Margao: Goa will soon have yet another incubation center which will be in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology,
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), industry body FICCI at the Don Bosco Engineering College in Margao.
National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations (NIDHI), an umbrella program is pioneered by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India for nurturing ideas and innovations (knowledge-based and technology-driven) into successful startups.
In order to realise the Prime Minister’s ambitious initiative on Start-up India, DST aims to bring both speed and scale to transform the start-up ecosystem in the country. NIDHI focuses on building a seamless and innovation driven entrepreneurial ecosystem especially by channelizing youth towards it and thereby bringing in the positive impact on the socio-economic development of the country. The program aims to provide technological solutions not only to the pressing needs of the society but also targets to create new avenues for wealth and job creation.
NIDHI, by design connects and strengthens all the links of the innovation chain from scouting to sustaining to securing to scaling to showcasing, because a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The key stakeholders of NIDHI includes various departments and ministries of the central government, state governments, academic and R & D institutions, mentors, financial institutions, angel investors, venture capitalists, industry champions and private sectors. NIDHI strongly addresses the new national aspirations by massively scaling up DST’s experience of three decades in promoting innovative startups.
DST has approved the first NIDHI-TBI for Goa through the approval of the incubator at Don Bosco College of Engineering, Fatorda. The focus in this incubation center will be on defence related projects.
In order to establish a close collaboration with the industry for the effective implementation of the objectives of the NIDHI-TBI a MoU has been signed by Don Bosco College of Engineering with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). The college is also collaborating with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on projects with research inputs with an objective of promoting research based start-up enterprises in Goa.
Senior officials from the DRDO and FICCI visited the college during mid-October this year to ensure that the new incubation center comes up and the people taking benefit of this will have an easier time to scale up the ladder in their business proposition with the help of renowned mentors.
Prinicipal of the Don Bosco College of Engineering, Dr Neena Panandikar while speaking to the Herald said, “Initially we received a sanction of Rs 8.4 crore from the Government of India and in association with the Department of Science and Technology we signed a MoU with FICCI. We are also associated with the DRDO and their scientists and senior officials visited this institution to interact with our faculty members to find out if there can be any collaboration with some of the DRDO projects. Our faculty members have sent about a dozen proposals to the DRDO already and the selection process of those is already been discussed.”
She added that FICCI is also helping us in getting some industries linked to the institution. We are expecting about 300 companies to get linked to us through FICCI and this will certainly be an advantage to us for placement of our students.
The architect of this new incubation center, Bryan J Soares confirmed to the Herald that, “By the end of March next year, the incubation center should be ready for use as we can build it up in phases and realistically by mid-March the center will be ready for use.”
Father Kinley D’Cruz, director of the Don Bosco Engineering College said that, “I am looking at a period of four months from now when this incubation center should be ready.” When asked how this new incubation center will help Goa in leverage itself in the start-up world, Father D’Cruz said, “Firstly, our students will get a very broad perspective, apart from doing just engineering. It will also help other incubatees. Secondly, because of the lack of job opportunities in Goa we want to encourage our students to get into their own start-ups and generate employment rather than look out for employment. This will allow the students to think bigger, broader and out of the box.”
source: Herald Goa