Infosys announces winners of its first Maker Awards in India

Indian IT czar Infosys on Monday announced the twenty winners of its first Infy Maker Awards in India, recognising and rewarding innovation across healthcare, renewable energy, artificial intelligence and social sectors.

In its first installment, Infosys recognised technologies such as a low-cost wind turbine, a medical kit for pregnant women in rural areas and a walking stick for visually impaired, among others as winners. The 20 winners were selected from a group of 280 entries by an expert committee.

"These awards seek to recognise and reward the creative excellence of makers throughout India whose ideas and solutions have the potential to address the various challenges facing our world today. We believe that this initiative will spark thinking, ignite curiosity and fuel the spirit of innovation across the maker community in India," said Vishal Sikka, CEO of Infosys and Chairman of the Infosys Foundation USA, in a statement.

For judging the best entries, Infosys put together a panel of industry vetrans and thinkers that included Biocon Chairman Kiran Mazumder-Shaw, Author Rama Bijapurkar, Aarin Capital Chairman Mohandas Pai, and Infosys COO Pravin Rao.

Modelled around a similar award in the US by the Infosys Foundation, the Infy Maker Awards presented each of the 20 winners with a prize of Rs 500,000. The firm is looking at the awards as an opportunity to help India join the 'maker' movement that's taking major tech powerhouses such as Silicon Valley and Shanghai by storm.