Thrissur: The Idea Box portal has been launched under the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) to encourage innovative ideas from young people and document them so they do not go to waste.
The portal was launched by IT and Industry Minister PK Kunhalikutty at the IEDC (Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Center) Summit held under the auspices of KSUM at Sahrudaya Engineering College, Thrissur.
Speaking at the event, the minister said that world-class ideas are born and developed on campuses. The government will provide all support required to bring these campus innovations forward.
He noted that agencies and startups need clear support from the government and said the new Idea Box portal is a step in that direction.
The minister also said that the initiative would help ensure that Kerala is not left out of the IT revolution.
The new portal, called Idea Box, will provide a mechanism for users to share their ideas and track their progress.
The portal is available at the Kerala Startup Mission website. In addition, the minister inaugurated the Hicon Innovation Challenge.
Kerala Seeks to Strengthen Startup Ecosystem
Speaking at the summit, IT Secretary Seeram Sambasivarao said Kerala’s excellent talent and creative potential should be fully utilized. He said the minister had directed the decentralization of the startup ecosystem.
According to Sambasivarao, Kerala needs to promote the knowledge economy along with the IT sector. He said the startup ecosystem should move forward based on research, innovation and entrepreneurship.
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KSUM CEO Anoop Ambika said Kerala should be able to produce technological products for the world. He said the primary objective of the Startup Mission is to transform ideas into enterprises.
Ambika said the Idea Box website marks the beginning of the process of transforming innovative ideas into products.
He said the platform will create a system for people with and without technical knowledge to present their ideas and develop them into products.
IEDC Summit Brings Together Students, Startups and Industry
The conclave was organized under the theme “Innovation Beyond the Future” and was attended by more than 5,000 young talents, students, entrepreneurs, investors and industry leaders.
The summit brought together 601 IEDCs operating across 14 clusters in 14 districts of Kerala, more than 1,000 nodal officers, over 4,000 student leads, more than 250 startups and over 5,000 new ideas.
More than 70 experts from various fields also spoke at the event.
Chalakudy MLA T J Saneesh Kumar, Digital University Vice Chancellor Dr. Saji Gopinath, Irinjalakuda Bishop Mar Pauly Kannukkadan, College of Engineering and Technology Principal Ramkumar S, Kerala EDC Summit Coordinator Jibin Jose and others were present at the summit.
The launch of the Idea Box portal is aimed at creating a platform through which innovative ideas emerging from Kerala’s youth and campuses can be shared, tracked and developed into products and enterprises.
