Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has called upon the startup ecosystem in the state to tap in the vast opportunities lying around as it is ready to engage the early-stage businesses in all possible areas. Three top officials of the state shared the government’s encouraging attitude towards the startup community at the Global Huddle, a two-day conclave here.
Ashok B, Vighneshwari and Snehil Kumar Singh, all IAS officers, spoke on the scope of government as a marketplace for startups at a panel discussion as part of the summit on Friday. The session also saw the officers raising concerns about the performance of some of the startups engaged earlier by the government.
Ashok, secretary, Department of Agriculture Development and Farmers’ Welfare, was hughly optimistic about the opportunities agriculture sector holds for startups. Anticipating an immediate future where most of the food components will be produced in factories instead of farms, Ashok said many startups haven’t tapped in the opportunities in the technology-driven food producing sector.
He listed out food safety, changing regimes of agrarian finance, technology in irrigation and value-added products as possible areas that offer great opportunities for startups in the field of agriculture.
Vighneswari, director, Department of Collegiate Education, highlighted the scope of content creation by startups with the focus shifting to digital learning. She also said the tourism department wants startups to be engaged for managing its restaurants. Another area where the government wants startups to chip in is in planning the lush tourism packages for premium clients, she said.
The officer, however, reminded the community about the bitter experiences the government departments endured while engaging startups. “There were startups which failed to deliver their promises. This leads to losing confidence in startups,” she said. She said a lot of opportunities await startups as the government wants to restrict itself to essential services. “Startups have to keep their promises,” she added.
Echoing Vighneswari’s concerns, Snehil Kumar, deputy IT secretary, said if startups don’t deliver, everybody is at loss. Terming government a fertile market for startups, he also gave a couple of advices to the startup fraternity. “You should know that government is not ready for complicated solutions. We want simple technology which we can adapt to,” he said. He said startups should come up with ideas that open the government system’s eyes.
He also said startups while engaging with the government should be open to the idea that the requirements will keep changing. Singh highlighted citizen services and governance as the two major areas where startups have huge opportunities.
the two-day 'Huddle Global', Asia's largest tech conclave organized by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in Kovalam near here. Vijayan said an Emerging Technology startup hub will be set up in the state capital to further strengthen the incubation infrastructure and support innovation programmes. Observing that the state offered the best opportunities for a wide array of enterprises for startups in various domains like IT, VT (Virtualization Technology), and food processing, the CM said a major initiative to connect tourism industry with startup ecosystem is in the offing.
Dr P V Unnikrishnan of the Kerala Development and Innovation Strategy Council, (K-DISC) moderated the session.
The government officials made the encouraging remarks for the state’s startup ecosystem a day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, at the same venue, that an Emerging Technology startup hub will be set up in the state capital to further strengthen the incubation infrastructure and support innovation programmes. The chief minister said it while inaugurating 'Huddle Global'. The event, touted as Asia's largest tech conclave was organised by Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) in Kovalam. Observing that the state offered the best opportunities for a wide array of enterprises for startups in various domains like IT, VT (Virtualization Technology), and food processing, the CM said a major initiative to connect tourism industry with startup ecosystem is in the offing.
