MUHS, UoP, UoM, Dr. BAMU and Persistent Systems announce a National Strategic Initiative to promote Inclusive Innovations in India

200px-Persistent_logoUnique Collaborative Effort to Bring Grass Roots Innovations to the Masses

Pune, INDIA – April 15, 2013: Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), Nashik, along with the University of Pune (UoP), University of Mumbai (UoM), Dr. B. A. Marathwada University (Dr. BAMU), Aurangabad and Persistent Systems (BSE & NSE: PERSISTENT) the global leader in software product and technology services, today announced a strategic national initiative to identify and promote inclusive innovations aimed at improving the quality of life in India at the grass root level. In line with this, the group will host ‘Inclusive Innovations 2013’, a conference aimed at bringing grass root innovations to the masses.

With the coming together of the brightest minds in academics and business, this group will serve as a catalyst; taking socially relevant innovations with considerable business potential to the masses through systematic efforts. It will create a cohesive ecosystem that will support innovators through the innovation lifecycle by mentoring them, as well as teaming them with appropriate angel investors and industry houses. Additionally it will organize multiple programs including conventions, competitions, innovator mentoring workshops, strategy workshops and boot camps with angel investors.

‘Inclusive Innovations 2013’ is a first step in kicking off the group’s activities. The conference will be organized under the patronage of the Hon. Governor of Maharashtra, Shri K Shankarnarayanan on December 10th and 11th, 2013. It will bring together a multi-disciplinary community of eminent experts and young innovators/scientists from the healthcare, engineering, environment, agriculture and computer sciences (IT) fields to share their ideas and demonstrate the latest innovations in their respective areas.

The December conference will provide two key opportunities to bring innovators together with industry houses and potential investors – an exhibition and a competition. The Expo, held at the Agriculture College, Range Hills, Pune, will showcase prototypes of innovative ideas and will be open to these constituencies as well as the public at large. Additionally, an exciting competition called ‘BharatOvation’ will provide an opportunity for any Indian to submit ideas based on the “Inclusive Innovation” theme. After screening by an eminent panel of judges, the selected innovations will be showcased at the conference and their commercial viability assessed by potential investors. Submissions will be open from April 15, 2013 – Aug 14, 2013 and can be made by visiting the website of any of the participating Universities or on the exclusive competition portal at www.ii.muhs.ac.in.

The announcement of the convention was made by the Hon. Governor, in the presence of Dr. Anil Gupta, Executive Chair, National Innovation Foundation; Dr. Anil Kakodkar, Ex. Chairman Atomic Energy Commission; Prof. Dr. Arun Jamkar, Vice Chancellor, MUHS; Mr. Pratap Rao Pawar, Pune; Dr. W. N. Gade, Vice Chancellor, UoP; Dr. Rajan Welukar, Vice Chancellor, UoM; Dr. V. M. Pandharepande, Vice Chancellor, Dr. BAMU; Dr. A. C. Mishra, Ex. Director NIV; Dr. A. D. Sahasrabudhe, Director, CoE, Pune; Mr. Jayant Sahasrabudhe, National Secretary, Vigyan Bharati; Dr. R. S. Paranjape, Director NARI; Dr. Bharat Bhushan, Director YASHADA; Dr. A. N. Suryakar, Registrar, MUHS; Dr. Anand Deshpande, CEO & MD, Persistent Systems and Dr. Abhay Jere, AVP& Head – Labs, Persistent Systems.

Dr. Arun Jamkar, Vice Chancellor, MUHS said, “We are extremely happy to partner with university stalwarts and leading organizations like Persistent Systems to organize this distinctive event. Technology is a key contributor towards the success and development that take place in healthcare. We need knowledge sharing and development platforms like these, where experts and stakeholders from various domains can effectively collaborate and pave the way to bring out new inventions and advancements in healthcare engineering, environment and computer sciences (IT) in our country.”

Prof. Anil Gupta, Executive Chair, National Innovation Foundation said “Our conference on inclusive innovations will help in facilitating what I call the golden triangle of rewarding creativity; that is, innovation, investment and enterprise. Many new solutions will follow, many new experiments will take place and many new explorations may be seeded. Inclusive India needs collaborative, compassionate and creative solutions for the problems of the common people.”

“We are delighted to host this unique and progressive conference to help foster grass roots development and innovation,” said Dr. Anand Deshpande, Chairman and Managing Director, Persistent Systems. “At Persistent Systems, we continue to track new industry trends, explore creative development and encourage innovative ideas that solve real-world problems in healthcare, life sciences and other domains.”

About Persistent Systems:

Established in 1990, Persistent Systems (BSE & NSE: PERSISTENT) is a global company specializing in software product and technology services. For more than two decades, Persistent has been an innovation partner for the world’s largest technology brands, leading enterprises and pioneering start-ups. With a global team of more than 6,000 employees, Persistent has 300 customers spread across North America, Europe, and Asia. Today, Persistent focuses on developing best-in-class solutions in four key next-generation technology areas: Cloud Computing, Mobility, Analytics and Collaboration, for telecommunications, life sciences, consumer packaged goods, banking & financial services and healthcare verticals.

For more information, please visit: http://www.persistentsys.com.