Presentation and key points for a panel at the 2017 Global Conference on Cyberspace (GCCS 2017) on the topic of “Technology Startups: Disrupting the growth curve”.

1. © 2017 IBM Corporation
Technology Based Social
Entrepreneurship: Innovations That Matter
Dr. Biplav Srivastava
IBM Research, Nov 2017
Panel on “Technology Startups: Disrupting the growth curve”
At 5th Global Conference on Cyberspace (GCCS), New Delhi; https://gccs2017.in/

2. © 2017 IBM Corporation
Useful Innovations are Good Business
2
Source: http://blog.simplylearnt.com/2014/09/have-
you-read-gandhijis-talisman-in-ncert-books.html
How many innovations
from startups touch on
poorest and weakest of
India citizens’ basic
needs and have
hundreds of millions of
active users?
• Air
• Water
• Food
• Safety
• Health
• Education
Not many (when what
we need are billions) !

3. © 2017 IBM Corporation
India and Its Technology-Based Social Trends
Strengths
§ People: 1.3 billion
§ Mobiles in people’s hands: 1 billion [1]
§ Youths with a willingness to break
unproductive legacy
3
Opportunities
§ Plenty of problems
§ Growing availability of data
Source:
1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/saritharai/2016/01/06/india-just-crossed-1-billion-
mobile-subscribers-milestone-and-the-excitements-just-beginning/
2. SAFAR-AIR app: http://safar.tropmet.res.in
3. Mandi Trades app
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.manditrades&hl=en
4. Travel Khana: https://www.travelkhana.com/
5. Humsafar appand paper: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7913204/
Public discussions moving to data-
based decision making
• Air: AQI numbers from SAFAR-AIR
app used in public! [2]
• Water:
• Food: Mandi Trades app [3], Travel
Khana for food delivery on trains [4]
• Safety: Humsafar app [5]
• Health:
• Education:
• …
But none with hundreds of
millions of users

4. © 2017 IBM Corporation
Call for Action
A Small Effort – Blue Water
Engaging People on Water with Data
and AI
§ Chatbot (Water Advisor) and apps (Water
Watch/ Ganga Watch) to help people take
decisions involving water
§ Middle ware to manage contributed and
open data
§ Sharing resources for others to build on –
data, regulations, code
§ Analytical use-cases where technology
(analytics from data) can help like Tourism
(Ardh-Khumbh 2016; Kanpur pollution)
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Source: BlueWater -
http://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/view_group.php?id=6924
Focus Areas to Move to
the Next Level Collectively
• Crowd sourcing: involving people
socially
• As data sensors
• Around managing problems
for timely intervention
• Promoting open data within
government and businesses
• Respecting data privacy
• Implementing business models
to grow ecosystem
• Promoting research for best-of-
breed ideas

5. © 2017 IBM Corporation5
Thank You!