Submit Nominations for “3M-CII Young Innovators Challenge Awards 2019”

Deadline: 10 July 2019

3M in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is seeking nominations for its “Young Innovators Challenge Awards 2019”. The theme of the challenge is “Disruptive Innovations to Create Social Impact”.

Challenge Vision

The vision of the Challenge is to identify, recognize and support ideas/innovations that contribute towards nation-building, sustainable development as well as imbibe the ability to lead the future of the world. Towards this, it is expected that all winning entries:

Have an idea or initiative which is either on the way to be institutionalized or enterprise journey and layout of a working model that does not rely on philanthropy or aid alone.
Be capable of sustaining its journey and scale, in case the innovation is at the idea stage
Demonstrate evidence to create change or mark a valid difference even if based on postulation at the idea stage.
Demonstrate leadership abilities/capabilities of the participant(s) to drive the innovation
Include a coherent and credible short term plan (one year) for the idea/innovation.
Indicate the difference the award prize and recognition would make to the initiative/innovation.

Award Information

Prizes: Total of 6 prizes worth INR 18,00,000 to be won.
There are two prizes under each category, each worth INR 3,00,00:
- Idea Prize – A breakthrough innovative idea with a successful prototype that demonstrates potential to scale.
- Impact Prize – An innovative idea that has demonstrated a model with measurable impact.

Categories

The Challenge encourages the submission of ideas and projects off the ground but at an early stage, in the areas of health, education, livelihood, environment, art & culture, governance and/or inclusive development. Submissions are invited under the categories:

Product Innovation – if the idea has a tangible offering
Service Innovation – if the offering is more impact based on intangible elements
Rural Innovation – should specifically address rural and remote communities and/or regions. The ideas under this category are expected to add new economic or social value to rural life. All submissions should be nominations wherein self-nomination with credible reference source is acceptable.

Participant Eligibility

Ideas under Product and Service Innovation Categories:
- The Challenge is open to individuals, teams and organization having an idea of any impactful innovation.
- Age bar of the participating innovators, team members and organization’s founders’ should be between 18 to 30 years as on or before 15th July 2019.
- All participants should be Indians or reside in India as permanent residents.
- Ideas presented could be at a conceptual stage with demonstrated proof of concept and plans for institutionalizations. Also, submissions are invited from early stage innovations who have begun their institutionalization journeys but their enterprises are less than 3 years of age.
- Entries cannot be accepted from current 3M employees, interns or trainees nor can entries promote 3M or its products.
- Applications must be submitted in English.
- All ideas must be original and shouldn’t have won any awards previously.
Ideas nominated under Rural Innovation Category:
- Who should be nominated?
  - Nominations are intended for grassroots level individuals or innovators who are either from rural areas or semi-urban areas and who have excelled as social change leaders. Their solutions should have the ability to demonstrate positive change or improvement in the lives of remote rural or semi-urban communities.
  - The nominee(s) may run their own initiative or organization or be part of larger forum or networks. Alternatively, they could be working as an individual volunteer or be part of the local government system (i.e. a panchayat).
  - Nominee(s) who have won any major National or State awards (such as Chief Minister’s and Corporate Awards) will not be eligible for nomination.
- Who can nominate?
  - Self-nominations are accepted with the recommendation from credible community references such as district administration or local NGO / CBO.
  - Organizations, networks and any individual can submit a nomination for a credible remote innovator with worthwhile reference for due diligence. Nominee credentials are compulsory (i.e. direct email and mobile numbers).
  - All nominations should adhere to the age criteria of the “Challenge” that is mentioned in the eligibility section.