The Indian innovation ecosystem is set to benefit from the launch of the country’s first vernacular innovation programme (VIP) by NITI Aayog, which will give innovators and entrepreneurs access to the ecosystem in 22 scheduled languages.
The initiative, which is part of the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), aims to empower innovators and entrepreneurs by building the necessary capacity for the VIP, which will include the training of a vernacular task force (VTF) in each of the 22 scheduled languages.
Teachers of vernacular languages, topic specialists, technical writers, and the leadership of regional Atal incubation centres will make up each task group (AICs).
This programme might make India the first country in the world to build an innovative environment that caters to 22 languages as well as English.
The initiative will be off with cooperation with IIT Delhi’s design department, which will train the VTF in design thinking and entrepreneurship, as well as the adaptation of these subjects across 22 languages and cultures.
In addition, industry mentors have teamed together to give their knowledge in design thinking, and CSR sponsors have committed to funding the programme.
The ecosystem will be offered to vernacular innovators when the task force has been trained between December 2021 and April 2022.
According to Chintan Vaishnav, the mission director of AIM, the initiative is being established at a time when the innovation ecosystem might benefit from eliminating the language barrier in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship.
There has been an increasing need to address the problem of not being able to share one’s idea or invention with the rest of the world, particularly in India, which has such a diverse language population.
“Ten years later these numbers are not likely to be very different. Why shouldn’t we then create equal opportunity for the vernacular innovators who represent the staggering 90 percent of our population,” said Vaishnav.
The VIP initiative, according to Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, and Amitabh Kant, CEO of Amitabh Kant, is a stepping stone in the entrepreneurship ecosystem that will cement the cognitive and design thinking attitude in young and aspiring minds, as well as sharpen India’s design and innovation capabilities.
Local entrepreneurs, craftspeople, and innovators will be able to absorb the knowledge and technical materials developed by AIM, allowing for the development of a strong local network of design specialists and innovators.
