KOCHI:
The Kerala Startup Mission’s (KSUM) fifth edition of the IEDC Summit 2021, came to a close today expounding the idea that it is during times of crises that ingenious ideas come to the fore.
The student community in the state should make maximum use of the startup friendly policies propounded in the state budget and also the programmes of the central government, said Dr Saji Gopinath, Vice Chancellor of the Kerala University of Digital Science, Innovation and Technology.
He was speaking at the concluding ceremony of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centres (IEDC) 2021 Summit, Asia’s largest virtual aspiring student entrepreneurship summit organised by the KSUM in association with Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology in Kalady.
Some 30 experts in various fields, industry leaders and top officials with government, research and educational organisations took part in the summit. T K Jose, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Vigilance, Water Resources, Coastal Shipping and Inland Navigation, had inaugurated the summit on Thursday.
Held against the backdrop of the COVID-19, the three-day virtual summit in which some 4,000 students and young entrepreneurs took part, provided delegates from across Kerala an opportunity to express their entrepreneurial ideas and interact with experts attending from the world over. The virtual summit was conducted by using the VEMP app developed by the students of Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology. KSUM’s new initiative SMILE(Startup Mentorship for Innovation, Learning and Entrepreneurship) was also launched during the summit.
‘Innovations and Creativity in Time of Crisis’ was the theme of the event in which KSUM CEO Sasi Pilacheri Meethal and Dr Rajasree MS, vice-chancellor, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University of Kerala, also took part.
The event featured a series of technology tracks in extended reality, blockchain, startup expo, panel discussions, brainstorming sessions, interactive community and meet-ups. Student innovators from various IEDCs exhibited their innovations.
Integral to the summit was knowledge and skill development sessions, where corporate leaders provided students an insight about latest trends in technology.
The summit was designed for young-generation entrepreneurs in two major phases: the main event and the exhibition stall.
With a separate session on success stories, the conclave featured 20-plus speakers and a string of technical workshops.
A key determinant of a country’s competitiveness is its students’ talent pool: their skills, knowledge and experience, overall known as the ‘soft capital’. The event served as a platform to engage with young entrepreneurs, understand their needs, develop networks and share their success stories with a wide audience.
