The EA community is slowly developing, but the biggest obstacle is the lack of a clear hub city. Government is in Delhi, tech is in Bengaluru, many orgs are also in Pune or Mumbai (such as my own).
The philanthropic sector isn’t tuned to EA ideas just yet, but we think it might get more feasible to find local funding. Anecdotally, this seems to be easier in mental health, which is well-understood by the traditional philanthropic sector. Further development of EGIs and the local community will help here.
Anecdotally at EAGxIndia 2024, most younger attendees were interested in AI work, and far fewer into GHW/AW. There’s probably some bias here, since it was hosted in Bengaluru, which is heavier on tech. That is to say, I’m not convinced the talent pipeline for an India-based AIM-like org is quite there yet, although AIM could be nudged to incubate more often there.
On the other hand, legally operating in India is more complex than almost any other country AIM incubates into, and having India-specific expertise and operational support, while expensive, would pay dividends
Some general thoughts about India specifically:
The EA community is slowly developing, but the biggest obstacle is the lack of a clear hub city. Government is in Delhi, tech is in Bengaluru, many orgs are also in Pune or Mumbai (such as my own).
The philanthropic sector isn’t tuned to EA ideas just yet, but we think it might get more feasible to find local funding. Anecdotally, this seems to be easier in mental health, which is well-understood by the traditional philanthropic sector. Further development of EGIs and the local community will help here.
Anecdotally at EAGxIndia 2024, most younger attendees were interested in AI work, and far fewer into GHW/AW. There’s probably some bias here, since it was hosted in Bengaluru, which is heavier on tech. That is to say, I’m not convinced the talent pipeline for an India-based AIM-like org is quite there yet, although AIM could be nudged to incubate more often there.
On the other hand, legally operating in India is more complex than almost any other country AIM incubates into, and having India-specific expertise and operational support, while expensive, would pay dividends