The Lemelson Foundation

Ravi Venkatesan

The event kicked off this morning with welcome addresses by Ashoka-Lemelson fellow Greg Van Kirk, Lemelson Foundation executive director Julia Novy-Hildesley, Indian School of Business dean Deepak Chandra, and Microsoft India chairman Ravi Venkatesan.

Venkatesan said that both he and Microsoft were proud to be a part of Tech4Society. He called himself a "modest student of social entrepreneurship." He said that he's long believed in social enterprise and that it's great to see the idea receiving more mainstream recognition.

On a more nuanced note, Venkatesan also said he's been puzzled by certain social innovations whose potential hasn't quite been fulfilled. He gave the example of the LifeStraw, an invention that got ample press attention and seemed positioned to bring clean drinking water to millions of people. According to Venkatesan, one million units have been sold since 2006, mostly to military servicepeople. "What keeps these innovations from scaling?" he asked. Are enterprises unable to find cost-effective models? Do they have trouble working directly with the intended audience?

The Tech4Society event is warming up for it's opening tomorrow through Saturday, Feb. 11-13 in Hyderabad, India, and even if you can't be there in person, you can still be involved online.

The event – a celebration of Ashoka-Lemelson Fellows – brings together pioneers on the cutting edge of innovation in solar energy, clean water, mobile technology, science education, agriculture and healthcare. In 2006, Ashoka and The Lemelson Foundation launched a partnership that aimed to find, support, and celebrate social innovators whose inventions and technologies offer fresh, effective approaches to advancing social change. Combining Ashoka’s nearly 30 year track record for finding and supporting the world’s leading social entrepreneurs with The Lemelson Foundation’s renowned expertise in incubating and celebrating invention for social good, the partnership has sought to prove that entrepreneurship and invention can align in powerful ways to improve the world.

"It's critical to identify the best, most high-impact and sustainable ideas…throughout the world." -- Julia Novy-Hildesley, Executive Director, Lemelson Foundation

In advance of the Tech 4 Society event convening in Hyderabad, India later this week, AshokaTECH Podcast host Alex Budak interviews Julia Novy-Hildesley, Executive Director of The Lemelson Foundation.  As a sponsor of the Tech 4 Society event -- which brings together leading social entrepreneurs, showcasing tech solutions and innovations revolutionizing social change throughout the world -- The Lemelson Foundation continues its tradition of supporting innovation and invention throughout the world.

In addition to the Tech 4 Society event, Alex asks Julia about her recent research on the "innovation engine" model for growth, her thoughts on where social-tech is headed in the next decade, and how we can ensure that a diverse group of future inventors are creating the next great innovations for the world.

As always, be sure to follow Alex on Twitter, @TheBudak, for updates on the podcast and your chance to have your own questions answered in future interviews.

Press Release: New Delhi, February 09, 2010

Today, Ashoka and The Lemelson Foundation organized a media briefing in the capital as a part of their Tech4Society initiative to recognize and showcase the innovations of two remarkable inventor-entrepreneurs – Hilmi Quraishi and Pradip Sarmah. The agenda of the briefing was The Indian Inventor Entrepreneurs and their contribution towards Sustainable Development.

The first-of-its kind Initiative with support from Microsoft® strives to bring greater attention to the importance of technological innovation in driving global development and highlight effective strategies for cultivating the next generation of inventor-entrepreneurs and scaling their world-changing ideas. The media briefing saw them discussing best practices, demonstrating their inventions and sharing their vision for the future, driven by the combination of invention and innovation.

Hilmi Quraishi and Pradip Sarmah have been chosen for their unique and cutting edge uses of technology, education, capital and support as tools for community development, policy setting and poverty alleviation.

A special edition of Innovations, a quarterly journal published by MIT Press, has been written specifically for Tech4Society in anticipation of the Hyderabad event and is full of in-depth insights on social entrepreneurship and technology from leaders in the field.

Contents include lead essays by President Paul Kagame of the Republic of Rwanda, Julia Novy-Hildelsy, Executive Director of The Lemelson Foundation, Matthew Bishop and Michael Green, and case studies, discussions and analytic essays by Ashoka-Lemelson Fellows and other experts in the field of innovation and social entrepreneurship.

View the full table of contents

Download Innovations (PDF - 4.2MB)