THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) is all set to establish Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Cells (IEDCs) in medical and dental colleges across the state.
As part of the initiative, KSUM in association with Kerala Medical Technology Consortium(KMTC),Indian Medical Association (IMA), Department of Medical Education(DME) and Kerala University of Health Science (KUHS)has commenced a state-level workshop series to create awareness on the importance of setting up IEDCs in medical institutions across the state.
A P M Mohammed Hanish, Principal Secretary (Health & Family Welfare), Government of Kerala, interacted with stakeholders, including senior administrators and decision makers from medical colleges and dental colleges across Kerala, in the first edition of the workshop series held here on Tuesday.
Noting that doctors are crucial partners for startups that seek to address healthcare challenges, Hanish said by leveraging their knowledge of patient care and emerging trends, doctors can offer invaluable guidance to startups at every stage of development.
Dr Rathan U Kelkar, Secretary (Electronics & IT), Government of Kerala, said by bridging the gap between academia and industry, these collaborations have the potential to drive transformative changes in medical innovations. Anoop Ambika, CEO, KSUM, said as the momentum behind IEDCs continues to grow, stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem are encouraged to support and participate in these initiatives, driving meaningful progress and innovation in the field.
C Padmakumar, Special Officer, Kerala Medical Technology Consortium (KMTC), was also present on the occasion. The integration of IEDCs within medical colleges will catalyze sustainable collaborations between the medical fraternity and startups, paving a new milestone of innovation in healthcare.
Recognizing the pivotal role of innovation in addressing healthcare challenges, medical colleges are embracing IEDCs as a means to nurture entrepreneurial spirit and foster problem-solving capabilities among students and faculty.
Dr Joseph Benaven, President, Indian Medical Association (IMA), Kerala Chapter; Bal Ram. S, CEO, TIMED, SCTIMST; and Dr Sanjay Behari, Director, SCTIMST, spoke at various sessions of the event. The upcoming workshops are scheduled in Kozhikode (March 15) and Kochi (March 22).
KSUM has set up IEDCs in colleges across the state to nurture entrepreneurship among faculty and students. The major objectives of IEDCs in the health sector are to help clinicians identify and solve functional gaps in healthcare delivery and curate a set of problem statements.
IEDCs will function for the development, validation, and certification of products/prototypes/services against these curated statements. One of the objectives of the workshop is to create IEDC clusters between Medical/Engineering/Arts & Science institutions and enable interdisciplinary product development. IEDCs will also provide support for technology transfer and patent filing, apart from conducting technology workshops, bootcamps and hackathons.
KSUM, which was established in 2006 under the Kerala government, works for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
