Futures Conference

Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Orissa
18th April , 2010

Intention:
Today we are witnessing a surge of critical challenges facing our state “Orissa”. There is a pressing need for innovative solutions to a range of problems in the fields of health, education, agriculture, technology, and environmental sustainability. The solutions exist, but implementation requires the next generation of leaders to talk & interact.
We plan to fill the gap through interactive scenario* techniques session, where the young entrepreneurs & creatives will shape the future.
There will be many beneficiaries of such an interaction, but the greatest impact would be fostering seeds of change: entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology.

Background:
Futures Conference is drawing inspiration and guidance from the overwhelming success of a six-week innovation program from the Deutsche Telekom sponsored organization, Palomar5 based in Berlin , Germany (http://palomar5.org). Apurv Mishra, from Palomar5 will be coordinating the event in Bhubaneswar.
Also , MakeSense ( France ) will be sending their representatives Christian Vanizette & Romain Raguin to facilitate the program.

Outreach:
Beside the 40 Entrepreneurs & Creatives attending the event, we will also live stream the event through web. Thus, involve thousands of youngsters in the entire session. Also post-conference, the entire Scenario Sheets & Brainstorms shall be made public. The observations and deliberations of the sharpest young minds in Orissa are going to be assimilated and tabled as fodder for further research.

Program Schedule :
1. Introduction & TalkToMeBubbles to foster the creative mood.
2. Keynote by MakeSense Co-founders : Christian Vanizette & Romain Raguin will be delivering inspiring stories of the change agents around, the unsung heroes who are making a difference to the world through their own inspiring ways.
3. Fetcha-Kucha Wall & Snacks ( Visual Stimulation ) : Passion is inspired by vision. Vision is powered by images. Let’s give images a chance to give flight to imagination. Imagination that is not limited by lifeless words, but by images with soul and stories. Each story as vivid as they ought to be.
4. Keynote by Apurv Mishra : Inventor turned Entrepreneur from Orissa , now part of Palomar5 ( Berlin ) delivers on micro manufacturing and open technology that can act as a change agent for Orissa’s growth
5. Kushal Nahata on starting embedded technology firm based in Orissa “Roboticwares”.
6. Ravi Kumar on Futures Orissa ; the next game-changing development oppurtunity in the state.
7. SCENARIO PLANNING by Apurv Mishra ( MAIN EVENT )

It is a strategic tool used to map out future contexts. The tool consists of an axis made of driving forces in society & economy. This axis becomes a positioning model allowing for navigation and habitation. We will begin with an interactive Trend analysis to open a brainstorm on driving forces. The groups focused on their respective topics begin harvesting images and concepts. Each scenario will have 4 different outcomes. Within each quadrant the groups are asked to inhabit the world with a character, the stories that arise give insights on the future we see.

Link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scenario_planning
8. Presentation & Launch of Scenarios by the entrepreneurs.
9. Networking Dinner


Team
Apurv Mishra :
19 yrs , Social Entrepreneur/Inventor attended Nobel Prize Ceremony 2009 & Nobel Festivities and honored with SIYSS SEABORG Award from the Nobel Foundation .For the 1st Time Indian Sub-continent has been represented in such a forum since inception of SIYSS in 1976 and was awarded a diploma.
Apurv founded Innovator Factor Foundation in 2006 as spin-off from Intel's Initiatives at Indianapolis http://download.intel.com/education/isef/profiles/ISEF_CaseStudy.pdf . Also one of his inventions 'Glabenator' earned him the President of India's National Technology Award 2006 for the best technological innovation for the physically challenged. He has won several international awards including ISEF Grand Award - Indianapolis 2006, AVASC International Award 2006, Palomar5 Resident ( BMW ) at Berlin , TED Fellow ( San Fransisco ), CSIR Invention Award 2004, Infosys Young Achiever's Award 2007, and recently SIYSS Award to attend the Nobel Prize Ceremony 2009 at Stockholm. Also he has been widely talked about, CES 2009 Keynote by Intel Chairman( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doDQ2iQ_L_k ), BBC World, UNO'S World Intellectual Property Organization Magazine. He consults several NGOs like Kachile Foundation in Ivory Coast, HealthNovations in Boston & Ecamp Israel to name a few. http://www.apurvmishra.com


Ravi Kumar :
Ravi Kumar is a marketing consultant/business head for GoRural India, a rural marketing consultancy firm. He works extensively in the field of rural marketing creating brand awareness for corporates in the rural market.
He has worked for more than 8 years as a technical and business communicator in organizations like HCL Technologies, Siemens, Sun Microsystems and CA.