[Photo Sparks] How digital innovators are transforming Northeast India!

Saturday November 15, 2014 , 2 min Read

In the earlier 25 posts of PhotoSparks, we brought you creative photographs from an art fair, music festival, telecom expo, art museum, mobile showcase, math museum, social hackathon, bookstore, co-working space, sensorium, lantern festival, outdoor ads, startup roadshow, computer museum, startup T-shirts, business cards, Diwali rangoli, ecopreneurs and eNGOs. In this photo essay, we showcase digital innovators from Northeast India! Make YourStory’s PhotoSparks your regular source of photographs that celebrate creativity and innovation!

My travels this month took me to amazing Aizawl, capital of Mizoram, for the fifth eNorthEast Summit 2014. This southernmost state of NorthEast India shares longer boundaries with neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh than it does with India! The verdant hilly state has agriculture as a key economic sector, and IT is now making inroads as well.

The eNorthEast Awards were organised by the Department of Information Communication Technology (DICT) of Mizoram, North East Development Foundation, Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) and Public Interest Registry (PIR). 51 innovators showed how they were using ICTs to transform education, health and citizen services delivery, and participated in three parallel workshop tracks. An exhibition area showcased these innovations, as the photo gallery below captures.

At the gala ceremony, 18 winners across 12 categories received awards from the chief guests: Mr. Lal Thanzara, Minister of ICT, Mizoram, and Dr. B. D. Chakma, Minister of State, Mizoram. Winners included Web-based vehicle registration system (Meghalaya), Sahaj Arunodoi Kendra, Rodali Virtual Keyboard (Assam), MOSQUIT malaria surveillance (CDAC), Telemedicine for Vision Care (SATHI), KKHSOU Job Portal, AssamKart, AssamCuisine, Assam Times, and SMS Vehicle Registration (Mizoram).

The first edition of eNorthEast Summit was held in 2010 in Assam, followed by Nagaland (2011), Sikkim (2012) and Arunachal Pradesh (2013 - see my coverage here). The 2014 edition in Aizawl ended with the traditional Cheraw dance of Mizoram. We look forward to the 2015 edition of the eNorthEast Awards already!