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Atal Innovation Mission off to a start with Niti Aayog and Intel India signing Statement of Intent.
Atal Tinkering Laboratories aim to encourage innovation among youngsters and provide access to technology that will enable solutions. Intel will co-lead the creation and management of 10 ATLs as State Hubs. ATLs will target to reach out to close to 2,50,000 youth across 500 communities and schools.
Among the different components of NITI Aayog’s flagship programme, the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) the most important is the Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATL). To efficiently implement the initiative, NITI Aayog signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with Intel India yesterday.
Atal Tinkering Laboratories are being established with a vision to build relevant skills among youngsters and to provide access to technology that will enable solutions. Intel will co-lead the creation and management of 10 ATLs as State Hubs. These laboratories are intended to reach out to and equip close to 2,50,000 youth with innovation skills and skills for the future across 500 communities and schools.
Intel will play an instrumental role in the agreement by supporting NITI Aayog in developing a reserve of mentors and creating linkages with Maker ecosystem for quality improvement of projects made by youth, facilitating ideation, design thinking and prototyping workshops through industry experts. It will also co-lead an innovation festival aiming to reach out to 500,000 young innovators.
The SoI between NITI Aayog and Intel was signed in the presence of NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, Senior Advisor, NITI Aayog, Dr. C. Muralikrishna Kumar, Vice President – Corporate Affairs at Intel Corporation, Ms. Rosalind Hudnell and Kishore Balaji, Director of Corporate Affairs Group, Intel South Asia.
Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog said that if India needs to grow consistently at 9 to 10% over the next 3 decades, it is absolutely essential to create an environment of innovation where innovative solutions are arrived at for problems unique to India. NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission, especially the Atal Tinkering Labs, will encourage millions of child innovators who will tomorrow bloom into young entrepreneurs.
On this occasion President, Intel Foundation & Vice President, Intel Corporation Ms. Rosalind L. Hudnell said, Intel believes that it is more important than ever to invest in youth and innovation. That’s why we are proud to be a part of the Atal Innovation Mission to launch tinkering labs throughout India, which will ultimately help millions of children across the country develop the skills they need to be competitive as tomorrow’s workforce.
Earlier in the day, NITI Aayog, organised an Expert Consultative Group Meeting to help create and put in place a framework for operationalizing the Atal Tinkering Labs that will be established in schools all across the country. The technical support was provided by Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd.
The Maker community in turn, deliberated on the type of equipment (must have, good to have) in a lab, success indicators and engagement with the community. It was brought out that the ATL in all schools should be entirely student-centric and ought to function with critical involvement of all stakeholders at the school level – teachers, parents, makers and other private organizations to make the initiative a grand success.
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Image Courtesy: niti.gov.in