Rahul Dravid Inaugurates the first edition of the AssisTech Foundation award trophy
India: AssisTech Foundation (ATF), the country’s renowned platform harnessing the power of technology to build assistive devices for people with disabilities, has recently launched the first edition of the AssisTech Foundation Awards. It intends to acknowledge and celebrate the new-age thinkers creating products and solutions to empower the lives of the 1 billion disabled population on the planet to break the chains of limitations and discrimination. ATF awards consists of 10 awards in 3 main categories that recognize not only the start-ups in the assistive technology space but also the ecosystem enablers including corporates, NGOs, governments, educational institutions and investors who have successfully harnessed technology for meaningful change.
ATF award trophies featured in the event are designed by the makers of Titan and inspired by the noble concept of Wabi-Sabi, a Zen Buddhist philosophy for a perfectly imperfect life. It denotes three marks of existence- suffering, absence of self, and embracing impermanence. Every trophy has cracks in the middle, which are deemed as assets rather than flaws. It signifies the essence of using what is available rather than buying something that is of no use.
The trophy, a mark of appreciation, will be inaugurated by the Indian cricketer ‘The Wall’, Mr. Rahul Dravid during ATF awards final ceremony. He has been working with the ranks of ATF to carry out their noble initiative, aiming to make a positive difference in the lives of people with disabilities.
Mr Rahul Dravid, said, “What the AssisTech Foundation is trying to do is truly out of the ordinary. They are giving voice to the disabled population to live a better tomorrow and I want to extend my support to speed up their efforts to promote assistive technology innovators and start-ups. Inaugurating the award trophy is one of the many things I plan to do during the course of our association”.
Commenting on the remarkable announcement, Prateek Madhav, Co-founder and CEO, AssisTech Foundation (ATF), said, “We are thrilled to have Mr Rahul Dravid back our noble-minded agenda. He has been working with us for a while and has supported our initiatives to promote a disabled-friendly world. Together, we hope to achieve great things and make a positive impact in the lives of people with disabilities”.
Along with Mr. Rahul Dravid, ATF awards initiative is being supported by industry leaders like Mr. Kris Gopalakrishnan (Co-founder, Infosys), Prof Rishikesha T Krishnan (Director, IIM Bangalore), Mr. U. B. Pravin Rao (COO and Member of Board at Infosys) and corporates like JP Morgan, ThoughtWorks etc. Final virtual ceremony to announce the winners of ATF awards is scheduled on 20th August 2021.
