OREANDA-NEWS. Tata Innovista 2014, a group-wide programme, held annually by the Tata Group Innovation Forum (TGIF) to encourage, recognise and showcase outstanding innovations done by Tata companies across the globe, received over 1,700 entries this year.

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. Eighty three teams from 25 Tata companies were shortlisted for the global round that took place in Mumbai on April 23, 2014.

In the finals, awards were given under four categories:

Promising innovations

This 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 1,010 such innovations in the year 2013-14. Out of these 1,010 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. This is the first time when this benefit has been was tracked and measured. 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 Core Process and Support Process innovations category received most entries, 345 and 376 respectively. This signifies that the concept of innovation is getting embedded at Tata companies moving beyond product innovations to processes like HR, finance, supply chain, IT, brand, marketing and logistics, among others. New Product and New Service categories saw 164 and 128 entries respectively, indicating that Tata companies are increasingly looking at market-driven innovations.

The Leading Edge - Proven Technologies

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

Dare To Try

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

Design Honour

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 Dr Mukund Rajan, brand custodian and chief ethics officer, Tata Sons, and member of the Group Executive Council, “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. We have observed that almost 70 percent 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 of the likes of Ravi Kirpalani, managing director, Castrol India Ltd., Vinita Bali, managing director, Britannia Industries, Ashok Gupta, executive director and CEO, Indo Rama Synthetics, Ireena Vittal, independent strategic advisor, Blufin Advisors, Michael Foley, managing director, Foley Designs Pvt. Ltd, Sudhir Jain, director, IIT Gandhinagar, Tony Harper, head - research and advanced systems, JLR, Ananth Krishnan, chief technology officer, TCS and Debashish Bhattacharjee, group director, research development and technology, Tata Steel, among others.

In 2006, the Tata group started the process of capturing and celebrating innovations of Tata companies through Tata Innovista. The objective of this programme is to capture innovations in Tata companies, encourage innovators and innovations in Tata companies, share the levers used by them to identify and execute innovation projects, and create a culture of risk-taking. In order to support Tata companies in their journey of innovation, TQMS, a division of Tata Sons, formed the Tata Group Innovation Forum (TGIF) in 2007. The objective of TGIF is to encourage, inspire and help create a culture that promotes innovation in Tata companies. Over the past six years, TQMS, under the guidance of TGIF, has been connecting Tata companies all over the world, stimulating innovative thinking and encouraging collaborative research.