3rd ARIIA 2021: IIT-Madras tops for 3rd consecutive year as Most Innovative Educational Institute

On December 29, 2021, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) ranked 1st & recognized as the Most Innovative Educational Institute in India in the 3rd edition of Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021. It is for the 3rd consecutive year that IIT Madras has been recognized. IIT Madras won in the ‘CFTIs (Centrally Funded Technical Institutions)/Central University/Institute of National Importance (Technical)’ category.

It was virtually announced by the Minister of State (MoS) Dr. Subhas Sarkar, Ministry of Education (MoE) in the presence of Prof. Anil Dattatraya Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and among others.

• IIT-M encourages innovation and entrepreneurship through its branches viz. Nirmaan, a pre-incubator to nurture student ideas mature towards incubation; IIT Madras Incubation Cell (IITMIC); IIT Madras Research Park; Gopalakrishnan Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and Centre For Innovation.

Assessment:

1,438 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) (including all IITs, NITs (National Institutes of Technology), and IISc (Indian Institute of Science), among others participated in this edition as compared to 674 HEIs in 2020. It evaluated institutions on the following 9 parameters:Mind-set development,Teaching and learning, Infrastructure & facilities, Innovations developed, Start-ups established, Collaboration and investment, IP & commercialization, Expenses & revenue, Initiatives of MoE.

Below are the major parameters considered in ARIIA for ranking:
• Activities to promote and support innovation & start-up in the campus
• Pre-incubation and incubation infrastructures & facilities available in campus
• Academic courses offered by the institute on innovation, IPR and start-up
• Successful innovation and start-ups emerged from campus
• Investment, collaboration and partnerships with ecosystem enablers
• Research outputs; publications and intellectual properties generated
• Technology transfer and commercialization efforts

Categories:

ARIIA 2021 classified participating institutions into two major categories; Technical and Non-technical. The technical category has following 5 sub-categories;

i.CFTIs, Central University, & Institute of National Importance

ii.State University & Deemed University (Govt. & Govt. Aided)

iii.Govt. College/Institution (Govt. & Govt. Aided)

iv.University & Deemed University (Self-Finance/Private)

v.Private College/Institute (Self-Finance/Private)

For the non-technical category, this edition had a special framework. It classified HEIs into two sub-categories

1. CFIs/Central University/Institute of National Importance (Non-Technical)
2. General (Non-Technical)

Table showing Top 3 Institutes in Different Categories:

Click here for Official Rankings

Key Points:

i.There is constant improvement in India’s Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking. It moved upward to 46^th position in 2021 from 81^st in 2015.

ii.India has also emerged as world’s second largest startup hub after the United Kingdom (UK), as per Startup Genome’s annual Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2021.

iii.Seven institutions from Maharashtra have secured top 10 positions under 5 categories ARIIA 2021.

iv.Seven IITs are among the top 10 CFTIs. Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru (Karnataka) ranked 6^th among them.

About ARIIA:

Launched by the Innovation Cell of MoE, and AICTE in 2019, it systematically ranks HEIs in India on different indicators to encourage high-quality research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Other Participants:

Rakesh Ranjan, Additional Secretary (Technical Education), Ministry of Education, Government of India, Dr. M.P. Poonia, Vice Chairman, AICTE, Prof. Rajive Kumar, Member Secretary, AICTE, and Dr. Abhay Jere, Chief Innovation Officer, Innovation Cell, Ministry of Education, Government of India, among others.

Recent Related News:

i.The inaugural conclave of Shikshak Parv 2021 was addressed by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi through video conferencing on September 7, 2021during which PM Modi has launched various schemes in the education sector under Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav(75th Anniversary of Indian Independence) such as Indian Sign Language Dictionary, Vidyanjali 2.0, NISHTHA 3.0, Talking Books and School Quality Assessment and Assurance Framework

(SQAAF).

ii.Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan presented the Kaushalacharya Awards for 2021 virtually on the occasion of Vishwakarma Jayanti (17th September).

About Ministry of Education (MoE):

Union Minister– Dharmendra Pradhan (Rajya Sabha- Madhya Pradesh)
Ministers of State (MoS)– Annpurna Devi (Kodarma- Jharkhand); Subhas Sarkar (Bankura- West Bengal); Rajkumar Ranjan Singh (Inner Manipur- Manipur)