TGIF hosts Tata Innovista 2014

From a total of 56 Tata companies who submitted their entries in Tata Innovista 2014, 31 Tata companies reached the regional rounds.

The entries at the regional rounds, held in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Jamshedpur, London, Washington DC, and Singapore, were judged by eminent external experts.

As many as 83 teams from 25 Tata companies were shortlisted for the global round that took place in Mumbai on Apr 23.

In the finals, awards were given under four categories, namely Promising Innovations, The Leading Edge – Proven Technologies, Dare To Try and Design Honour.

The Promising Innovations category recognises innovations that have been successfully implemented during the year and have accrued benefits.

It has four sub-categories, New Product innovations, New Service innovations, Core Process innovations and Support Process innovations.

Tata companies from across the world have introduced 1010 such innovations in the year 2013-14.

Out of these 1010 entries received, 43 innovations reached the final round of Tata Innovista 2014.

The estimated combined economic benefit of these 43 finalist innovations is USD 1 billion on an annual basis. 

The Promising Innovations awards went to:

        New Product innovations: Jaguar Land Rover
New Service innovations: Two teams from Tata Consultancy Services and one team from Tata Steel won in this category
Core Process innovations: Tata Steel Europe and Tata Consulting Engineers
Support Process innovations: Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited

The participation received under another defining category, The Leading Edge – Proven Technologies, indicates a healthy pipeline of promising business ideas that Tata companies are looking at putting out in the future.

354 entries were received under this category which recognises and rewards the most innovative technology that is being developed and piloted, but is yet to be commercialised.

This year the Leading Edge awards went to:
         
             Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel and Jaguar Land Rover

Showcasing a growing culture of risk-taking and perseverance across Tata companies, the Dare To TRY category at Tata Innovista saw 176 entries.

The Dare To Try category recognises and rewards most novel, daring and seriously attempted ideas that did not achieve the desired results. The awards went to:
          
              Tata Steel, Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Chemicals

To increase the focus of Tata companies on Design Thinking, a new category called Design Honour was introduced this year.

This category was further divided into two subcategories: Touch Design and Feel Design.

More than 200 entries were received in this category in the very first year.

The awards went to:
Jaguar Land Rover and Titan Company

According to Mukund Rajan, Member – Group Executive Council and Brand Custodian, Tata Sons, "Tata Innovista has become a very good indicator of the success of the innovation drive in the Tata group — and of the inherent capabilities of its people. The trends observed in the 2014 edition signify a growing culture of innovation in the group with elements of Frugality, Customer delight, Service innovation and Collaboration."

Rajan said, "We have observed that almost 70% of the participants are in the age brackets of 20-30 and 30-40 years, indicating that the innovation eco-system in the group is encouraging and empowering young managers to think out of the ordinary. Interestingly, a significant number of projects were collaborative projects, signifying that Tata companies are increasingly able to come together to leverage the synergies a diverse group like ours offers."

The finalists were judged by a panel of internal and external jurists, comprising of distinguished personalities.