Microsoft Research (MSR) India is creating a new program to work with academia, government and entrepreneurs to help incubate technologies for societal impact, with special emphasis on Cloud and AI platforms
Important dates:
• Deadline for submitting project proposals (for full consideration): September 21st, 2018
• Notification of selected projects: 5th November 2018 (due to very high volumes of proposals received, the review committee needs more time to finalize projects)
• Kick-off with selected projects: 19th November 2018
Context
India is going through a disruptive phase in digitization and technology. The focus of the government, in conjunction with the tremendous energy brought upon by the industry, academia, social entrepreneurs and impact investors has created an environment with the potential to address societal challenges with large scale deployments of technology-led innovations.
Microsoft Research (MSR) India is a thought leader in developing and deploying technologies for socioeconomic development. We have a strong legacy of work in the understanding of challenges faced by under-served communities. We have also fostered innovative interventions with demonstrable impact across domains such as healthcare, agriculture and education. Our work on TB medication adherence (99 DOTS) (opens in new tab) has led to broad deployment not only in India, but also in Myanmar and Africa. Digital Green (opens in new tab), an NGO working on agricultural extension using videos, came out of research from our lab. IVR junction (opens in new tab), a platform for grassroots citizen journalism, is widely used in developing countries across the world.
Since our inception in 2005, we have been doing this work in collaboration with academia, government and entrepreneurs. Given the current climate, we see a huge opportunity in the potential of technology for societal impact and take our collaborative engagements to the next level. To that end, MSR India is creating a new program to work with academia, government and entrepreneurs to help incubate technologies for societal impact, with special emphasis on Cloud and AI platforms.