SOA to host regional meet of IIC for 2025

Bhubaneswar: Academic leaders, policymakers, incubation managers, start-ups, innovators, industry associations, investors and ecosystem enablers will converge on a single platform as the regional meet of the Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) for 2025 will be held at the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University (SOA) here on Tuesday.

The event, organised by the Innovation Cell of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Ministry of Education, Government of India, is being hosted by the SOA-Atal Incubation Centre (SOA-AIC), Prof. Manas Kumar Mallick, Director, SOA, said.

The IIC was conceptualized by the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC) and implemented through AICTE. The IIC framework was designed as a structured, networked and scalable model to cultivate innovation-led thinking, nurture entrepreneurial mindsets and establish institution-level systems that support idea generation, prototyping, intellectual property creation and start-up formation.

One of India’s most ambitious and transformative initiatives aimed at reshaping higher education innovation landscape since its inception in 2018, the IIC movement has grown into a nationwide phenomenon expanding into more than 16,400 higher education institutions across 36 states and union territories making it the world’s largest academic innovation network.

The core purpose of the IIC Regional Meet is to bring together all stakeholders to foster meaningful dialogue and peer-to-peer institutional interactions.

The AICTE Chairman, Prof. T.G. Sitharam will participate in the program virtually while it will be addressed by Dr. Bijay Kumar Sahu, Senior Regional Manager and Head-Outreach Office, National Research Development Corporation, Government of India, Mr. Ravi Easwarupu, CEO, Ratan Tata Innovation Hub, Visakhapatnam, Ms. Rashmita Panda, Chief Executive Officer, Start-up Odisha, Government of Odisha, Prof. Deepak B. Pathak, Professor Emeritus, IIT Bombay, Dr. Jadumani Jena, former CEO, Telecom Sector Skill Council, Government of India and Dr. Dipan Sahu, Assistant Innovation Director, AICTE and Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda, Vice-Chancellor, SOA. Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT Madras will address the gathering virtually.