New York’s Next Idea Comes From Students in India
The next big idea for a business that could help solve New York City’s energy problems may have been devised by three students from India who had never visited the city before this week.
On Thursday morning, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced that the trio of students from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras had won the inaugural NYC Next Idea contest, sponsored by the city’s Economic Development Corporation. The contest is one of the mayor’s initiatives to improve the city’s image as a place that is hospitable to entrepreneurs.
The winners, who called their venture Greenext Technology Solutions, will receive $20,000 in cash and help in setting up their business in the city – if they decide to come New York and can obtain the necessary visas. Mr. Bloomberg used the announcement as an opportunity to reiterate his view that the federal government should make it easier for foreigners to come to New York to work.
“No one can say for sure whether the finalists’ ideas will translate into successful job-creating businesses,” the mayor said in a statement. “What a shame, though, if they and countless others are denied the opportunity even to try.”
The winning idea is a system for storing energy in large batteries around the city that would
discharge electricity into the power grid to meet demand. The flexible mechanism could serve as a backup source to avert gaps in the power supply and make the grid more reliable, according to the winning entry.
The members of the winning team are Aashish Dattani, Sriram Kalyanaraman and Vinayshankar Kulkarni. They beat out a team from a business school in Spain that drew up a bike-sharing program for the city and a pair of students from a business school in France who devised a tool for screening people for infectious diseases.
The Economic Development Corporation is seeking a local school to run the business-plan competition again in 2010.
Read More: NY Times City Room
On Thursday morning, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced that the trio of students from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras had won the inaugural NYC Next Idea contest, sponsored by the city’s Economic Development Corporation. The contest is one of the mayor’s initiatives to improve the city’s image as a place that is hospitable to entrepreneurs.
The winners, who called their venture Greenext Technology Solutions, will receive $20,000 in cash and help in setting up their business in the city – if they decide to come New York and can obtain the necessary visas. Mr. Bloomberg used the announcement as an opportunity to reiterate his view that the federal government should make it easier for foreigners to come to New York to work.
“No one can say for sure whether the finalists’ ideas will translate into successful job-creating businesses,” the mayor said in a statement. “What a shame, though, if they and countless others are denied the opportunity even to try.”
The winning idea is a system for storing energy in large batteries around the city that would
discharge electricity into the power grid to meet demand. The flexible mechanism could serve as a backup source to avert gaps in the power supply and make the grid more reliable, according to the winning entry.
The members of the winning team are Aashish Dattani, Sriram Kalyanaraman and Vinayshankar Kulkarni. They beat out a team from a business school in Spain that drew up a bike-sharing program for the city and a pair of students from a business school in France who devised a tool for screening people for infectious diseases.
The Economic Development Corporation is seeking a local school to run the business-plan competition again in 2010.
Read More: NY Times City Room
Comments
Post a Comment