The second Roundtable of the “Thinking Social” series, organized by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) and Ennovent, was held on 30th November 2015 at the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata under the aegis of Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) 2015-16. The theme of the Roundtable was ‘”Social Enterprises in India”.
The British Council has commissioned a baseline study on the Social Enterprise Landscape in India, which is being conducted by Ennovent. The aim of the study is to provide a summary of the current size and scale of the social enterprise sector and give stakeholders a clear picture of the existing landscape and help them identify areas in which their support is most needed. The aim of the baseline study is to provide a summary of the current size and scale of the social enterprise sector in India. The survey will contribute to the improvement of the social enterprise ecosystem by obtaining currently unavailable numbers on various indicators, giving stakeholders a clear picture of the existing scenario and helping them identify areas in which their support is needed.
The objective of the roundtable was to disseminate the findings of the Landscape Survey of Social Enterprises in India captured through survey responses and interviews conducted so far, with a specific focus on East India. The audience mainly comprised of eminent social entrepreneurs, academicians and NGOs mainly from the Eastern part of the country.

The discussion was initiated by Juhi from Ennovent who shared with the audience the findings of the survey which they had conducted. The following points were discussed:

Distribution of Social Enterprises by State

The panel discussed that a lot of innovative business models exist at the ground level but they often go unnoticed because they do not have access to communication services like the internet. They also decided to do a search on the operational presence of SEs and conduct the survey in regional languages.

Distribution of Social Enterprises by Sector

The panel decided that methodology of framing sectors need more work as there are alot of activities which were not talked about. It was also pointed out that there should be a break up of skill development activities into non-farm livelihood and non-traditional livelihood.

Barriers to growth and Funding Challenges

Discussions took place regarding the lack of skilled manpower and training institutes is the biggest challenge for social enterprises. Also, there needs to be a more focussed sectorial analysis which needs to be carried out so that it gives us the dta about the most emerging areas in the SE space.

Feedback on the Study Report and Analysis

The survey should add an option of Lack of Training and Skill development institutes under the barriers to growth. It should also remove Micro Finance Institutes from the database. A proper definition about Social Enterprise must be formulated which would define the enterprise as a business which aims to be financially viable and creates an impact for the people at the BOP.

The first event of the “Thinking Social” series of roundtables, organized by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP), was held on 16th October 2015 at the India International Center, Delhi under the aegis of Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC) 2015-16. The theme of the Roundtable was ‘”Enhancing Quality and Affordability of Education through Technology”. The discussion was centered on three broad themes – Quality, Access, and Affordability of education for the masses. The overarching focus was the use of technology in meeting these three objectives.

The thematic Roundtable included an overview on Thinking Social, an interactive Panel discussion followed by Q&A and presentations from two social entrepreneurs working in the education domain.
The speakers for the day comprised eminent entrepreneurs and academician who have rich experience in the Education sector in India. The audience (a strong presence of 40 participants) comprised of Professionals, entrepreneurs, Impact investors, innovators, NGOs and students mainly from the Education sector.

In the inaugural session, Subhrangshu Sanyal – CEO, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park introduced the theme and shared with the audience IIMC’s journey on entrepreneurship, IIMCIP’s vision & activities and how TSEC emerged as one of the biggest platform for the social entrepreneurs in India.

Prof Raghabendra Chattopadhyay, IIM Calcutta moderated the Panel discussion and requested all the Panelists to share their thoughts on the challenges and opportunities around the theme.

The third thematic roundtable of “TSEC Thinking Social Roundtable” series, organized by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP), was held on 27th February 2015 in Mumbai, under the aegis of Tata Social Enterprise Challenge (TSEC).

The Mumbai Chapter of IIM Calcutta Alumni Association was instrumental in supporting the Roundtable. The theme of the Roundtable was ‘Bridging the Education Gap’. The main objective of this roundtable was to provide a platform, for the champions of education entrepreneurship ecosystem to exchange their experiences and ideas thereby perhaps create a set of best practices for the industry to emulate.

The thematic TSEC Roundtable was structured with an introductory address from IIP and the TATA Groups followed by Panel discussion with subsequent Q&A round and ending with a valedictory and thanking note from the IIMC Alumni Mumbai Chapter.