Bhubaneswar, Aug. 23: The state will set up a "characterisation laboratory" on the campus of the International Institute of Information Technology here to provide infrastructure to entrepreneurs, set testing labs for them and fund start-ups.
The centre, the first such facility in east India, will be set up in collaboration with the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) at an estimated cost of Rs 22 crore. The centre will also help entrepreneurs test their semiconductor designs at an affordable cost.
The government has also approved establishment of an electronic systems design and manufacturing incubation centre to promote start-ups in electronic system design and manufacturing sector.
Chief minister Naveen Patnaik made these announcements during the first convocation of the institute today. As many as 200 BTech and MTech students received their degrees on the occasion.
Selected start-ups coming up at the incubation centre will be given 18 months time to become commercially viable. They will be provided with the marketing, maintenance and funding support. Start-ups relating to energy, health, education and industrial automation will be allowed to operate at the proposed centre.
"With the information technology momentum of the country, Odisha is also striving to make the state one of the most preferred destinations of IT industries. The state government has brought out a new ICT policy and is in the process of framing a progressive start up policy soon," said Naveen.
The Industrial Policy Resolution, 2015, of the state government opens with a range of opportunities for entrepreneurs and start-ups in various sectors. The government is setting up a Greenfield electronic manufacturing cluster at Info Valley and is the first state to sign an MoU with Silicon valley, US, to attract foreign investment in IT sector.
IIIT director Gopal Krishna Nayak said: "To remain competitive in an increasingly interconnected world, we need to ensure that the curriculum equips students for the jobs of tomorrow. We need to move beyond teaching students how to consume technology and instead focus on creation of technology I am happy that this institute believes in that and prepares students as professionals for whom a demand exists in the world market."
