Haryana's UN tech innovation lab aims to foster women entrepreneurship

To be set up in Gurugram, the UN innovation lab will start operations this year and focuses on providing women entrepreneurs in the state with technological and fund-raising opportunities.

The Haryana Government earlier signed a pact with the UN's Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and the stage is now set for a technology innovation lab that aims to build an ecosystem of women entrepreneurs and help them in fund-raising.

The objectives of this lab, to be housed at Haryana State Electronics Development Corporation campus in Udyog Vihar 1, will be to support the region’s women startup ecosystem by building a cluster of 50 women-led tech startups by 2019; bring in global technological opportunities for women in Haryana; and target $5 million in fundraising for women-led technology startups in 5 years.

The initiative has also found a place in DIPP’s compendium of good practices that states with startup policies have adopted to nurture the ecosystem.

UNTIL will focus on building an ecosystem of women entrepreneurs and help them in fund-raising.Besides, boosting women entrepreneurship, UNTIL also aims to nurture digital literacy in the state. The lab is expected to start operations this year.

Rajiv Gulati, Assistant General Manager, HARTRON, said: “The lab will also support the state government for Big Data/Aadhaar card expansion project, facilitate international technology partnerships, and bring in best practices that are employed worldwide in Haryana, among others.”

The Government of Haryana, in its startup policy, had declared it would set up UNTIL in collaboration with United Nations to promote women entrepreneurship and digital literacy in the State.

The lab aims to help the state government develop programmes to achieve UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include eliminating poverty; hunger; promoting good health; gender equality; building sustainable ecosystems; and many others.

“The lab will work with experts from across disciplines and industries to develop innovative technology-based pilot programmes for different regions and countries,” Rajiv added.

Apart from Haryana, two other states – Kerala and Chhattisgarh - had earlier announced setting up of UN Technology Innovation Labs.

What are UN Technology Labs?

UN Technology Innovations Labs is a new programme launched by the UN – Office of ICT, and aims at developing an inclusive approach to eradicate poverty and ensure sustainable development. To achieve this, the leading global organisation is partnering with governments, academia, private sector, and other stakeholders in social development to discover, fund, and scale innovative solutions and business models.

UNTIL is focused on developing tools to achieve the four pillars and mandates of the UN – development, peace, human rights, and the rule of law – by using the latest technology innovations such as AI, Blockchain, robotics, drones, IoT, and machine learning.