Kerala's first incubation facility, the Technopark-Technology Business Incubator (TBI), which spearheaded the IT start-up revolution in the state, has won national recognition for the multitude of training programmes that it organizes to strengthen IT education, skill development, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The TBI has won a Special Commendation for the coveted Golden Peacock National Training Award instituted by the Institute of Directors (IOD) to recognise excellence in training at the organisational level.
Technopark-TBI Chief Executive Officer Hrishikesh Nair will receive the award at the Golden Peacock Awards ceremony at Hotel Taj Vivanta, Thiruvananthapuram, on May 23.
Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy will be the chief guest at the ceremony which will be held on the sidelines of the 24th World Congress on Total Quality and Leadership organised by the IOD on May 23 and 24.
"We are extremely proud of this achievement. It is, in fact, recognition of the collective effort by the Kerala government and the Technopark-TBI to bring in an IT entrepreneurship boom in the state," Hrishikesh Nair said.
Technopark TBI was started in 2006 and has incubated 195 companies so far. Its capacity building initiatives include a project facilitation centre, outreach programmes, training camps, e-learning courses, awareness programmes, the technopreneur workshop series, and training in software development, technology entrepreneurship and business incubation.
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The support network extends to school and college students, the research and academic community, IT professionals and entrepreneurs.
"Through the project facilitation centre, Technopark TBI has been providing training and project facilitation for students since 2002," said K C Chandrasekharan Nair, the Managing Director of Technopark TBI.
"Every year more than 300 student projects are undertaken at Technopark TBI, 30% of which are from electronics," he added.
Technopark TBI has established more than 35 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Cells (IEDCs) in various engineering colleges in Kerala and is in the process of setting up IEDCs in polytechnics.
IOD's Golden Peacock Awards, instituted in 1991, receive more than 1,000 entries in various categories from nearly 25 countries and cover public, private, non-profit, government, business, manufacturing and service sectors.
The awards committee is headed by Justice P N Bhagwati, former Chief Justice of India. The Awards Jury is co-chaired by Justice Dr Arijit Pasayat, Chairman, and Authority for Advance Ruling (Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax).