Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the eighth edition of Asia's largest conclave for aspiring student entrepreneurs 'Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centres (IEDC) Summit' on Thursday.
The summit is organised by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in association with the College of Engineering Trivandrum (CET) and the theme of the event will be 'Circle of Innovation' this year , an official release said. The event, which aims to bring together innovators from various domains. will start at 11am at CET's campus here and the conclave will be addressed by leading personalities and entrepreneurs, the release said.
The IEDC Summit, which expects more than 10,000 participants, aims to create awareness and identify potential entrepreneurs, right at the undergraduate level, it said. KSUM has about 453 IEDCs functioning in various educational institutions across Kerala, thereby providing avenues for students to learn, collaborate, and transform their innovative ideas into prototypes of viable products and services. They work on domains ranging from agriculture, medicine to polytechnics and engineering.
Emphasising the significance of the IEDC Summit in boosting student innovators, KSUM CEO Anoop Ambika said the event will provide a kickstart to aspiring student innovators and young entrepreneurship enthusiasts. By enhancing technical know-how, facilitating skill development, and fostering financial literacy, the summit will help widen the perspective of student innovators, he said.
Minister for Higher Education and Social Justice Dr R Bindu will preside over the function, which will be attended by Dr Rathan U Kelkar, state Electronics and IT secretary, and the KSUM CEO, the release said. The release further said that the summit will bring together the most ambitious and innovative student entrepreneurs from across the state to share their ideas, experiences, and knowledge.
The summit is an amalgamation of events from a range of domains, including technology, entrepreneurship, and skill development, among others and it facilitates a platform for connecting student innovators, industry leaders, and various startups in addition to providing an opportunity for them to engage and network. KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala Government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.