Source: AIM website
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
Goals
Long term goals of AIM include establishment and promotion of Small Business Innovation Research and Development at a national scale (AIM SBIR) for the SME/MSME/startups, and in rejuvenating Science and Technology innovations in major research institutions of the country like CSIR (Council of Scientific Industrial Research), Agri Research (ICAR) and Medical Research (ICMR) aligned to national socio-economic needs
Initiatives
The major initiatives of AIM are:
- Atal Tinkering Labs-Creating problem solving mindset across schools in India.
- Atal Incubation Centers-Fostering world class startups and adding a new dimension to the incubator model.
- Atal New India Challenges-Fostering product innovations and aligning them to the needs of various sectors/ministries.
- Mentor India Campaign- A national Mentor network in collaboration with public sector, corporates and institutions, to support all the initiatives of the mission.
- Atal Community Innovation Center- To stimulate community centric innovation and ideas in the unserved /underserved regions of the country including Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
- ARISE-To stimulate innovation and research in the MSME industry.
Atal Tinkering Labs
ATL is a work space where young minds can give shape to their ideas through hands on do-it-yourself mode; and learn innovation skills. Young children will get a chance to work with tools and equipment to understand the concepts of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). ATL would contain educational and learning ‘do it yourself’ kits and equipment on – science, electronics, robotics, open source microcontroller boards, sensors and 3D printers and computers.
Atal Incubation Centre
The AICs would create world class incubation facilities across various parts of India with suitable physical infrastructure in terms of capital equipment and operating facilities, coupled with the availability of sectoral experts for mentoring the start-ups, business planning support, access to seed capital, industry partners, trainings and other relevant components required for encouraging innovative start-ups. Moreover, AICs would be established in subject specific areas such as manufacturing, transport, energy, health, education, agriculture, water and sanitation etc.
Atal New India Challenge (ANIC)
One of Atal Innovation Mission’s primary goals is to incentivize innovation in areas critical to India’s growth. The innovative solutions in the areas like health, housing, hygiene, energy and water can impact directly on the livelihood of all sections of society. Researchers have long talked of the ‘Valleys of Death’ at the early stage and commercialization stage in taking innovations to market. The Atal New India Challenge aims to address the second Commercialization Valley of Death, in which innovators are unable to access resources for piloting, testing, and market creation.
The vision of ANIC is two-fold:
- Help create products from existing technologies relevant for national and social causes (productization)
- Help new deep-tech products find markets and early customers (commercialization) in the context of India.
Mentor of Change Program
It is a strategic nation building initiative to engage leaders who can guide and mentor students in thousands of Atal Tinkering Labs and startups and incubators under the programs of Atal Innovation Mission across India.
Atal Community Innovation Center
The program is directed to encourage the spirit of innovation through solution driven design thinking to serve the society. It will focus on underserved/unserved regions of the country which at present lack a vibrant startup and innovation ecosystem.
Proposed Focus Areas: Underserved/unserved regions of Tier 1 / metro cities, Tier 2 & Tier 3 cities, Smart Cities, Aspirational districts, North-East, J&K and Rural and Tribal regions of India.
Purpose: Offer unique and incentivized solutions which will encourage students, researchers or any individual/group of individuals to ideate and design novel solutions.
Atal Research & Innovation for Small Enterprises (ARISE)
ARISE is an initiative to promote research, innovation and competitiveness of Indian startups and small enterprises including Micro, Small, and Medium enterprises. The program’s objective is to catalyze research, innovation, find solutions to the sectoral problems and subsequently trigger creation of new industrial sectors, through the support of Central Government Ministries / Departments, who will become the first buyer of the solutions / products innovated under the ARISE program by start-ups and small enterprises.
ARISE will be a multi-phase, multi-sector, and multi-stakeholder program to identify, fund, guide, hand-hold, and procure from Indian startups and small enterprises. It aims to inculcate a culture and mindset of engaging and co-creating amongst the industry as well as the government, to improve India’s import substitution capabilities, develop export leadership in nation-critical sectors, and provide indigenous solutions for challenges in India.
