The National Conference on Social Innovation (NCSI) is one of the annual flagship programmes of PIC. Convened in association with the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), NCSI provides a platform to innovators for showcasing their innovations and facilitates collaboration between social innovators, impact investors, and CSR departments of leading corporate houses.
More than 150 social innovators have participated in NCSI in the last eight years. Distinguished personalities such as Prof. Anil Gupta (Vice-Chairperson, NIF), Dr. D. R. Mehta (Jaipur Foot), Dr. Rajendra Singh (Water Conservationist), Dr. Abhay Bang (SEARCH), Dr. Devi Shetty (Narayan Hridayalaya), and Dr. Narendra Jadhav (Educationist) have attended NCSI and engaged with the innovators. At the end of the conference, we publish a compilation of data on social innovators and potential resource centres for scale-ups.
Among the eminent Chief Guests in the past, we have had the privilege of the then Vice-President of India, Shri Hamid Ansari, eminent social worker Dr. Vikas Amte, Union Cabinet Minister, Shri Prakash Javadekar, and Shri Girish Bapat, Minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection for the State of Maharashtra gracing the occasion.
We also aim to increase youth participation in the Social Entrepreneurial space by providing a platform for young successful entrepreneurs and personalities in path-breaking careers to come and speak about their journey and entrepreneurship in general. PIC’s social innovation initiative includes a Social Innovation Lab and a Social Enterprise Mentorship Programme to provide guidance to promising enterprises.
NCSI offers:
- A cash award of Rs. 50,000/- for winners in each of the categories- Urban, Rural and Tribal.
- Opportunity to be a part of the two year mentoring programme called, Social Enterprise Mentorship Programme (SEMP).
- Free access to the Shared Service Centre for Social Enterprises (SSC-SE) where you can get affordable and quality service access to more than ten service areas such as, digital marketing, website, accounting and audit, designing, branding, legal compliance, intellectual property rights etc.
- Showcasing your work and networking with leading CSR/grant/donation/accelerator/impact investors.