Infotech Lead India: Kochi-based Startup Village, fast emerging as the world’s largest telecom incubator, has tied up with Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) to set up an Energy Innovation Zone to drive innovation in energy sector.
The young technology-driven new brigade of entrepreneurs, powered by ideas, will now chip in with their innovations and solutions to help power-starved Kerala improve the energy situation and pitch the State as a thought-leader in the country, officials of the Startup Village said.
KSEB chairman Shri M Sivasankar, IAS, and chairman of Startup Village Sanjay Vijaykumar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the presence of Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy and Hon’ble Electricity Minister Shri Shri Aryadan Muhammed.
Startup Village, the first public-private partnership incubator in the telecom sector of the country, has already roped in world leaders like Blackberry (RIM) which set up its first innovation zone in APAC region. Talks are on with major corporate and government organizations to set up similar zones which will explore new ideas for solutions and provide better eco-systems for innovations.
The Energy Zone will be housed within a 2500 square feet pallet rack structure.
“Kerala has the superior talent in the technology sector and our kids are in the front everywhere from Silicon Valley to technoparks. Startup Village came up as a revolutionary idea to tap these young talents in the State and groom them into global leaders. The Government on its part is giving full support by way of student entrepreneurship policy and pro-active logistics,” said Shri Chandy.
The innovation zone will work in line with the National Electrical Mobility Mission 2020. The zone will give practical exposure to entrepreneurs to work together with KSEB to find out industry problems faced by power sector, develop indigenous technology solutions and utilize the domain expertise of KSEB to build home grown solutions which can then be deployed in other states and countries, said Vijayakumar.
“It is an attempt to institutionalize and scale up energy economy of our State. Through the innovation spaces created out of the partnership, our youth can work on the latest technology and build solutions to the energy problems not only for our State, but also for the country and the world tomorrow,” said Aryadan Muhammed.
