It is always being a challenge for developing country like India, to improve the quality of life of the people living in rural areas. Mahtma Gandhi, way back in 1930s had clearly shown an appreciation of harnessing science and technology for transforming rural India. Thereupon, many efforts are being made for rural development to enhance the quality of life using science & technology.
In the the rural areas, it is necessary to apply friendly and adaptive technologies suitable to the local situation considering their constraints to address their requirements. In order to define 'technological space' in rural areas, it is necessary to bring various stakeholders on one platform to devise solutions.
WIN (Wheels India Niswarth) Foundation, together with Wheels Charitable Foundation, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar and Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, organizing the first WIN Conference on April 5th and 6th 2019.
The conference aims to provide a platform for all stakeholders viz. NGO’s, Startups, Academicians, Professionals, Researchers, Scientists, Policy makers, students, Investors and many other ecosystem builders to present and discuss their latest solutions, products, projects, research, policies, programs and other initiatives, with common objective to drive and accelerate change in our under-served communities.
The conference will also provide a platform for startups with innovative and scalable solutions in relevant domains to get support to accelerate their growth through support in mentoring, marketing and funding. The conference will enable all stakeholders to network, to explore and initiate collaborative action.
The conference will focus on:
- To develop multi-sectoral platforms of a broad group of stakeholders and define Sustainable Development Goals in the domains viz. Water and Sanitation, Maternal and Child Health and Smart Villages Solutions
- To discuss issues in a structured and transparent way so as to reach to the conclusion about the best way forward to achieve the defined goal.
- Strengthening the collaboration among all stakeholders and fostering sharing of knowledge and good practices among them.
- Facilitating guidance by International Knowledge Partners for review of and synthesis of international solutions to address priority critical issues relevant to local context
- Facilitating innovative public-private-partnership with government interface to leverage private sector investment, knowledge and resources.
- To formulate structured mechanisms for improving cross-sectoral integration for development and deployment of Platforms for transformative interventions across multiple thematic areas.
- Creation of an enabling environment to attract and sustainable funding for implementation of the model at field level.
WIN Foundation
WIN Foundation is an US based non-profit (US 501 c3) organization. WIN’s express purpose is to support and facilitate innovation in the areas of Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and Water and Sanitation (WatSan) issues primarily in India and secondarily in other developing and least developed countries. Its’ primary operating units are located in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. WIN Foundation also supports start-ups with solutions in these and related domains through market access and funding.http://www.winfoundations.org
WHEELS Charitable Foundation
Wheels Charitable Foundation is an Indian Arm of Wheel Global Foundation and a non-profit foundation formed by prominent IIT alumni, to leverage work done at IITs and by IITians in India and across the world, to provide innovative technology driven solutions to the challenges that affect the global rural population in six areas; Water, Healthcare, Energy, Education, Livelihood and Sustainability. The organization partners with other national and international NGO’s and non-profit organizations towards this aim.http://www.wheelscharitable.org and http://www.wheelsglobal.org
Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar
Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, setup in 2008, has grown as one of the most dynamic IIT's with several path breaking initiatives in undergraduate and graduate programs and research. It has significant applied research in water, and also recently instituted a chair on Water and Sanitation.http://www.iitgn.ac.in
Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar
Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPHG) is India’s first and the largest Public Health University.. IIPHG aims to strengthen the overall health system in the country through education, training, research, and advocacy/policy initiatives. The institute started its operation in July 2008 from its interim location in Ahmedabad and shifted to its permanent campus in Gandhinagar in October 2016.http://www.iiphg.edu.in
- Identify challenges and the key intervention areas (KIA) related to Water-Sanitation, Maternal- Child Health and Smart Village.
- Development of ideas for realistic approaches and innovative Technology enabled Solutions; to the challenges and setting up of a forum for evolving projects ensuring development of ecosystem
- Identification of priority areas of research and development.
- Evolving action plan with specific time frame according to the identified problems
- Establishment of “action groups” for implementation of the identified intervention on field,
- Identification and Initiation of pilot projects to test and further develop new possible approaches.
- PanIIT alumni
- Philanthropists
- Industry Representatives
- Policy Makers
- Investors
- Start-Ups
- Representatives of NGOs
- Academicians
- Government Officials
- Researchers
- Scientists
- Students
- Swachh Bharat
- Smart Innovations
- Waste Utilisation
- Water for All
- Conserving Groundwater/ Recharging Aquifers.
- Health for All
- Technology enabled Smart Village Interventions
- Artificial intelligence for rural development
