[Photo Sparks] Innovators at the Manthan 2014 Awards for Best South Asia Digital Content (Part 1)!

In the earlier 30 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, art therapy, Diwali rangoli, ecopreneurs, health activists and eNGOs. In this photo essay, we showcase the winners of the Manthan 2014 Awards. Make YourStory’s PhotoSparks your regular source of photographs that celebrate creativity and innovation!

The 11th annual Manthan Conference and Awards for best South Asian Digital Content wrapped up in New Delhi this week with a new round of winners in 13 categories (see my articles on the winners of 2014 and 2013). The conference also featured exhibits from over 30 of the 67 finalists and 27 winners of the awards; we will feature them in a three-part photo essay.

Unlockar is an android app that delivers user preferred content on the phone's lock screen. It rewards users with points that can be converted to gifts every time they unlock their phone. The screen displays user preferred content including trends, quotes, news, scores, weather updates, wallpapers, health and fashion tips.

Pratham InfoTech Foundation (PIF) is a non-profit organisation that works to bridge the digital divide, facilitate the adoption of IT in education, and equip disadvantaged youths with skills, tools and capabilities that the new global economy demands. It is affiliated with Pratham, an NGO working to provide quality education to the underprivileged children of India.

Civilian Welfare Foundation of Bengal runs a range of campaigns on issues such as paralympics and gender sensitization. Called ‘Walk for Paralympics' and 'Call against Patriarchy,' the campaigns have witnessed broad participation of the general populace. It has partnered with NGOs such as CRY and universities such as IIT and IIM.

The district Sabarkantha Development Project in Gujarat provides a wide range of IT-enabled services for citizens, contractors and businesses. Rural development projects can be inspected and tracked via mobile information services, and IT platforms have been used in the health and education sectors.

Tirubaa Technologies is a social enterprise incubated by the Science and Technology Park, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. It promotes educational tools via green technology such as solar power as well as open platforms. For example, the projectors are designed to work on solar power and operate even in dusty environments.

Children's Lovecastles Trust (CLT) is an NGO dedicated to providing equal learning opportunities and quality education for children. CLT Resource Centres act as hubs for teachers, resource people and volunteers to work on IT solutions for education in local languages. Its offering e-Patashale is both a product and service, blending curricular content and courseware.

Bhagatsir.com is an education portal for students of class 6-12 English and Hindi medium for CBSE/ NCERT/ State Boards. The audience of teachers, working professionals and students pursuing higher education can work on relevant courses online. The model is based on learning, remembering, recalling (LRR) methods for a range of classes and subjects.

Social and Development Research and Action Group (SADRAG) is an NGO working in the northern states of Delhi and U.P. Its initiatives include women grievance redressal systems comprising police and judiciary, and skilling programmes for young girls and migrant workers in Noida.

Dalit Sangh has been working for 25 years in social, economic and educational development of Dalits. It aims to increase awareness of social status, human and employment rights. It has collaborated with Action Aid, UNDP and UNICEF for health education and biodiversity as well.

Digital Monastery Project, Treasure Caretaker Training, was conceived by project director Ann Shaftel after many years of experience in preserving cultural heritage in the Himalayan region. Digital inventory addresses challenges such as art theft, and incorporates sacred texts as well as video/audio interviews of aged monastics. The impact of this project extends to other parts of India, Bhutan and Nepal, and into China.

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