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NASSCOM Foundation and UNICEF partner to support thematic award- ICT for the welfare of children

NEW DELHI, India, 13 February - The NASSCOM Foundation, along with its strategic partner UNICEF, awarded  the “ICT for the Welfare of Children”  thematic award  to "IVRS based daily monitoring system", Mid-Day meal authority, Uttar Pradesh during the NASSCOM India Leadership Forum, held in the capital today.

The award comes under the "Genpact NASSCOM Social Innovation Honours" category and the winner was selected for introducing an innovative daily monitoring database system for tracking mid-day meals in government schools . The NASSCOM Foundation and UNICEF  partnership is an effort to strategically apply Information Communication Technology (ICT) for promoting  the rights and welfare of children.

The Foundation pioneered the NASSCOM Social Innovation Honours (NSIH) in 2008, to recognize and showcase innovation in the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for development. In the past years, these innovations have included ideas, applications, tools, businesses and processes that have transformative potential in delivery of services in education, health, livelihood and governance. 

The distinguishing factor of NSIH is a complete focus on the use of ICT-led innovations in enhancing social development initiatives across sectors. The Honours seek to emphasize the pervasive nature of ICT in today’s world and the immense potential it has in terms of refining processes, the way products and services are made available and increasing their reach. 

UNICEF recognizes the critical role that technology can play in developing and achieving the Millennium Development Goals, especially in the context of the children of our country. Through this partnership, UNICEF will be able to further its goal and encourage companies to innovate and support the use of ICT in promoting the welfare of women and children and advocating for the fulfillment of their rights. 

The partnership, which is a win-win for both, will provide UNICEF with the opportunity to engage with a community of existing and potential change-makers working on transforming development processes using technological innovations. Opportunities to interact with past winners and study their innovations will also be provided.

The alliance will also lead to enhanced awareness of core issues supported by UNICEF amongst the business community. This will lead to more focused efforts towards creating product and process innovations which in turn would positively impact development programs especially in critical fields of health, nutrition, education, child protection etc. 

NASSCOM Foundation has developed a wide outreach with innovators across all fields. The Foundation as a part of this initiative will reach out to its network to encourage them to leverage this platform to showcase their innovation concepts. UNICEF as a Thematic Partner for NSIH will have the unique advantage of outreach, sensitization and building awareness across a high impact group of stakeholders who are also key opinion leaders and influencers in Corporates, Government and NGOs.