Update: Yogesh Pathak and Ravi are the winners. Congratulations, instructions have been sent to you by email.
Every year, the IIT-Bombay Alumni Association of Pune holds their flagship event, Innovations, which showcases 16 of the most interesting innovations from across India. This year, Innovations 2009, will he held on January 10 and 11 from 9am to 6:30pm at the Dewang Mehta auditorium, Persistent Systems.
PuneTech has teamed up with IITBAA to give two of our readers a chance to win free delegate passes, which would otherwise cost you Rs. 1000 each. To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post as to why you would like to attend Innovations, and how you expect to benefit from attending. (If you are a blogger, and would like to send some google juice our way, blog about this, and link to this post. Your trackback/pingback appearing in the comments sections will be considered an entry into this contest.) The two most interesting responses, as determined by the IITBAA executive committee in consultation with PuneTech editors will get one free entry pass each. Contest ends on Monday, 5th January, midnight (Indian time).
What to expect at Innovations 2009
Innovations 2009 will be a two day event
Day 1 will start with keynote speech, followed by 16 fast-paced presentations by the innovators, a visit to the exhibits, and Q&A with all the innovators. In the evening, there will be a networking dinner for innovators with special invitees.
Day 2 will be an i2i (Innovation to IPO) Workshop. i2i is a concentrated learning capsule of 4-5 hours on the vital aspects of starting a new enterprise. The innovators and would be entrepreneurs are exposed to ‘how to’ – create a business plan, explore funding options, create a go to market strategy, deal with legal/regulatory aspects and more. Renowned experts from diverse fields share their experiences & expertise in 45 min sessions (3-4 of such sessions are planned) and help innovators create their own roadmap to success.
Why we think you should attend
Amit Paranjape, primary advisor to PuneTech, has attended the last two Innovations events, is a fan of this event and the reason why we talked the IITBAA into running this contest for our readers. Both of us (i.e. Amit and Navin) are attending Innovations (with our own money). We this this will be a great place to meet a whole lot of very interesting people from the startup ecosystem in India (although, technically, Innovations is not limited just to startups – even innovations in big companies are eligible.)
The innovations website gives these reasons for why you should attend.
Approximately 350 invitees consisting of VC’s, bankers, corporate executives, academicians, scientists, media, and other professionals are expected to attend this event. The organizers believe that there are a number of reasons why an invitee will be compelled to attend such an event. They are:
- Meet multiple innovators to learn about what it took to put the innovation in practice. The attendees will acquire an interdisciplinary perspective on the process of innovation and on how to pitch an innovation.
- Listen to an industry leader’s perspective on the process of innovation.
- Have one-on-one sessions at the exhibits and set up subsequent dialogs. The exhibition booths will highlight the key aspects of each innovation. The organizers expect that individuals closest to the innovations presented are available to interact with the attendees.
So try to come up with different reasons as to why you want to attend – maybe something specific to what you want to get out of this event. If you’ve attended this event in the past and have interesting stories to share, you would have an unfair advantage. So be it – life is unfair.
And let your friends know. PuneTech is a free, non-commercial, for the community and by the community site which depends only upon word-of-mouth advertising.
I would love to attend Innovations 2009. I was part of earlier innovations 2008 and also has a blog for the same which is at http://shahharshal.com/blogs/?p=60 (India Innovates at Innovations 2008)
I am an enterprenaur myself and look at operations of a start-up which is developing a SaaS based ERP solution for Indian SME’s. We are also working with our business partners to promote open source health care information system (particularly EMR) product in India.
I would like to attend Innovations to get in touch with like minded professionals and also get connected to the right individuals for my start-up.
I am a practising software Architect (alumnus of IIT Madras) looking for stimulating ideas and inspiring experiences to help me get more exposure into the world of entrepreneurship.
I believe that startups have the potential to change the course of things. I have been fortunate enough to witness (from a distance) some of them revolutionize the way things are done.
I hope to find opportunities to work/collaborate/partner with other likeminded people on this subject (IT enabling businesses or IT leading to the creation of new business opportunities) through this medium.
Hi,
Innovating is not just getting struck by some lighting. There is discipline involved in converting an idea into sustainable business. I would like to understand this discipline this process by attending the innovations 2008. Also since I am co-founder of StartupForStartups, knowledge gained by me will be used by many startups as I would be sharing this with them. So innovators knowledge will be shared to with many other entrepreneurs if I get the ticket.
Apart from that I have been a great punetech supporter and a startup ie innovations evangelist 🙂 .
Cheers,
Sushrut
Co-founder, StartupForStartups
I wish to attend Innovations 2009 as I myself want to be an entrepreneur and my dream is to do something which can act as match among different businesses and technological innovations and create wealth by adding more value i am sensing huge opportunities in Services and Infrastructure sectors and inspite of the current growth and development there is still lot of innovation and addition required in the process i want to attend because i feel i can network with some of the best people from the fields specially where i am keen to do something and this association will create a new business model altogether and make new momentum of entrepreneurship altogether in a different way where motive of being an entrepreneur will not just be making profits or taking huge risk but to add value to the consumers and society and after all this will lead to the economic growth of our country.
I constantly think that is only availability of funds are enough for an entrepreneur to run business but frankly speaking answer is no there are many more things which is required apart from funds to run a successful enterprise which should not only prosper our nation but create new opportunities further and by value creation all the problems of our country should start finishing off…I hope this will happen someday if people like us start making efforts from today. This is just a starting we should encourage more and more such events in future which will bring new deserving talent in front of the world.
Hey Navin 🙂
I would love to attend Innovations’09. When I am in the process of starting something on my own, this kind of event can help me understand what’s going on in Indian startup world.
For the last 40 years, global innovation was shaped by US’s leading position as the world’s consumption engine. While most of the innovation was done by US itself, the rest of the world (e.g. Japan) also focused on needs of US and other developed markets.
The next 40 years could be different. US and other developed markets have reached their limits as consumption engines. Its time for India and China to take over. That means innovation will have to take needs of such crowded, diverse, and challenging marketplaces into account.
The question is where will the innovation come from: Its traditional hotbeds (the developed markets with its massive MNCs and enviable startup ecosystems) OR the emerging marketplaces themselves (where both the homegrown MNCs and the startup ecosystems are still finding their feet)?
Another shift is national priorities are changing in the context of climate change. Innovation for sustainability is assuming far more importance than traditional “I-don’t-care-how-much-energy-my-product-consumes” innovation. The question is: Are established ways of doing things within capitalism and policy changing fast enough to incentivize such innovation?
In this context, events like Innovations assume great importance.
PS: I like the idea of bidding for passes by writing a blog post like this 🙂
I would like attend for networking with fellow entrepreneurs and also find a VC for my venture.
My reasons – Meet old friends, and make new ones!
I would love to attend this conference as we are a young team of professionals venturing into a startup and have recently moved to Pune. Would love to network with the fellow entrepreneurs, VCs and more. Mainly, this conference will give us an insight into what “innovation” really is and at what levels in India.
See you there.
We really came on World IT map with Y2K.
We established ourselves as global service provider.
Now what? Next phase of evolution would be the products coming out of India. There is no other choice but to innovate aggressively. Right from student community, we should attend this event to get ideas, brainstorm, think of something new-useful and go back with plan to develop.
Over these years in IT, I have realized that dreaming big is way different than actually implementing your ideas and sticking thru them at any cost. Dreaming is needed as without them we wont be able to do something of our own and pursue our passions, but actively implementing the ideas (dreams) need a lot of perseverance, sincereity, daring, confidence and passion.
I am finalizing some business ideas and hence I believe that such a forum would help me understand the experiences of all the successful enterpreneurs out there and would provide a very good networking platform
I feel the Innvotaors program at IIT is just teh kind of programme required by innovators to see how innoations can be incubated for business. I have a few innovative ideas for business and I would like to see how these can be converted into business opportunity.
Being part of IBM I have been hearing, participating, driving and evangelizing about Innovation since the time I joined as this is a place where all of this is valuesd a lot.. It is not surprising to see that the company generates the highest number of patents and considered as the pioneer in driving innovation for itself and its customers. Although all this is true my experiences with innovation so far have been within the walls of the company.. In past, I have come across innovations on the web, from colleagues/heard innovation gurus at conferences and at times in the media, These innovations appeal me more and I see a great value in getting to know about what is happening outside the walls- and also in the process share what is happening within.. networking with the attendees and the innovators is of course the agenda 2
I am an innovator & this appears to be cool innovation event so would like to attend it.
This is the perfect program for potential and early-stage entrepreneurs! There will be people from both the worlds, talented and innovative entrepreneurs from whom potential divers like me would derive much-needed perseverance to innovate and to overcome early obstacles, and successful entrepreneurs from whom we can learn what is success and what is needed to attain it.
I think being self-employed and giving employment to others is one of the most important gestures to help grow community and the country, and events like Innovations 2009 trigger passion to achieve this!
I am an entrepreneur and I started new software company with some of my friends to implement a unique business idea which is not done by anyone in India till now. We would like to gather more information about startups and the pain which we need to bare in transforming it to a successful organisation. Also would like to meet like minded people to share our ideas and thoughts in this event.
Respected Sir ,
I would like to know about the event and the atmosphere.
I really not attended this type of event in past i eagerly want to attend .
thanks ,
shabana
Why you would like to attend Innovations:
Curiosity to come across 16 diverse ideas, some of which may shape our future.Also, to listen to accomplished people share their thoughts.
How you expect to benefit from attending:
I just moved to Pune after staying abroad for long and it will be good event for me to network. I see there are tremendous opportunities in this country for using innovation, whether is related to saving the environment, education or making a common man’s day to day life easier. This event can provide me some pointers to contribute 🙂
Innovation is something which has always interested me. Seems like I have urge to innovate not only in technologies but even in day to day life.
I was a part of Microsoft research team at one point of time.
I tend to visit innovation or research websites of the top IT firms. Some links would be http://www.microsoft.com/about/brandcampaigns/innovation/default.mspx.
I strongly believe innovations are the lifeline to way ahead. Events such as these would be a great boost to people who would want to create something valuable and new. I appreciate the effort of organizers involved.
All the very best in your endeavour !
I am sure that this the sort of event that I am going to love to attend as it would give me an valuable insight of latest stuff.
Yogesh Pathak and Ravi are the winners of this contest. Congratulations.