Kumbhathon: Smart Citizens for a smart city

CEO & Managing Director, Tata Consultancy Services

"Tata Consultancy Services pioneers the use of advanced data analytics to solve high-stake societal challenges in innovative ways. I am excited by MIT’s efforts to re-imagine the Kumbh-Mela and eagerly look forward to the synergetic collaboration of the TCS team of research scientists, engineers and strategy mangers along with MIT to build a sustainable mobile cloud computing infrastructure that can form the backbone of innovative efforts in the areas of food, cashless payments, epidemic tracking, civic infrastructure and more."

Xerox Chief Technology Officer and President of the Xerox Innovation Group

“Xerox is deeply committed to smart city initiatives and I am delighted to see the KumbhMela city-wide innovation taking shape. Researchers at Xerox are addressing a wide range of urban challenges using a combination of mobile sensing, crowdsourcing, and prescriptive analytics to create actionable insights for cities and their citizens. Our research team in Bangalore is looking forward to collaborating with MIT during the Kumbhathon in Nasik and pilot innovations that will make a positive difference for rapidly growing communities.”

CEO & Co-founder Khosla Labs

"Kumbh Mela - the largest congregation of humans in the planet brings with it monumental logistical challenges. India's Aadhaar identity platform provides the opportunity to create innovative technology solutions to address these. My role as head-of-technology for Aadhaar has led me to launch the current Aadhaar Incubator program that we run at Khosla Labs. We would like to invite select Kumbhathon spin-outs to our incubator to build imaginative yet robust solutions for this most traditional of Indian endeavors!"

Country Head-Developer Relations & Startup Ecosystem, Google

Google is interested and committed to solve large problems around the world and Kumbha Mela is one such place where million people will be directly impacted and we will like to help this amazing city of Nasik with scalable mobile technologies by working with enthusiastic volunteers and brightest of minds who want to bring a change and help people. We are excited to share our thoughts and experiences to come out with creative solutions for the Kumbha Mela.

”I am excited to see the Kumbh Mela city-wide develop in Nashik India.  I am looking forward to supporting the Kumbhathon in Nashik and having a lasting impact on India through this effort.”

Health Innovator & Entrepreneur

“I’m really excited for the opportunity to work with this talented group of young innovators in Nashik to share ideas and experiences that will no doubt set off a new wave of social innovation and transformation felt both locally and around the world.” 

Program Director, Global Development, X-Prize

"X-Prize is deeply committed to innovation initiatives and I am excited to see the KumbhMela city-wide innovation develop. X-Prize is looking forward to participating in Kumbhathon in Nasik and having a lasting impact in India through this effort."

Professor of Chemical Engineering Emeritus , and Faculty Director, Emeritus Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation

"The involvement of MIT Faculty and students in the KumbhMela city-wide innovation develop in Nashik, India speaks to our desire to link science and technology to social impact by addressing pressing global problems. This initiative benefits MIT by defining challenges to be solved and the global community through innovative solutions to important problems."

Vice President Emerging Technology Solutions, CTO office, Wipro Ltd.

"We are excited to hear about the Kumbhathon initiative. Smart Cities and their requirements call for a lot of innovation and we are really excited about how well Kumbhathon is shaping up. I am sure this event will have a very positive impact on the lives of common citizen and we wish it all the success."

Director, South Asia Institute, Harvard University Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School

“The maha kumbh mela in Allahabad in January through March 2013 was super-inspirational for a medley of academics studying it from so many angles.  It has proven to be the intellectual gift that keeps on giving! We wish the Nasik team much success.”