Renowned socio technologist Dr. Chintan Vaishnav has been named Mission Director of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog’s flagship government initiative.
Vaishnav will replace Ramanathan Ramanan later this month. Ramanan is AIM’s first mission director since June 2017. Vaishnav currently works at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. He has a Ph.D. in technology, management, and politics from MIT.
Vaishnav is an engineer trained to understand and build large systems, both human and technological.
As a teacher, innovator and entrepreneur, he has first-hand experience of the innovation ecosystem in India and the United States. Over the past decade, he has divided his time between teaching and researching at MIT and living and working with rural communities in India, developing solutions capable of overcoming fundamental limitations to improve human conditions.
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He has co-founded commercial and nonprofit organizations, advising startups, businesses, and governments on how to address challenges at the intersection of technology and systems, development, and law and order.
AIM’s mission is to create and nurture a vibrant ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship across the country. Over the past four years since its inception, AIM’s various initiatives have achieved remarkable results.
To date, AIM has implemented 72.59 Atal Tinkering Labs in schools in 650 districts, providing access to new technology to more than 3.5 million students. In addition, 68 Atal incubators have been created, supporting more than 2,000 startups, including 625 led by women. AIM selected 56 Atal New India and ARISE Challenge Winners for Product Innovation with Socio-Economic Impact and launched the creation of 20 Atal Community Innovation Centers to stimulate community innovation tailored to the needs of rural India.
With more than 5,000 mentors nationwide and more than 30 corporate and international partners, the company has established one of the largest networks of volunteer change mentors. It has also forged strategic alliances with other stakeholders to support its initiatives.
