Dr Chintan Vaishnav, a socio-technologist has been appointed the new mission director of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM). It is a government’s flagship initiative for national Innovation and entrepreneurship under NITI Aayog.
Since the establishment of AIM in 2017, R Ramanan has been the first-ever Mission Director of AIM. Later in this month, Vaishnav will succeed in the post that Ramanathan Ramanan held.
At present, Vaishnav is at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), US. He holds a PhD in Engineering Systems (technology, management, and policy) from MIT.
Chintan Vaishnav is a Senior Lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and also a founding member of MIT Tata Center for Technology and Design. Being a socio-technologist, he is trained to understand human as well as technological complexity in large systems.
Vaishnav’s interest in socio-technical systems allows him in finding solutions to improve lives in underserved communities, and in analyzing the implications such technologies hold in promoting and managing for policymakers, managers, and society at large.
He is an academician who has first-hand experience in the innovation ecosystem, both in India and the US. Over the past decade, he has divided his time between teaching and research at MIT, and living and working with rural communities in India to find solutions to the constraints that are barring the improvement of the human condition.
Vaishnav has co-founded both commercial and non-profit organisations and has been an advisor to startups, corporations, and governments on tackling challenges in the domain of technology and systems, development, and public policy.
AIM’s mission is to create a holistic and vibrant ecosystem that encourages innovation and entrepreneurship across the country. So far, AIM has established 10000+ Atal Tinkering Labs in schools nationwide with over 7200 currently operational in more than 680+districts. More than 3.5 million students are now having access to innovative technologies like 3D printers, Robotics, IOT, electronics “do it yourself” kits.
It has over 68 Operational Atal Incubation Centers spread in Universities and industries with 2000+ Startups which includes over 625 startups led by women. Till now, 20 Atal Community Innovation Centers are being established in Tier-2, Tier-3 cities in India and also in Rural India to address the needs of community-centric innovation.
AIM is considered as one of the largest ‘Mentors of Change’ networks having over 5000+ mentors nationwide to mentor school students and Startups. Over 40 Corporate, NGO, Public Sector and International Innovation Partnerships are a part of AIM.