• Co-create with various types of stakeholders to empathize with the challenges faced by them


  • Attention TECHNOHOLICS
    Spend next 6 months applying your skills to enhance lives of others

  • An Opportunity to fulfill your dreams!
    Get nationally recognized and opportunity to interact with business and thought leaders at the highest level

What is Digital Impact Square?

Digital Impact Square (DISQ), A Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Foundation Initiative, is an open social innovation center - in the city of Nashik, Maharashtra. DISQ encourages innovation using digital technologies to address social challenges prevalent in Health and Hygiene, Housing and Transportation, Food and Agriculture, Energy, Water and Environment, Financial and Personal Security, Citizen Empowerment and Transparency, Education and Skills development across India. These challenges are drawn from the voice of citizens, domain experts, local administration and government. To know more about Digital Impact Square, watch video here

Digital Impact Square:

  • Is a living lab where research and technology from academia and industry influences everyday life
  • Fosters a culture of innovation through a series of sustained innovation cycles
  • Accelerates the journey of many from being ideators to entrepreneurs, researchers or corporate leaders

WHAT IS THE INSPIRATION FOR DISQ?

This unique model for collaboration is in part inspired by the MIT Media Lab’s Camera Culture research group’s previous work in India to encourage innovators, conducted in collaboration with TCS, the local government and citizen representatives in Nashik. The Kumbhathon was set by eminent citizens with support from industry partners along with critical expertise and inputs from the MIT Media Lab’s Camera Culture group and TCS. This helped the local administration create a better visitor experience at the Kumbh Mela through innovative, technology driven solutions that resulted in this large event being run successfully without any loss of human life.


Explore Themes and participate

Themes are social areas which influence our daily lives. Through Voice of Citizens and inputs from various stakeholders such as administration, government, and from active research at premier academic institutions we have crafted Challenges, which are a reflection of real world problems. Browse through the Challenges and submit your creative idea or solution. If the Challenges do not resonate, Think Beyond’ and propose a new problem statement and your idea to solve it.

ENHANCE YOUR CAREER AND LIVES

DISQ builds a culture of innovation. It is a unique opportunity for you to develop into an entrepreneur and a thought-leader, while creating a huge impact on the lives of people. At DISQ you will:

  • Work on curated research areas and challenges, derived through engagement with diverse stakeholders including citizens, industry, academia and the local administration
  • Leverage cutting edge research assets, and accelerators from the likes of TCS and other leading Industry partners
  • Participate in an open innovation platform that can help you evolve from an ideator to being an innovators, career researcher, entrepreneur or corporate leaders
  • Have access to mentors from the industry, academia, and government

Learn more

  • ×

    We are looking for:

    • Youngsters with an entrepreneurial bent of mind, who want to turn an idea or a concept into a successful startup, and are willing to commit next 12 months to further their cause, or,
    • Technologically-skilled final year students, who can spend their final semester with us to apply their skills towards one of our challenges.

    Therefore,

    • Do you have a brilliant idea, which addresses a complex societal challenge, or a challenge under one of the themes on our portal?
    • Do you have the passion and commitment to grow and scale your idea into a tangible solution?
    • Are you able to spend 6 months at DISQ?

    And are currently either a

    • Student - Students pursuing a Bachelor or Master degree in one of the following disciplines: Engineering, Management, Mathematics, Statistics, Liberal Arts, Commerce, Medicine, Design, Architecture, or
    • Start-up - An early-stage startup, which is keen on growing and scaling their innovation or a
    • Budding Entrepreneur or an Innovator

    …then the Digital Impact Square is just the place for you!

    ×

    Digital Interface for Physical System (DIPS) are integrated solutions. DIPS should make use of relevant technologies such as mobile/web, social, big data, IoT, hardware devices, sensors, analytics, AI/machine learning, etc. to make the solution work.

    The ideas and solutions we are seeking, are not just mobile apps. They need to be well-thought out, integrated applications that addresses the digital and physical divide of the problem space. When used by one or more users (citizen, administration, health professional, teacher, farmer, etc.) DIPS should impact their lives positively and help them become smarter, hyper-connected and more productive.

    You will have the opportunity to accelerate building your solutions through access to research or technology from academia and industry. To know more on what is available click here.


    ×

    Follow the simple steps to participate:

    • Step 1 - Complete the Application form on Startup India Portal
    • Step 2 - DISQ team will connect for further evaluation
    • Step 3 - Final shortlisting for DISQovery 2022, list will be released by the second week of December.
    • Step 4 - Confirmation and Onboarding for DISQovery 2022- Probe Phase 1- Innovation Bootcamp

    The probe phase is divided into two sub-phases:

    Phase 1 - Bootcamp - Problem Fit (10 weeks – Starts in January 1st week)

    This phase will end with each team pitching their enhanced MVP to a panel of domain experts and DISQ for selection into the DISQ Incubation Program

    Phase 2 - Incubation Phase – Solution Fit (April – June)

    This phase will end with a pitch for evaluation and promotion of teams to the next phase where they will get additional funding and build a sustainable social enterprise

    Read more

    ×

    DISQ is a multi-year platform with several innovation cycles. The indicative timeline for the next innovation cycles are:

    Jan 2021 Innovation Cycle:

    Timeline 4

    June 2021 Innovation Cycle:

    Timeline 3

    We are constantly in search of innovators to add value to our existing teams and work on new challenges and are also accepting applications for our research-led challenges. So apply now!

Let's Get Started

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