PhotoSparks: Photographs that celebrate creativity and innovation!

A picture is worth a thousand words, and a creative photo is worth a thousand ideas. PhotoSparks is a new photo feature from YourStory, featuring five photographs a week which celebrate creativity and innovation. Readers are also invited to contribute their photographs of new products, services, gizmos, advertisements, public service messages and entrepreneurs at work. Monthly and annual compilations will be published online, along with monthly and annual awards!

'RubanEye': Igniting rural innovation

This is the inaugural issue of 'RubanEye,' the bi-annual magazine published by Head Held High, a startup in Bangalore founded by Madan Padaki. Two more issues have been published since then, a good example of thought leadership by a startup. The social enterprise addresses the next new major trend: rubanomics, or the cultivation and harnessing of entrepreneurial energy in rural areas. The aim is to grow and accelerate the service component of the rural economy, in addition to agricultural activities. What good examples have you come across of city-village partnerships for startups?

CityBike: Innovative Approaches to Bike Rentals in Cities!

CityBike Vienna is part of a growing movement of bike rental facilities in European cities. With the CityBikeApp for iOS, commuters can find the nearest available rental bike. The Citybikes may be rented out and returned at any of the public rental stations in Vienna (over 100 so far). The first hour is free, after which a usage fee is charged of about one Euro per hour. This is an award-winning innovation in civic life, urban planning, tourism, and mobile-enabled urban transportation. Will this work in your city as well?

Service Innovation: Magazine Racks in Autorickshaws!

This photo captures an amazing sight: a magazine and newspaper rack in a Bangalore autorickshaw, a good example of service innovation! The rickshaw also has a sign from Peace Bengaluru whose aim is to make Bangalore the most peaceful city in the world. With rickshaw drivers becoming so creative and progressive, this is surely a good sign...

Digital design tools for weavers in the town of Chanderi

The weavers of Chanderi, a town within 640 km from Delhi, are using CAD-CAM technology and e-commerce sites to revive the art of the Chanderi sari and sell their products in India and overseas. MP Jyotiraditya Scindia roped in the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) to use computers in designing and archiving patterns. The town now attracts visitors from overseas as well and has become a tourist shopping stop, and also hosts self-help groups in entrepreneurship. Have you visited a similar digitally empowered artisan community?

Medical product from a Goa startup: Mobile-enabled ECG monitor

The MobMon ECG product enables real-time streaming of ECG, BPM and SpO2 data via Wi-Fi, 2G and 3G, to help create and share records for cardiologists. The product has been developed by Kallows, a software services company founded in 2007 in Goa, India. In 2012, the company entered the medical device market launching ultra-portable and low-cost smartphone and tablet based cardiac monitors. The ‘east-west’ founding team is Gajanan Nagarsekar from India and Kevin Kreger from the US. Kallows provided the key talent in the development of Magnetic Resonance systems for GE Healthcare. Hardware development work is ongoing for peripherals for mobile phones and media players. What US-India collaborations have you come across in the startup world?

Up next:

June 21: PhotoSparks @ Communicasia Expo in Singapore

June 28: PhotoSparks @ Sampoorn Santhe arts fair in Bangalore

July 5: PhotoSparks @ Rainforest World Music Festival in Malaysia

Got a good creative inspirational photograph to share? Email us at [email protected]!