Vodafone Foundation, the CSR arm of Vodafone Group, in partnership with NASSCOM Foundation Tuesday announced grants worth Rs 9 million to support emerging and innovative mobile solutions
India CSR News Network
NEW DELHI: It has reported that Vodafone Foundation, the CSR arm of Vodafone Group, in collaboration with NASSCOM Foundation has announced a corpus of Rs 9 million, up from Rs 6 million last year, to support emerging and innovative mobile solutions for community empowerment from non-profit and for-profit organisations, enterprises, and government departments.
Both Vodafone and NASSCOM are currently inviting applications for the sixth edition of Mobile for Good awards, a platform that supports emerging new talent in developing ideas in the areas of health, education, agriculture, environment, women empowerment and inclusive development.
“Last year, we had given five awards with grant of Rs 12 lakh to each, making it Rs 6 million. This year, we have added more awards to make it Rs 9 million. We have had 245 applications last year, which is a significant number of applicants. I am confident this year too we will discover many more inspiring stories of how mobile technology is transforming communities across India,” Vodafone India’s director-regulatory & external affairs and CSR, P Balaji, told Economic Times.
Balaji said that both the ogranisations through the awards are looking for ideas that have been started on ground or have come out of the ideation phase.
Upon selection, these organisations with innovative projects will be supported financially. Vodafone Foundation will also provide structured mentoring, monitoring and impact valuation support from partner institutions for winning projects for next one year.
“A gap analysis will be done and we will identify if they are lacking in test markets or in terms of technology, which can be enhanced or business plans in itself. Some of NGOs never ever think of going beyond their vicinity or villages. That’s exactly we will address over the next one year to make them larger, scalable and affordable,” Shrikant Sinha, CEO of NASSCOM Foundation said.
(Economic Times)
