Team Technetium from India wins Capgemini’s Innovators Race

Innovators Race participants had to design solutions to real life business challenges set by global brands. ‘Technetium’ was asked by Reliance Jio, the Indian telecom and digital operator, to create an innovative learning platform where teachers and students can connect without cultural or lingual barriers. ‘Natura Ready’ was asked by the Brazilian cosmetics brand, Natura, to suggest a digital mobile solution that brings Natura’s business development consultants closer to consumers.

The top two teams, voted into the final by the public, showcased their creations to a panel of industry gurus comprising Lanny Cohen, Capgemini’s Global Chief Technology Officer, Mark Thompson International Editor CNNMoney, and Dan Bieler Principal Analyst at Forrester. The judges scored the students’ proposals on technology and innovation, feasibility, creativity and originality, and sustainability. After their initial pitch each team then took part in a Q&A.

“Choosing a winner was not an easy decision, the quality of the final proposals was exceptional,” comments Lanny Cohen, Global Chief Technology Officer, Capgemini. “We have witnessed such a growth journey from where both teams began. I am now really looking forward to hosting team Technetium at our San Francisco Applied Innovation Exchange, where they will be able to immerse themselves in developing their e-learning platform with support and guidance from our innovation experts and partners.”

“The winning feeling is amazing. We are on cloud nine!” said Ankit Agarwal of Team Technetium. “We based our e-learning platform on own experiences and the challenges that we faced during our education. We also wanted to overcome the country’s issues of multiple languages and minimal connectivity. We are now totally focused on making our solution live and an educated India a reality.”

Both winners, Ankit and Chirantan, are third year Computer Science and Engineering students at BMS College of Engineering in Bangalore. They will travel to Capgemini’s San Francisco Exchange¹, in June where they will work with Capgemini’s experts to bring their solution to life. Their innovation journey will be filmed right through to its fruition and will be available to view online later in 2016.

After competing in heats at a local level, Technetium then took part in Capgemini’s international Innovators Race web series, broadcast during February and March 2016, where the winning teams from the UK, Netherlands, France, Brazil, India and North America each showcased their creative solutions to real business challenges set by six major brands: Barclays (for the UK), AccorHotels (for France), Natura (for Brazil), Reliance Jio (for India), Openbaar Ministerie – the Netherlands’ public prosecution service (for the Netherlands) and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (for North America). An online public vote then followed to determine the two finalist teams.

The “Innovators Race” finale, as well as episodes from the whole series, can be viewed at www.innovatorsrace.com. It was also featured on CNNMoney’s “2020 Visionaries”² Hub at http://money.cnn.com/technology/2020-visionaries/, where the technology visionaries featured in this CNN production were seen interacting with some of the most inspiring students from Innovators Race.

About Capgemini

With more than 180,000 people in over 40 countries, Capgemini is one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services. The Group reported 2015 global revenues of EUR 11.9 billion. Together with its clients, Capgemini creates and delivers business, technology and digital solutions that fit their needs, enabling them to achieve innovation and competitiveness. A deeply multicultural organization, Capgemini has developed its own way of working, the Collaborative Business Experience^TM, and draws on Rightshore^®, its worldwide delivery model.

Note to Editors: Footage and images from the Innovators Race series are available on request.

¹Capgemini has a global network of nine innovation spaces, known as ‘Exchanges’, where organizations are able to immerse themselves in the understanding, experimentation and application of all aspects of emerging technologies, as well as address the business disruptions confronting them and their industries

²‘2020 Visionaries’ is a series of short animated films that each showcase an innovator and the technology they are inventing or using in a different way. The films aired as highlights in commercial ad breaks on CNN International and on the CNNMoney microsite alongside Innovators Race episodes