Young Innovators Programme – Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council

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Young Innovators Programme

Problem

• Students lacked a system integrating academia, industry, and government to foster well-rounded innovation and research.
• Traditional education is not preparing students to tackle real-world challenges with innovative and practical solutions.
• An interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving is not attempted, which hampers overall development.
• Need to spark local economic growth by harnessing the potential of young, innovative minds within the community.
• Students are missing opportunities to connect their ideas to real-world industry applications, limiting their innovation’s potential impact.

Solution

• Developed an integrated ecosystem, merging academia, industry, and government sectors, promoting well-rounded innovation and research among students.
• YIP implemented a structured mentorship system, enabling teachers and research mentors to guide students through real-world problem-solving.
• Created a digital platform to facilitate an engaging community of practice, connecting students, mentors, and industry experts for collaborative innovation.
• Provision of training to teachers on new product development with a fuzzy front end and Design Thinking.
• Creation of affinity spaces and gamified motivational systems for promoting mental capacity building.

Challenges

• Traditional academic curricula and systems lack the flexibility to promote innovation and creativity.
• Teachers may not fully understand or value the importance of fostering student innovation.
• Rigid academic schedules can act as a barrier to integrating innovative activities and projects within the learning experience.
• Aligning YIP’s innovative activities with existing academic systems can pose a significant challenge.
• Insufficient understanding and application of Industry 4.0 and design thinking processes.

Innovation

• Developed a centralized Innovation platform for promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing across different sectors in the state of Kerala.
• Innovative course content aligned with both academia and industry fostered an innovative mindset and increased employability.
• The Communities of Practice provided an innovative mechanism for disseminating knowledge and fostering innovation, transcending geographical barriers.
• The Voice of Stakeholder training focused on incorporating feedback from all stakeholders into the design process.
• Domain institution created a mentor network and system for pro-bono evaluation and mentoring.

Outcomes

• YIP has successfully grown from a cohort of 1320 students in 2018, 3950 in 2019, 10112 in 2020, 102512 in 2021, and 120000* in 2022 
• The triple helix model implementation has onboarded 7374 institutions 
• Over 800 department staff were brought together for fruitful collaborations between academia and government.
• Government departments generated 100 real-life problems from 5 themes in 2021~22 and 1940 real-life problem statements in 2022-23.
• YIP has ensured an interdisciplinary approach to innovation, with 22 state-relevant thematic areas where 9404 ideas were submitted in 2021-22 by the student teams.

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Case Study

Young Innovators Programme

Summary 

The Young Innovators Programme (YIP) is a ground-breaking initiative by the Government of Kerala aimed at fostering creativity and innovation among young minds. This programme democratizes access to innovation, providing students from diverse backgrounds with the necessary resources, mentorship, and community support to ideate, innovate, and solve real-world problems. Integrating STEM disciplines with arts and social sciences, YIP is shaping future leaders and driving sustainable societal development through the power of youth innovation.

Problems

Earlier, students lacked a system integrating academia, industry, and government to foster well-rounded innovation and research. Traditional education was not preparing students to tackle real-world challenges with innovative and practical solutions, so there was a need for an interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving to provide overall development. 

Solutions

The department developed an integrated ecosystem, merging academia, industry, and government sectors, promoting well-rounded innovation and research among students. YIP has facilitated gated programs and proactive outreach initiatives and implemented a structured mentorship system, enabling teachers and research mentors to guide students through real-world problem-solving. Training has been given to teachers or new product development with a fuzzy front end and Design Thinking.

Outcomes

YIP has successfully grown from a cohort of 1320 students in 2018, 3950 in 2019, 10112 in 2020, 102512 in 2021, and 120000 in 2022  The triple helix model implementation has onboarded 7374 institutions. Over 800 department staff is brought together and there is a significant impact in cultivating practical problem-solving skills.  Government departments generated 100 real-life problems from 5 themes in 2021~22 and 1940 real-life problem statements in 2022-23. 

Challenges

The traditional academic curriculum and systems lacked the flexibility to promote innovation and creativity, as the teachers didn’t fully understand or value the importance of fostering student innovation. There were rigid academic schedules which can act as a barrier in the learning experience.

Innovation

The department developed a centralized Innovation platform for promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing across different sectors in the state of Kerala. The Communities of Practice provided an innovative mechanism for disseminating knowledge and fostering innovation, transcending geographical barriers. The Voice of Stakeholder training focused on incorporating feedback from all stakeholders into the design process.

Opportunities

The integration of boot camps into YIP could form a critical part of the innovation ecosystem. These boot camps could provide hands-on, intensive training in various domains. Also, a micro-credit system could be integrated into the YIP, which would provide financial support to innovators for the implementation of innovative ideas and projects. The model could be successfully replicated in other states, contributing to creating a nationwide innovation ecosystem.

For more information, please contact:
Dr Unnikrishnan Potheri Vasudevan, Member Secretary at ms.kdisc@kdisc.kerala.gov.in

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