Kochi, Sep 17 2021:  Kerala takes  a new step in technology innovation this week,  it inaugurates the Digital Hub by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) at Kochi. It is aimed at hosting a vibrant ecosystem of  incubators, accelerators and Centres of Excellence in emerging technologies.
Occupying 2 lakh square feet of built-up space at Kalamassery, the state-of-the-art hub has the capacity to support 200 startups, besides the 165 startups hosted in the adjoining Integrated Startup Complex. Housing a design incubator, healthcare incubator, Center of Excellence (CoE) for Mouser Electronics, co-working spaces, design studios, investors hive and an innovation center, the Digital Hub is arguably one of the South Asia’s largest product development centres for technology startups.
As a destination for designing and prototyping, the hub will be open for international organisations and institutions to build world-class products, KSUM Chief Executive Officer  John M Thomas said.
The CoE aims to groom shelter-related ideas and innovations, and will function as a one-stop centre for all product-design and development activities for software and hardware components. These include all sectors and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, augmented reality/virtual reality, internet of things and natural language processing.
Initially, the Hub will accommodate 200 startups giving direct employment opportunities to 2,500 talents.
The digital hub comes at a time when Kerala is giving extra focus on building the end-to-end process from ideation stage to prototype stage of a product, capitalising on its unique combination of assets. The coastal state, with its logistical and maritime advantage, has a rich talent in engineering design, a Digital Fabrication Network, a Super Fablab and a hardware incubator named Maker Village, besides small-scale manufacturing clusters, industrial corridors and maker communities.
The digital hub will upgrade the skills of the younger generations in design for manufacturing as well as for rapid prototyping, in association with super fablab and academic institutions. It will design studios established as a plug-and-play facility for designers by leveraging the existing fablabs and mini fablabs. It can help map talent pools and private prototyping centers to meet excessive demand from the existing system.
The digital hub is the latest addition to KSUM’s Technology Innovation Zone (TIZ) as a global innovation hub for several technology sectors. TIZ is being established in a 13.2-acre land at KINFRA Hitech Park in Kalamassery, envisioning a one-stop destination for technology innovation that encapsulates everything from the consolidation of the idea, to its incubation, acceleration and to mentor support to set up an enterprise and even a squadron of angel investors ready to invest in a bankable idea. The Zone will act as a self-sustained ecosystem which serves all the interests of the young innovators and entrepreneurs.
TIZ has a total built-up area of 4 lakh sq ft. Currently its first phase is operational with two buildings: Integrated Startup Complex (ISC) and Biotechnology Incubation Centre, with an overall built-up area of 2.3 lakh sq ft.
More details here: www.innovationzone.in