – ‘Social Apps Marketplace’ by Vodafone.
Applicants from NGOs / NFPs and for profit organisations can submit their entries on the portal www.vodafone.in/mobileforgood until 31 July 2015.
Speaking about the Mobile for Good Awards, P Balaji, Director- Regulatory & External Affairs, Vodafone India, said, “This year, ‘the Mobile for Good Awards’ a marquee proposition from Vodafone Foundation, enters fifth year of its successful social initiative to recognize innovative mobile solutions in the country. Our mission, in line with the government’s vision of Digital India, is to build a platform for these innovators, recognize them and support them further for scalability and sustainability through funding and mentorship. This year with a new partnership with NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum, we intend to reach out to the mobile innovations across India and provide them with the necessary help for a greater impact.”
This year, NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum (NSIF) will power the Mobile for Good Awards. NSIF is NASSCOM Foundation’s program that has been honouring, mentoring and providing catalytic grants to social innovations across technology platforms, since the last 8 years.
Shrikant Sinha, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation, said, “We are glad to collaborate with Vodafone Foundation to enable the most powerful tool in people’s hands today, help improve their lives” He further added, “We are hopeful that Mobile for Good will act as a catalyst to bring forward break through innovations in mobile technology from across the country and these innovations will help integrate social objectives with technology to fuel social development in India.”
For more information about the Awards, to apply and read about the past winners and their successful applications, please visit www.vodafone.in/mobileforgood
Scheduled events
- Roadshows:
- 25 June 2015, Hotel Vivanta by Taj – President, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai
- 2 July 2015, Hotel Taj Banjara Hills, Hyderabad
- The final winners for the 2015 Awards will be announced on 3 December 2015 in New Delhi
About Mobile for Good Awards
The Mobile for Good Awards aim to recognise, promote and support mobile innovations for driving social change in India. Since 2011, we have recognised 21 diverse NGOs & social enterprises in India. Winning NGOs receive critical funding & mentorship. The Awards are back for the fifth consecutive year in 2015. The M4G 2015 Awards will recognise 11 winning mobile solutions in 2 categories that are addressing issues in education, women empowerment & inclusive development, agriculture & environment, health, government solutions.
The Mobile for Good Awards 2015 initiative is led by the Vodafone Foundation; powered by NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum as Implementation Partners; Grant Thornton India LLP as Knowledge Partners and NextGen as Mentorship Partners.
About Vodafone Foundation
The Vodafone Foundation in India recognises the power of mobile technology to address some of India’s most pressing challenges relating to education, health, equality and access. We are committed to enable people and technology to drive innovation, disseminate knowledge, and create shared value to improve lives.
By leveraging our mobile technology in the four areas of m-women, m-education, m-health and m-agriculture, we work in partnership with key charities, development agencies and the community to drive social change on a large scale in India. As part of our social investment programme, the Vodafone Foundation in India also focusses on disaster relief and implements the World of Difference programme, an unique employee engagement.
In countries in which Vodafone operates, a unique footprint of 27 Vodafone Foundations operate to deliver our social investment programme. These programmes are directed and chosen by the Foundation Trustees and receive funding from the Vodafone Foundation in the UK as well as their local Vodafone company. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.in/foundation
About NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum
In line with NASSCOM Foundation’s vision of enhancing lives through technology, the NASSCOM Social Innovation Forum (NSIF) identifies, Awards, showcases and supports innovative initiatives that have used Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for positive social impact. NSIF provides ecosystem support to social innovators, to aid and enhance the development and reach of technology based solutions. With an aim to address the key gaps in inclusive development, NSIF focuses promoting solutions on education, skills development, health, financial inclusion, disaster management and Assistive Technologies (for Persons with Disabilities). Through this platform, NSIF, aspires to build a systematic commitment to social innovations and inspire change-makers in Corporates and Not-For Profits to leverage technology to deepen social impact. For more Information, please visit, https://nasscomfoundation.org/get-engaged/nasscom-social-innovation-forum.html
Grant Thornton India LLP
Grant Thornton India LLP is a member firm within Grant Thornton International Ltd which is one of the world’s leading organisations of independently owned and managed accounting and consulting firms which presence in+130 countries, having +700 offices and with +38,500 consultants/ employees.
Grant Thornton India LLP with its presence in 11 major cities in India (Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Noida and Pune), is a leading firmproviding assurance, tax and advisory services to privately owned, not for profit organisations, public listed and public sector clients and help them find solutions to their business. Within the Advisory practice, Grant Thornton India LLP has a dynamic team of professionals dedicated to Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (Climate Change & Energy, Quality, Environment Heath, Safety, Social, CSR & Energy, Sustainability & Social Responsibility, Third Party Audit and Assurance Services) perspective of businesses and compliance thereof.
NextGen
NextGen, previously incubated at NSRCEL, IIM-Bangalore and TBI, BITS-Pilani is one of India’s fastest growing cleantech companies. NextGen operates in 6 countries with Fortune 500 clients across 16 different sectors. NextGen’s passionate team from the best universities across the globe delivers innovative and best in class solutions across sectors and geographies. The genesis of NextGen was from a research paper developed at BITS-Pilani when the Founders were students then. NextGen evolved into two broad domains of Sustainability Management and Waste to Energy.