Telangana’s Chief Innovation Officer (CIO), Shanta Thoutam, has been honored with the World Innovation Award during the inaugural BRICS Innovation Forum held in Moscow from August 27 to 29. This distinguished accolade acknowledges her outstanding commitment to furthering Sustainable Development Goal-4, which emphasizes the promotion of inclusive and equitable quality education, as well as lifelong opportunities for all. The forum brought together representatives from more than 30 countries and featured two other notable contenders in the same category: Fernando Padula Novaes, Municipal Minister of Education of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Saif Al-Hiddabi, Undersecretary of Research and Innovation at the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation in Oman.
Shanta Thoutam’s impressive journey in Telangana’s innovation ecosystem spans seven years, during which she has held various key positions, starting as Vice President at T-Hub, followed by her role as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) for the State Handlooms and Textiles Department. Currently, she serves as the first female Chief Innovation Officer.
With the participation of representatives from over 30 countries at this groundbreaking forum, Shanta Thoutam took the stage as one of the panelists in the Cloud City Conference. During her presentation, she illuminated the remarkable initiatives and achievements of the Telangana government in areas such as open data, digital innovation, and urban development. She highlighted the significance of the Command Control Center in Hyderabad, which enhances citizen security by analyzing visual data from a vast network of CCTV cameras. Additionally, she underscored the Open Data Portal, a platform that hosts publicly accessible datasets, promoting government transparency and sparking innovative solutions from diverse stakeholders.
The World Innovation Award, organized by the World Organisation for Development, an international NGO with Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic & Social Council, recognizes leaders from the developing world who have made extraordinary personal contributions to achieving Sustainable Development Goals through systematic efforts to implement innovative solutions.