?????, ????, ????- A Maker's escapade! Chapter 2: Seven years of Atal Innovation Mission - the stories untold

Genesis

1st January 2015 – A Cabinet resolution was passed to replace the Planning Commission with the newly formed NITI Aayog Official (National Institution for Transforming India). Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the first meeting on 8 February 2015. Creating an #Ecosystem to foster #Innovation and #Entreprenurship mindset became one of the key agendas of NITI Aayog. The budget speech 2015-16 announced the Government’s intention to establish the Atal Innovation Mission Official (AIM). Accordingly, NITI Aayog constituted an Expert Committee to chalk down the structure of AIM.

15th August 2015 – The Expert Committee on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Report for India was submitted by the group of experts chaired by Prof. Tarun Khanna , ?Jorge Paulo Lemann ?professor at? 美国哈佛商学院 , and convened by Dr. C. Muralikrishna Kumar, former Adviser, Science and Technology, NITI Aayog.

24th February 2016 – AIM was formally launched under the aegis of NITI Aayog. The Mission Level High Committee (MHLC), chaired by the Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, was identified as the governing body of AIM. The main two pillars of AIM were identified as:

• Innovation Promotion – to provide a platform for innovative ideas generated.
• Entrepreneurship Promotion – for successful promotion of entrepreneurship and startups

The above two pillars led to the birth of the Atal Tinkering Lab program and the expand the Technology Business incubator ecosystem, respectively. The initial note envisaged the creation of 500 Atal Tinkering Labs, 100 #AtalIncubationCenters , and enhance 10 Established Incubation Centres.

To promote the spirit of curiosity and tinkering and foster an innovative and making mindset in young children of India, AIM launched its flagship initiative – #AtalTinkeringLabs . For the first time in Indian schools, young children could make-break-create and learn-by-doing. The program is designed to equip students with 21st century skills, making, computational thinking, rapid prototyping, design thinking, and social scaffolding. Children from grade 6 to 12 were equipped with tools like 3D printing, electronics, IoT, rapid prototyping tools, etc. and understand the fundamental concepts of #STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).

The Atal Tinkering Lab draws its inspiration from the #DesignThinking model of 美国斯坦福大学 , India Biodesign Program of Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and the thriving #Maker and #Education community of India like Maker's Asylum , #SRISTI (Honeybee Network), Central Square Foundation The Global Education & Leadership Foundation (tGELF) , Pratham InfoTech Foundation , to name a few.

25th May 2016 – NITI Aayog’s former CEO, Mr. Amitabh Kant, invited the first round of applications from schools in India to establish 500 Atal Tinkering Labs.

28th June 2016 – AIM organized consultation meeting with various stakeholders nationwide to design the program and pedagogy of the Atal Tinkering Labs. Earlier that year, I joined India’s largest Makerspace – Maker’s Asylum and started my own journey of a Makerspace Manager and STEM Educator. I joined the task force and contributed to the ‘Equipment List’ of these Makerspaces in schools. Little did I know that the serendipitous lifelong journey of making 10,000 ATLs of this Maker had begun, and with #MakeinInda , which will make our country the epicenter of the Global Maker and Tinkering Movement.

25th December 2016 – On the occasion of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary, the first cohort of approximately 250 schools were announced. This was a highly competitive process with many roadshows and regional, state, and national rounds. NITI Aayog is not just the Apex Policy #ThinkTank of India but also an institution that believes in getting hands-on and implement policies.They decided to oversee the establishment of the first ten Atal Tinkering Labs. AIM collaborated with 英特尔 in India and tasked them to find ten ‘Innovation Coaches’ to establish these makerspaces in schools, instill STEM capacity of teachers within these micro-ecosystems, engage with children across all #socioeconomic strata, and build a #tinkering community in these regions. These schools were located across the country, viz. #NewDelhi , #Ahmedabad , #Bangalore , #Chandigarh , #Guwahati , #Jodhpur , #PortBlair , #Raipur , #Thiruvananthapuram , and #Vishakapatnam .

Intertwining with Tinkering

24th February 2017 – On the occasion of AIM’s first anniversary, a special event in Delhi was organized to launch the first ten Atal Tinkering Labs formally.?The principals, ATL in charges, AIM, Intel, FICE Education , and the ten Innovation Coaches convened at NITI Aayog and hopped in this roller coaster ride. This 24 year old #Sindhi #MechanicalEngineer joined the first team of #InnovationCoaches and was assigned Government Model Sr. Secondary School, Sector 19C, in Chandigarh.

But why did I decide to leave my home in Mumbai to set up a Tinkering Lab in a school with sub-par infrastructure in Chandigarh?

At India’s largest #Makerspace , I encountered countless creators and artists who taught me their methods and crafts. Woodworking, welding, IoT, laser cutting, drone flying. With the support from Learning Planet Institute (formerly Centre of Research and Interdisciplinarity) France, we designed the #STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) school. 36 talented hackers spent nine days using the resources at the makerspace creating prototypes that solve problems of our communities. But something was missing in this innovation space. It was missing the most creative set of homo sapiens – the young ones. I found my Vocation - “What magic can happen when a child is given a Tinkering Lab?”

The STEAM school experience later inspired the #ATLMarathon and #StudentInnovatorProgram (SIP ).

1st March 2017 - The exciting and challenging task of setting up this teen-kaar-heeng? (Three-businesses-asafoetida?) lab in an abandoned #biology lab started. People resisted to the change, were unwelcoming and unsupportive. But the resistance to change can only surmount by creating thought-provoking experiences with exercising empathy. With #UnboxTinkering , we helped the teachers and communities jump the innovation bandwagon. Each lighting LED on breadboard put a smile to a face, and each LED burst broke chuckles and laughter. It was time to go beyond one school. Tinkering Lab for every child became my Passion.

PS: I could write a book about the stories of the young tinkerers I met, but that’s a story for another day!

16th October 2017, New Delhi, India – I enter Ramanan Ramanathan 's chamber at NITI Aayog to join the founding team of AIM as an Expert (Consultant Grade 1, now known as Innovation Lead). “I think you know everyone in the room, and we know you. So, let’s skip introductions. Why do you want to join NITI Aayog? What you are doing is already way more fun. AIM won’t be exciting for you,” he said gleefully. Today, I owe him one for the offer letter on the evening of 29th November 2017 to ensure that both of us were not bored!

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Methods in Madness

1st January 2018 – My first day at AIM. Subtle flex - at 25, the youngest Expert/Innovation Lead/ Consultant Gr.1 hired by NITI Aayog. A small corner room in NITI Aayog for the whole team. And people with fancy masters and PhD degrees - bullies exercising elitism. The world was different. I met my manager, Ayesha Chaudhary , who is the one-person force behind the philosophy of Atal Tinkering Lab. AIM is now almost two years old, and ATL has started to get some eyeballs within the system. A few days before I joined, on 16th December 2017, AIM celebrated the first #ATLCommunityDay . The spirit of creative learning was taken to numerous orphanages in New Delhi.

1500 additional ATLs were announced, a not-so-great news for the newly hired team of AIM. The office was literally a call-center. Calling up the schools, getting the compliance process done, ensuring funds are sanctioned and disbursed solidified the comradery and brotherhood of five guys who eventually sailed with the ship for the longest!

L to R : Dr. NAMAN AGRAWAL , Shashank S Gore , Saksham S. , Manglesh Yadav , Ronak Jogeshwar

June 2018 – Every story has some drama. Ours was when the NITI Bhawan needed renovations, and the AIM team was moved to an abandoned annex building, being told that there was no space due to accommodate us due to civil work. A mediocre mindset accepts success only if it is theirs. And thus, if you want a team to fail, pull the plug of basic resources. This was an interesting test of time that defined the institution's core values and philosophy. One can only lead the innovative mindset of their country if they truly ‘believe’ in the cause. An unquenched thirst of doing your absolute best for your millions of neoteric innovators, the young tinkerers! The core values of AIM were forged in the fire of adversity and abandonment, and yes, in Mission mode. Perhaps this is why AIM now champions the Innovation ecosystem of India. Practices becomes norms, and norms become policies.

August 2018 – The first MHLC strategy retreat meeting of AIM witnessed action-oriented thought leaders and the AIM in a quest, not to find the path, but to forge a compass pointing to our ????? ??????? (pole star).

January 2019 – We return from exile. AIM has proven itself in the thick and thin of times. We now had guidelines, resources, and curriculum for the ATL program and launched the ATL Handbook 1.0 on Swami Vivekananda Jayanti. The year’s summer ended bearing some fruits with team’s expansion. Our legion grew threefold, and five amazing people Swati Rao , Vishnu Priya Bijapur , Himanshi Gautam , Naba Suroor, and Sumaiya Yousuf to join the ATL team.

December 2019 - 20 curriculum pieces (ATL curriculum) 20+ partners, 2000 Mentors of Change, 5000 schools, ‘One Million Neoteric Innovators’, and a successful second year of Indo-Russia bilateral Innovation Program later, my Program Director and I shared a coffee and a conversation by the Black Sea, next to Sirius Centre Sochi. “Do you know, we have four steps – Select, Establish, Enable, Celebrate!”. A few months later, she moved on from AIM to o/O PSA, she asked, “You won’t jump ship till we are 10,000!” a quiet “Okay” followed. “By the way, where is ATL Handbook 2.0? Why do I always have to remind you everything?” a chucking “Okay” concluded the meeting.

January 2021 – The ATL Handbook 2.0 is launched, and the new Program Director, Deepali Upadhyay, is now with us. The journey continued with lots of jokes and laughter. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we used #YouTube and continued to #TinkerfromHome , followed by swift launch launch of #Tinkerpreneur . Later that year, state governments like #JammuandKashmir , #Gujarat , and #Karnataka expressed interest in continuing to drive the tinkering movement.

But there was one key challenge, a need. For a vibrant and diverse nation and world’s largest democracy, the innovation ecosystem cannot be limited by only a single language of exchange. Diversification from English is necessary if India is to unshackle its colonial roots.

April 2021 - Enter Chintan Vaishnav , who, on his first day at AIM said, “I want to make the study room of my new house in Delhi a Makerspace!”

The opportunity to assist Dr. Vaishnav in designing, develop, and implement the Vernacular Innovation Program (VIP) was highly enriching. ‘To Decouple creative expression from the language of transaction.’ informed a theory of education that helped me prepare for the academic rigor at 美国哈佛大学 .

1st July, 2022 – With countless stories and memories at the Profession for what I feel is nothing but love. Love for all the young tinkerers, teachers, educators, Mentors, schools, parents, colleagues I met during the past 4.5 years. And with 10,000 Tinkering Labs, ?it was time to Thank You!

A short valedictory of an otherwise loquacious guy, “Could’ve done more... should’ve done more!”

Synergizing academic rigor with lived experiences 美国哈佛大学

While writing this, I revisit the Clay Christensen ’s Theory of Disruptive Innovation in the 美国哈佛商学院 ’s hallmark class - ‘Building and sustaining a successful Enterprise.’ A couple of weeks ago, Prof. Derek van Bever introduced the concept of Resources, Processes, and Priorities (RPPs). We talked about how a practice becomes a norm and how a norm evolved into a rule or policy. Challenging old norms and bringing constructive change requires a very important catalyst – #Leadership ! Very few people are blessed with being around the #aura of #fearless #leaders who truly live and innovative mindset to disrupt industry and governance. For me and many of my friends and colleagues, that #Tiger is Amitabh Kant !

Last semester, I was the part of Monica C. Higgins ' #Leadership -#Entreprenurship -#Learning course at Harvard Graduate School of Education . During our classroom discussions, we explored how the #innovative #spirit and #growthmindset become part of any organisation’s culture. This culture is not brought from the top-bottom but is built from the bottom-top. When she said the word, ‘#Ambidexterous teams,’ I jumped and said this is exactly what we evolved into! But how do we build such teams? In my opinion, they need a #facilitator , like a conductor of a #symphony , who practices #grace and #empathy .

In his recent article , Dr. Chintan Vaishnav celebrates #India #G20presidency , #StartUp20 and the 7th Anniversary of AIM and proposes a theory of #ambidexterity for #global #institutions :

1. Most problems that matter to the world require an entirely new solution paradigm than the ones we now deploy.
2. Transitioning to such new paradigms will require innovating novel solutions and scaling them sustainably.
3. The quickest way to get there is to count on startups to innovate and corporates to scale them.

The early years of AIM or AIM 1.0 was that intrapreneurial startup which innovated within the Government of India. And AIM 2.0 is a #bold , #entrepreneurial , #startup and #tinkering (B.E.S.T) ecosystem driver that #AatmanirbharBharat needs during its #G20 presidency and for the 21st century.

The helm of the new MHLC is now with the Hon’ble #Minister of #Education , Shri Dharmendra Pradhan . Earlier this week, MHLC meeting under his chairmanship was organized, followed by the 7th anniversary of AIM. "The committee discussed several key initiatives planned for the AIM 2.0, including bringing tinkering to all students, advancing the ecosystem with advanced forms of sectoral incubation centers and industry accelerators, and increasing the innovation capacity in sectors, states, and central ministries." - Press Information Bureau .

India is one of the few developing countries in the #G20 who has the ability and power to voice not just for her to become #VikasitBharat , but also for our brothers and sisters from the developing world.

The initiatives and interest of the leadership of the #IndianGovernment at the highest level fills me up with #joy , #pride , and #hope . Actions like these are exaples of #easeofdoingbusiness which nudge India's diaspora groups across the world like Indiaspora , Swiss - Indiaspora , etc to bring direction, expertise, experience and investments to increase the #humancapital of India and help our country become a #true #GlobalLeader .

While addressing the India Conference at Harvard at the Harvard Kennedy School , India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations , Hon. Amb. Ruchira Kamboj inspired us with her words -

"The days of the Timid Indian are gone!"

Happy Birthday, #AIMtoInnovate !

#HappyTinkering

#MakersGonnaMake

Disclaimer: The thoughts, experiments, and ideas mentioned in this article are based on the author’s personal experience and learning, with all the love and respect to the individuals and institutions mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed within the content are solely the author's.

Chintan Vaishnav ? Suniel Shetty Ramanan Ramanathan ?Amitabh Kant ?Vijay Chauthaiwale ?Hemang Jani ?Tarun Khanna ? Debjani Ghosh Ayesha Chaudhary ?Mudit Narain ?Prof. Unnat P Pandit ? Arnab Kumar M anglesh Yadav ?Saksham Saxena ?Shashank S Gore ?NAMAN AGRAWAL ?Deepanshu Pathak ?Naman Singhal ?Swati Rao ?Vishnu Priya Bijapur ?Shubham Gupta ?Prateek Deshmukh ?Himanshi Gautam ? Suman Pandit Archana Sahay Alok Ohrie Joyeeta Das Manoj Balachandran Amit Nevatia Vikrant Satsangi Garima Babbar Dr. Biswajit Saha PVM Rao ? Marshall Ganz Emiliana Vegas ?Fernando Reimers ?Ramesh Raskar ?Derek van Bever ?Mitch Resnick