Directorate

Electropreneur Park, Bhubaneswar (A Centre of Entrepreneurship in Electronic System Design & Manufacturing(ESDM) ) is set up by Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) with support from Ministry of Electronics & IT, Government of India and Government of Odisha to promote ESDM Startups and create a holistic eco-system for encouraging R&D, innovation, Product development, Entrepreneurship in the ESDM sector in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

As part of this initiative EP-Bhubaneswar with support from Bhubaneswar Smart City Ltd. (BSCL) had organized a Pan India Virtual Acceleration Program for Smart City Solutions namely Smart City Challenge & Outcome for Urban Tansformation (SCOUT 2021) and the Valedictory & Product Showcase event . The objective of SCOUT was to invite Innovative Products & Solutions from the Startups for mitigating Smartcity problems and making the city life better as well as bringing transformation through disruptive technologies.

The virtual event was graced by Shri Arvind Kumar, DG, STPI, Shri Bhuvnesh Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT, Government of India, Shri Sanjay Kumar Singh, Commissioner, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation & CEO Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited, Shri Manas Panda, Director, STPI Bhubaneswar, Shri Subodh Sachan, Director, STPI Startup and Innovation Promotion & CEO, STPINEXT, Shri K Krishna Moorthy, President cum CEO, IESA, Shri R D Pai, Excelpoint Systems Pte Ltd, Shri Dinesh Tiwari, Director-Business Development Singapore IoT Consortium,Shri Chris Heyes, Director UK India Business Council,System Integrators and Tech Partners.

In this regard, a virtual exhibition was launched by Shri Bhuvnesh Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT, Government of India to showcase the products of the 26 finalists developed in SCOUT

Among rewards, Cash prize up to 3 Lakhs, 2 Lakhs & 1 Lakh weregiven to the Winner(Cocoslabs Innovative Solutions), 1st runner up( Earthzy Technology Solutions)& 2nd runner up(Racketail Solutions) respectively. Individual cash prize up to INR 50 Thousand each to 4Best performing Teams(Fuselage Innovations, Malhari Projects, Backyard Creators, Ewarn Systems). Reimbursement has been made up to INR 20k per participant for Components, Development boards and other services required to making the POC. Among other Key take aways, the Winners shall get Real time implementation of POCs selected in the Hackathon.

The Program was supported by Excelpoint Systems, L&T smart world, Ashoka Buildcon, Singapore IOT Consortium, Shapoorji Pallonji, Microchip, Zeliot, Xilinx, ADI, VaanInfra, CSM Technologies, Innovative & Iwave.

Speaking on the occasion. Shri Arvind Kumar, Director General, stated that with support and collaborative efforts of Industries the mission of STPI and Electorpreneur Park-Bhubaneswar,the outcome of SCOUT will be far reaching to achieve more than the desired goals and promote Startups & entrepreneurship in the field of ESDM.
Shri Bhuvnesh Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT Government of India, emphasized on the boost that ESDM sector and hardware industry will achieve by 2025. Shri Sanjay Kumar Singh, Commissioner, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation & CEO Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited stated that SCOUT will be a launching platform for the Startups who have come up with path breaking solutions in Smart city applications and achieving the goals for ensuring better quality of life for our citizens.

Shri Manas Panda, Director, STPI-Bhubaneswar voiced on the synergizing effect for startups with Govt. body & industries in developing innovative solutions.

The meeting was moderated by Ms. Lopa Mishra Jana, Chief Operating Officer of Electropreneur Park, Bhubaneswar and Shri S.R Patra, Joint Director, STPI delivered Vote of Thanks. All Participants of SCOUT and around 200 Startups participated in the event.

The value of software exports from the Software Technology Parks of India units is expected to be at over Rs 5 lakh crore during FY22, almost similar levels or a tad higher than the previous year, Arvind Kumar, Director General of STPI said.

The surge in COVID cases driven by the fast-spreading Omicron variant is not expected to disrupt the performance of units registered under the STPI scheme with proven remote working protocols already in place, according to a top official. The value of software exports from the Software Technology Parks of India units is expected to be at over Rs 5 lakh crore during FY22, almost similar levels or a tad higher than the previous year, Arvind Kumar, Director General of STPI said.

The safety protocols activated during the previous waves of COVID have resulted in the adoption of an effective remote working model, and the digital nature of work has enabled STPI units to maintain continuity of services without disruption.

The value of software exports from units registered under the STPI scheme is expected to be a little over Rs 5 lakh crore during FY22, against nearly Rs 4.96 lakh crore in FY21, Kumar said.

"We will not fall short of the levels achieved in FY21, given that remote working model has matured and is proven. All the enabling provisions for work from home are already in place, and online approval procedure is ongoing," Kumar told PTI.

Hence, the rising cases of Omicron in the country are not expected to disrupt the performance or business of these software units, he added.

As many as 4,689 units are registered under the SPTI scheme.

Software Technology Parks of India or STPI is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) set up to encourage, promote and boost software exports from India.

STPI aims to fuel a culture of tech entrepreneurship and innovation in the country by launching 25-plus Centres of Entrepreneurship in emerging technology domains.

It is one of the largest tech incubators in India with an area of about 13 lakh square feet spread across various Tier 1/2/3 cities. It is also assisting in the formulation of India BPO Promotion Scheme 2.0. Also, to strengthen the electronics sector STPI has undertaken a rolling out of the Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0) Scheme.

It has been working with a focus for promotion of IT and IT-enabled services exports from the country by providing single window regulatory services under STP and Electronic Hardware Technology Park (EHTP) schemes, plug and play incubation facilities for the start-up companies and young entrepreneurs as well as high-speed data communication services for seamless access for offshore IT/ITES exports.