CIIE.CO, the innovation continuum for the change-makers, and Omidyar Network India, an investment firm focused on social impact, have joined hands to launch the Citizen Innovation Lab - a platform that will redefine how innovation and entrepreneurship come together in areas of CivicTech, PropTech and LegalTech.

CivicTech- Technologies that enable governments to be more efficient and effective in public service delivery and empower citizens to engage and participate better in governance.

PropTech- Technologies which impart and improve exclusivity, transferability and enforcement of land and property rights holistically for all citizens groups.

LegalTech- Technologies that enable easier access to justice and faster service delivery while increasing process efficiencies in the judicial system.

The platform will focus on bringing together stakeholders across the three sectors to identify gaps that need to be addressed and ways to leverage technology while channelling entrepreneurship. The current entrepreneurship ecosystem in these sectors is plagued by multiple bottlenecks and addressing these, the partnership will help enable entrepreneurial ecosystems in these areas through interventions on three fronts:

Competencies: Strengthening skills and capabilities of various stakeholders in the ecosystem i.e. city clusters, academic institutions, entrepreneurs, mentors and potential investors. Collaboration: Bringing in practitioners to share their sector and industry knowledge through workshops. Capital: Evangelizing and providing builder capital and attracting more and different forms of funding and capital providers.

The Lab will focus on in-depth research on gaps and opportunities in these sectors by engaging with diverse stakeholders across start-ups, industry, government and policy. Through multiple sprints for upcoming entrepreneurs from across cities, the Lab will give a platform to start-ups to create robust solutions.

Kunal Upadhyay, CEO, CIIE.CO said “Ever since its inception, CIIE.CO has endeavoured to identify and fill critical gaps in India’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. The need for start-ups building solutions for citizens has become critical in the recent past. As a country pushing hard to emerge from the clutches of a ruthless virus, it is imperative to apply tech and entrepreneurial thinking to solve some of the biggest challenges facing citizens. The Citizen Innovation Lab by CIIE.CO and Omidyar Network India, will catalyse this goal. Through sharp and robust research, determined start up support and powerful incubation, the Lab will aim to infuse more entrepreneurial problem solving for hard problems in the three key sectors - CivicTech, Property Rights Tech and LegalTech,”.

Shilpa Kumar, Partner, Omidyar Network India, said “COVID-19 has upended the status quo globally especially in services that depend on state-citizen interaction. Courts, governments, municipalities are digitising with a new zeal and at an unparalleled pace. This means that an inflection point is developing as new digital infrastructure (e.g. RERA stack) and open data ecosystems combine with the urgency for delivering digital solutions. A confluence of innovation and entrepreneurship in fields such as civic engagement, property rights and access to justice can transform citizen access to services in a substantive way,”.

All the initiatives on the innovation continuum are aimed at supporting fearless, innovation-driven entrepreneurs. Working with like-minded partners like corporate, government agencies, investors and academia, helps us push harder towards co-creating exponential change.