10:00 - Keynote Session - The Naked Truth About Data
More than a trend, the storage and use of (big) data has passed a tipping point and starts to show its benefits to human kind but also its limits. What kind of data do we really have access to and what can we expect to do with them?
In this opening session of Lift India, Sarita Digumarti, who has worked for over 15 years in analytics and consulting both in the US and India before co-founding Jigsaw Academy, will frame the day by presenting what kind of data and analytical tools we have access to nowadays, and why now is the time to harness this new power.
Following her talk, Anand S, Chief Data Scientist at Gramener where he and his team explore insights from data and communicate them as visual stories, will show us examples of what can be done with these large sets of data, from identifying fraud during elections to helping businesses and governements.
Finally, two projects using data for practical applications will be presented by Raphaël Gindrat (Bestmile) and Soraia Binzagr (émoi).
13:30 - Early Afternoon Breakouts
Masterclass: Swiss Innovation: what successful cross-border innovation requires
Let’s discover Swiss innovation from both a Swiss and Indian perspective and learn about successful cross-border innovation and how to create value for stakeholders in multiple countries. Some of the most innovative Swiss Startups from various sectors will pitch and showcase their amazing projects. To conclude the masterclass and in order for you to get a taste of what Switzerland has to offer and, a panel discussion will follow, moderated by Balz Strasser and Ajay Ramasubramaniam including a representative of venture capital sectors as well as Swiss entrepreneurs Karl Njálsson (Shared Electric) and Taha Bawa (Goodwall).
Target audience: anyone with an interest in cross-border entrepreneurship, venture capital and early-stage investment. No specific skills required.
Workshop: Biomimicry: finding inspiration in nature to identify sustainable solutions to human challenges
Biomimicry is a multidisciplinary scientific design discipline where patterns and strategies found in nature are emulated/mimicked to find sustainable and better solutions to human challenges. Though an ancient practice, today it is an ‘emerging discipline’ as our connection with nature has acutely reduced after the industrial age and rapid urbanization.
Biomimicry is relevant and applicable at various scales, from non-toxic adhesives that emulate the microstructure of hair on a Gecko’s foot, to a high-rise building that emulates a termite mound's ventilation system for thermal regulation and possibly to urban scale systems that mimic forest eco-systems.
This workshop intends to introduce this emerging discipline and its potential through case examples and some short interactive exercises.
Target audience: anyone with an interest in true sustainability, meaningful human innovation, positive impact to the planet and human survival on Earth. No specific skills required.
Short talk and exhibition tour: From Geneva to San Francisco and Bangalore: the story behind Data Canvas: Sense Your City
Johann Recordon (Lift, curator of the Data Canvas exhibition), Raphaël Munoz (Aprobado Studio, designer of featured project CityCells)
Earlier this year, the Data Canvas: Sense Your City project deployed open sensors across 7 cities in three continents to provide the public with real-time environmental data feed. Many developers, artists, and makers joined the competition to make innovative visualizations helping everyone make sense of our environment. After successful exhibition in Switzerland, USA and China, we are bringing the best pieces from the international design challenge to Bangalore. How did this project come together, from its inception in 2011 until today?
Raphaël Munoz, founder of Aprobado Studio, one of the three creators of CityCells, will take us to the frontier of design and code. With his expertise in both fields and multidisciplinary skills, he will show us what it requires to put together projects that harness the power of technology while immersing the user into a beautifully crafted universe.
After a these two talks, participants will be taken on an tour of the exhibition.
Target audience: anyone with an interest in interactive design, citizen sensing, open-data, open-hardware, civic hacking and urban environments. No specific skills required.
Masterclass: Life Science Innovation in India
Life Science & Biotechnology Industry has been instrumental in providing breakthrough technologies in not only healthcare but, in areas like Clean Energy and Agriculture that are very relevant in India and globally. India has been showing growing trends in the Biotech industry in the last few years and is very soon expected to be one of the major players in the global market.
Vibrant biotech innovation ecosystems with a strong academic and industry presence in various parts of the country have been one of the major contributors for this recent growth along with incubators, accelerators and investors. C-CAMP has been striving to cultivate this kind of an ecosystem and has come to be one of the most exciting centers for technology-based innovation in India in the field of life sciences. Through its various activities of funding, bio-incubation, mentorship & networking, C-CAMP has supported & nurtured over 50 innovative start-ups.
This masterclass, presented by ecosystem players like C-CAMP and Entrepreneurs themselves talking about their exciting technologies and sharing their experiences, will focus on the state of Life Science Innovation in India and will give a flavor of the kind of innovative technologies that are being commercialized in the country.
Target audience: anyone with an interest in Life Science, biotechnology, clean energy and agriculture. No specific skills required.
15:30 - Late Afternoon Breakouts
Masterclass: Indian Innovation: what is happening in the data startup ecosystem
Moderated by Guhesh Ramanathan, this masterclass will dip deeper into the Indian startups using Data for business and non-profit ventures. As the co-founder of Excubartor.org, Guhesh mentors anywhere between 15 and 50 startups per month. He will start off this masterclass with a presentation on the state of data entrepreneurship in India, before giving the stage to two great Indian start-ups. Nishil Koshy from Kfx, who is building a network of environmental sensors to put Bangalore on the world map of citizen sensing, and Ritvvij Parrikh from Pykih.
Target audience: anyone with an interest in Indian entrepreneurship, data-driven startups, venture capital and early-stage investment. No specific skills required.
Workshop: Sharing Emotions through Chocolate: translating data into flavors
In a world where the representation of data is nearly exclusively visual and largely limited to screen based applications, there is much room to investigate our other sensory modalities while exploring the way in which we define symbols and attribute meaning throughout our communication exchanges.
Modern research into human psychology has been able to demonstrate the capacity we have for intuitively interpreting meaning from latent qualities of sounds, shapes, colors and even tastes. But when it comes to designing effective symbolic representations, the gustatory (taste) and oral somatosensory (tactile mouth-feel) modalities are particularly interesting mediums to work with. This is because we have naturally evolved as a species (for survival, social and ritualistic reasons) to be quite adept when it comes to defining, discerning and distinguishing between the states and flavors related to the food we eat. Our sensory system has been so fundamentally shaped by our need for nourishment, that our eating habits have evolved to be intrinsically tied not only to our biological state but even to our emotional experiences.
In this workshop, we will investigate the latent symbols communicated through the qualities of the food medium in order to create a language to describe the emotions most commonly experienced by humans.
Target audience: anyone with an interest in interactive design, gustatory explorations, data interpretation, use of senses in technology. No specific skills required.
Workshop: Value Proposition Design Crash-Course
Greg Bernarda (co-author of Value Proposition Design)
Why do start-ups fail today? According to research, it’s not because of bad ideas, lack of funding, or even the wrong team... Overwhelmingly, the number one reason is: we build something that nobody wants. The other way to put it, is that we need to learn how to craft a value proposition that fits what our customers (will) want and need.
Nevertheless, for the best businesses out there, there’s even more to it. Beyond product-market fit, they build business models that empower their value proposition and ensure that they become sustainable and/or profitable in the process.
This workshop is an intense, hands-on introduction to the concepts and tools of the international bestsellers Business Model Generation and its recently released sequel Value Proposition Design. This is an invitation to discover how to better navigate the uncertainty and complexity of starting a business and to create value for your customers and your company at the same time.
Target audience: anyone with an interest in starting a company, increasing the value of their businesses or learning how to put a business idea on paper in a few minutes. No specific skills required.
Workshop: Filmed from Above: aerial imagery made easy
There are a few stepping stones which marked the history of cameras. One was achieved with the possibility to capture motion and movements by increasing the number of images captured per second. Another, thanks to miniaturization, made cameras lighter and smaller, allowing them to be transported almost anywhere.
It’s no surprise nowadays if we are able to attach cameras to almost every human artifacts, including drones more recently. Though, one challenge remains: the complexity of using such tools to capture and produce great content.
Fotokite has been pushing the boundaries of what is possible by enabling almost anyone to produce aerial footage. You don’t need anymore to be a pilot, neither a professional cameraman.
Filmed from Above, is a workshop presented by Adam Varkalis, Industrial Engineer at Fotokite that will unleash your journalist skills to get an aerial perspective of Lift India!
Target audience: Anyone interested in imagery, drones, journalism or aerial exploration. No specific skills required.
17:15 - Closing Session
Greg Bernarda (co-author of Value Proposition Design), Anandi Lyer (Fraunhofer Gesellschaft) and Abir Oreibi (Lift)
If going from idea to business (or impact) is very much a rollercoaster ride in itself, what distinguishes great organizations and entrepreneurs from others is their ability to innovate more than once. This short by Greg Bernanda talk shares some tools and a story of successful reinvention.
Anandi Lyer will give her personal perspective on what she has seen and heard at Lift India. Abir Oreibi will present key highlights of the day.
