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NASSCOM and BIRAC launches “JAN-Care”, a Nationwide Challenge to Scale Healthtech Innovation New Delhi, 28th December 2020: Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) and The National Association for Software & Services Companies (NASSCOM) in collaboration with Grand Challenges India (GCI) have launched “जनCARE” a nationwide Innovation Challenge to Discover, Design and Scale the Health-Tech Innovations, which work in low resource-settings especially, in rural & semi urban environments. These innovations will be built on technologies such as artificial intelligence, IoT, machine learning, big-data and analytics, making use of telehealth platforms to enhance the access, quality and affordability of the delivery of healthcare at the last mile. The “जनCARE” challenge is ably supported by Grand Challenges India, a partnership framework between the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in India, BIRAC along with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to launch joint initiatives aimed at catalyzing innovative health and development research within India. This unique “जनCARE” challenge will identify upto 25 best Healthtech solutions from startups/ SMEs and provide pilot test beds in collaboration with State Governments & Industry to help their validation and scale up for adoption. While talking about the challenge Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM said, “Good and affordable healthcare should be available to everyone, with this vision in mind NASSCOM has been instrumental in helping build a deeptech enabled healthcare start-up ecosystem in the country. Through this JANCare Innovation Grand Challenge, we aim to evangelise more organisations and individuals to build specialised healthcare solutions, and democratise access to modern medicine for all.” Dr. Renu Swarup, Secretary, DBT formally declared the challenge open and said "I am glad to see the strategic alignment between BIRAC (biotech sector) and NASSCOM (IT sector) for a joint commitment to enhance the efficiency of healthcare delivery at the last mile. The population of low resource areas; PHCs, CHCs in rural and semi-urban areas are likely to get benefitted through local deployment of the innovative and affordable healthtech solutions. This innovation challenge would promote customized products developed by Startups/ SMES to address the local challenges and unmet needs. Active involvement of States, international partner – GCI, will boost the impact of such Atamnirbharta efforts for the benefit of society and scaling up of innovation ecosystem." Speaking on the occasion Ms. Anju Bhalla, MD BIRAC, mentioned, “the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the debate on rapid adoption of telemedicine and application of low-resource technologies for efficient & affordable healthcare. Keeping these developments in mind, BIRAC & NASSCOM intend to create an enabling national platform of a bouquet of validated affordable health-tech solutions for adoption by choice to ramp up healthcare facilities at Tier II & III cities.” The “जनCARE” Innovation Challenge is an industry-wide collaborative effort. AstraZeneca, GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthineers, Medanta Hospitals, St. John’s Research Institute, Health Care Global Enterprises and TATA AIG have already joined hands with this innovation challenge to provide their support and mentorship to the participating Startups till the end of pilot phase. More industry and State partners are expected to join this initiative. About BIRAC: Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) is a Government of India Enterprise, set up under Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology. BIRAC as an enabler has nurtured and empowered the Biotech ecosystem to undertake strategic translational research and development, to create innovative, globally competitive products/ technologies addressing unmet needs. It covers sectors including Healthcare, Medical Devices, Diagnostics, BioPharma, Industrial Biotechnology, Agritech, Waste to Value, Clean Energy and promotes integration of AI, ML, BIG data and other tech related areas. BIRAC has supported technology driven 1500+ Entrepreneurs, Startups, SMEs, large Industries; beneficiaries from 200+ Academic Institutions; partners with Public, Private and Philanthropic organizations at national and international level to harness synergies for the growth of Ecosystem. It has established 52 bioincubators creating an Incubation space of 5,69,219 sq ft with high end infrastructure providing access to instrumentation, technical, IP, Legal and Business mentorship for Biotech Startups. This has helped innovators to create a pool of intellectual wealth (200+ IPs filed) and in the launch of 150+ products in the market. BIRAC contributes to the National Mission programs such as “Make in India”, “Startup India”, “Swachh Bharat”, "Ayushman Bharat", “National Biopharma Mission”, others. It also contributes at the Policy level, engages at strategic G2G and Multilateral collaborations for International Ecosystem Connect to scale the Biotech Innovation Ecosystem for India to emerge as a Global Innovation Hub. About NASSCOM The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM®) is the premier trade body and chamber of commerce of the Tech industry in India and comprises over 2800-member companies including both Indian and multinational organisations that have a presence in India. Our membership spans across the entire spectrum of the industry from start-ups to multinationals and from products to services, Global Service Centers to Engineering firms. Guided by India’s vision to become a leading digital economy globally, NASSCOM focuses on accelerating the pace of transformation of the industry to emerge as the preferred enablers for global digital transformation. Our strategic imperatives are to reskill and upskill India’s IT workforce to ensure that talent is future-ready in terms of new-age skills, strengthen the innovation quotient across industry verticals, create new market opportunities - both international and domestic, drive policy advocacy to advance innovation and ease of doing business, and build the Industry narrative with focus on Talent, Trust and Innovation. And, in everything we do, we will continue to champion the need for diversity and equal opportunity. NASSCOM has played a key role in not just the growth of the Industry to become a $180+Billion industry today, but we have helped establish the Tech industry in India as one of the most trusted partners, globally. NASSCOM continues to make significant efforts in contributing towards India’s GDP, exports, employment, infrastructure development and global visibility. Our membership base constitutes over 95% of the industry revenues in India and employs over 4 million professionals, and as technology blends into every aspect of the economy, we expect the industry to become key driver of growth, development and inclusion for the country. Our mission is to make India a global hub for Innovation and Talent so when the world thinks Digital, the world will think India.