Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) program in collaboration with AICTE for Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs)

Chandigarh, November 20, 2023:  In the year 2018, the Ministry of Education (MoE) through MoE’s Innovation Cell (MIC) launched the Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) program in collaboration with AICTE for Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) to systematically foster the culture of innovation and start-up ecosystem in education institutions. Primarily, IICs’ role is to engage a large number of faculty, students, and staff in various innovation and entrepreneurship-related activities such as ideation, Problem-solving, Proof of Concept development, Design Thinking, IPR, project handling and management at the Pre-incubation/Incubation stage, etc., so that innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem gets established and stabilized in HEIs. The IIC model is designed to address the existing challenges/issues in HEIs such as fewer numbers, occasional and unplanned Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) activities organised in HEIs with low involvement of top leadership, lack of coherence and absence of synergy in resource mobilization, deployment and underutilization of creative potential of youths as a major barrier for vibrant I&E ecosystem to emerge from HEIs.

The IIC model is unique and distinct as it integrates the functionalities of flexibility calendar activities, a scoring and reward system, decentralizing operation with the division of work, progress monitoring, and incentive mechanisms in a coordinated manner through a robust digital platform. In the last two years, undoubtedly, IIC has emerged as a very sustainable and scalable model for promoting innovation within HEIs and the efforts of these IIC Institutes can be seen as an impactful contribution towards making the country’s innovation and start-up ecosystem more vibrant and dynamic. The recent achievement of India’s 48th position in the Global Innovation Index (GII) ranking is a reflection of the same.

Panjab University, Chandigarh is pleased to announce that the Ministry of Education has selected it to organize the Institution's Innovation Council (IIC) regional meet 2023 on 21st November. Prof. T. G. Sitharam, Chairman of AITCE, will be the event's chief guest. Smt. Jaspreet Talwar, an IAS officer is serving as the Principal Secretary of the Department of Employment Generation, Skill Development, and Training in Punjab, Shri Devinder Pal Singh Kharbanda, who is also an IAS officer, is currently serving as the Director of Industries and Commerce in the Government of Punjab, and Shri Dipan Sahu, who is the Assistant Innovation Director at the Ministry of Education's Innovation Cell AICTE, will be a guest of honor. This event will be conducted under the banner of Atma-nirbhar-Bharat, with the aim of promoting the vision of the Make-in-India campaign among start-ups, entrepreneurs, IIC institutes, and innovators. The event will be guided by Prof. Renu Vig, the Vice Chancellor of Panjab University, to ensure its success and effectiveness. Following major transformations, PU has been selected as the first host institution to organize a meet with multiple tracks, including innovation panel discussions, knowledge-sharing sessions, an orientation session for YUKTI Innovation Challenge, and a one-to-one mentoring cum pitching session. The registration and signatory campaign for innovation and startups will be conducted online through the IIC registration portal. Institutes will nominate and display posters at the event.

An entrepreneur market called "Udyami Bazaar" will be set up for innovators to sell their innovative products and promote their brands. KARTAVYABODH and open interactive sessions are some of the new initiatives that will be implemented, which will involve some extracurricular activities to engage innovators. Pitching sessions and one-on-one mentoring will provide guidance to entrepreneurs in this region, and a few selected start-ups will be nominated for national investment of up to 10 Lakhs.

Round table discussions on innovation with angel investors, incubators, and resource agencies will be aimed at setting the foundation for the growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. IIC institutions will conduct knowledge-sharing sessions, with a focus on IP commercialization and technology transfer. Some YUKTI innovators will have the opportunity to demonstrate their technology/products in front of panelists, and the best innovators and IIC posters will be felicitated at the valedictory session.

All of these initiatives will set a benchmark for upcoming meets and ecosystem development initiatives. At the end of the day, everyone will have something to take away.