Published

Software Technology Park to resume operations from November onwards

Long-pending dream to see holy city as North India’s IT hub is inching closer to fruition as the Software Technology Park of India (STPI) will initiate steps to operationalise the Software Technology Park Centre here from November.

The Hindustan Steel Work Construction Ltd (HSWCL), a subsidiary of the national building construction company, which falls under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, will hand over the building to the STPI on October 31.

Salient features

*  As the state government allotted, 2.72 acres to the New Focal Point on the Mehta Road, the STPI invested Rs22.5 crore to raise a structure, which would also house a centre as well as incubation facility. There is around 3,900 square metre built-up area with three storeys, including a ground floor at the centre. At the entrance, one will find a cafeteria, a training room, a conference room, besides an NOC room (a server will be installed in it). On the first floor, there are three meeting rooms, a pantry and the next floor will have a similar set up.

Project timeline

*  The then Cabinet minister Kapil Sibal had allocated an STP Centre to the holy city in 2012. Next year, an allotment committee under the chairmanship of the then Chief Secretary had approved the allotment of a piece of land to be set up an STP.
*  The then Union minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Parsad, had laid the foundation stone of the STP here on November 7, 2016.

Rohit Kumar, a Senior Engineer of the HSWCL, says: interior work of the centre is on its last leg which would be completed before the handing over of the building. The HSWCL constructs STP centres on the behalf of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), an autonomous society under the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Union Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Accepting that there was some delay due to Covid-19 restrictions and lockdown, he added that the HSWCL, which constructs STP centres on behalf of the STP of India, was entrusted with the project only in 2018.

As the state government allotted, 2.72 acres of land in the New Focal Point on the Mehta road, the STPI invested Rs 22.5 crore to raise a structure which would also house a centre as well as the incubation facility. There is around 3,900 square metre built-up area with three storeys, including a ground floor at the centre. At the entrance, one will find a cafeteria, a training room, a conference room, besides an NOC room (a server will be installed in it). On the first floor, there are three meeting rooms, a pantry and the next floor will have a similar set up.

Sources in the STPI stated that the spaces in the building would be rented out to private IT companies. Provisions for both small and big companies have been made.

IT experts are of the view that the holy city equipped with international connectivity and quality infrastructure was best suited to be developed as an IT hub. It has an international airport with flights to Europe, Middle East, South East Asia. An international bus terminal offering bus services between India and Pakistan. Besides, it is by road connected to the Central Asian countries like Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan. Notably, these countries are dependent on foreign countries for most of their IT needs, he said.

While casual gaming is the most popular genre in India, hardcore gaming is currently the fastest growing category in mobile gaming market and the growth is projected to outpace all other sub-segments.

The gaming sector needs a combination of policy, capability building and thought leadership to drive sustainable growth.

India's mobile gaming market is set to more than triple in size to $6-7 billion by 2025, from $1.8 billion in 2021, according to a new report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), RedSeer and OnePlus.

The report said the growth will be driven by a 500 million strong, digitally native population between the ages of 15 and 35.

India has the world’s largest number of game downloads, estimated to be 825 million in August 2021, or 17.6 percent of total worldwide downloads, according to app intelligence firm Sensor Tower.

The government-imposed lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic further accelerated the growth of these games as mobile app downloads increased by 50 percent and consequently user engagement went up by 20 percent, the report said.

Growth of hardcore gaming

While casual gaming (Angry Birds, Ludo King) is the most popular genre in India, hardcore gaming (Krafton's Battlegrounds Mobile India and Garena's Free Fire) is currently the fastest-growing category in the mobile gaming market and the growth is projected to outpace all other sub-segments, as per the report.

These gamers are the most engaged cohort, often spending 4X more time and money on gaming, compared to the casual gamer, the report said. In a survey conducted over 500 hardcore gamers, around 70 percent of the respondents said they play 2-5 games in parallel and spend about Rs 230 per month on gaming. These gamers also spend time watching e-sports, which is already a $30 million market, it noted.

The industry has attracted nearly $1 billion in investment in the last six months and is expected to generate about 60,000 to 80,000 new jobs by 2025. Around 803 companies have received investment in 2021, as compared to 371 companies in 2020 and 165 companies in 2019.

Nurturing the gaming ecosystem

The sector needs a combination of policy, capability building and thought leadership to drive sustainable growth and India needs to focus on creating a favourable investment environment to nurture the gaming ecosystem, the report said.

It noted several direct initiatives such as STPI's Center of Excellence in Hyderabad to provide resources such as incubation, mentoring, technology support, and funding for Gaming, Animation, VFX, Computer Vision and AI startups and the Indian government's National Centre of Excellence for Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics as well as indirect initiatives such as Digital India and Digital Literacy policies.

However, there is regulatory uncertainty over some aspects of gaming and the laws defining skill, gambling, data protection and taxing gaming earnings are still under discussion. For instance, the Karnataka government notified an online gambling law on October 5 that outlawed all forms of online gaming where transfer of money is involved.

 To facilitate the growth of emerging technologies in the state, the Karnataka government has inked 3 MoAs (Memorandum of Associations) worth Rs 100.52 crores.

In an event ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav – Innovation and Indigenization in Karnataka – a Gateway for inclusive and equitable growth’ jointly organised by Karnataka and DPIIT aligning with Central government’s initiative “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, MoAs were signed on Friday in the presence of C.N. Ashwath Narayan, the Karnataka Minister for Electronics, IT/BT and Science &Technology.

Speaking on the occasion, Narayan said: “The Center of Excellences which will be set up under these MoAs aims to nurture and facilitate researchers, academicians, startups, and industry to develop technological framework characterizing ethical bindings and enable responsible deployment of AI and IOT across Agriculture, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Smart cities, and education.”

The first MoA, signed between the Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, GoK, and Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is to set up a Center of Excellence for Efficiency Augmentation in Bengaluru. The Center will support start-ups that would build products and solutions leveraging emerging technologies such as AI, ML, BigData, IoT among others to contribute to ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’, he stated.

Another MoA, Tri-Party Agreement between Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) GoK, I-Hub ARTPark, Narayan explained, has the objective to help create and maintain next-generation Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and advanced communication facilities (5G) and help nurture ‘technopreneurship’ activities.

He added the government will provide financial assistance of Rs 60 crore towards setting up the Centre of Excellence and its operations for a period of 5 years.

The third MoA is related to the establishment of the Centre for Internet of Ethical Things (CIET) in Bengaluru at a cost of Rs 22.92 crores for which KITS (Karnataka Innovative & Technological Society of IT/Bt Dept), IIIT-Bangalore, and World Economic Forum (WEF) signed.

The proposed Centre will contribute to policy frameworks pertaining to ethical and moral aspects of technologies and aims to nurture a thriving innovation ecosystem in the state.

Electropreneur Park, Bhubaneswar, a Centre of Entrepreneurship (CoE) for ESDM Incubation is set up by STPI with support from Government of India and Government of Odisha to promote ESDM Startups and create a holistic eco-system for encouraging R&D, innovation, Product developments, Entrepreneurship in the ESDM sector in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

The Second open challenge Program of Electropreneur Park-Bhubaneswar was launched by Dr. Omkar Rai, Director General, STPI in gracious presence of Shri Satyabrata Sahu, Principal Secretary, MSME Department, Government of Odisha, Shri Manoj Mishra, Secretary, Electronics & IT, Govt. of Odisha, Shri Pradeep Gupta, CMD, Cyber Media & Chief Mentor, Shri Manas Panda, Director, STPI-Bhubaneswar, Shri Subodh Sachan, Director, STPI, New Delhi, Shri Shri Rajeev Khusu, Director Texas Instruments & Chairman-IESA, Shri Sambit Sahu, Vice President & GM, Intel Corporation, Shri Sanjeev Chopra, CEO, Electropreneur Park, New Delhi, Ms. Lopa Mishra Jana, COO, Electropreneur Park, Bhubaneswar.

The Second Open Challenge Program (OCP 2.0) was launched for selection and on-boarding of Startups in Pre-Incubation & Incubation Program of the CoE. The Open Challenge Program (OCP) is a platform where the Applications are called to identify and select the entrepreneurs, Innovators & Startups in ESDM domain.

EP-Bhubaneswar offers the selected Startups to be part of state-of-the-art Incubation & Pre-Incubation Program and garner their success through strategic networking, seed funding, mentoring, support for training, marketing, patenting, access to the CoE labs, software & tools etc.

Speaking on the occasion DG, STPI urged the Innovators and Startups to come up with brilliant ideas and solutions to be part of EP-Bhubaneswar and ESDM growth story of the country. Shri Satyabrata Sahu spoke about the vibrant Startup ecosystem of the State and aspiration of Govt. of Odisha to be number one in Startup ranking. Shri Manoj Mishra appreciated the efforts of STPI and briefed about the new incentives of State Govt. for promoting IT and ESDM Industries and stressed on building a larger ecosystem.

During the event, EP Design Library & Resource Center was launched by Shri Satyabrata Sahu Principal Secretary, MSME Department, Government of Odisha which will provide access to reference designs for wide range of product modules including Power supplies, Sensors, Control boards etc. for startups.

A MoU was signed between STPT and Texas Instruments (TI) to boost the collaborative ecosystem of STPI for promotion of Startups & Innovation in the State.

The event was moderated by Ms. Lopa Mishra Jana, COO, EP-Bhubaneswar and Shri S.R Patra, Joint Director, STPI offered Vote of Thanks.

STPI is planning to set up a CoE in #Industry4.0 technologies in Vizag will play a key role in bolstering R&D, innovation & product development and empowering startups to build innovative products in Industry 4.0 tech to address the challenges of various industries.

Nagaland's 1st and India's 61st Software Technology Park of India (STPI) in Kohima will help in promoting the region as one of the preferred IT destinations.

Nagaland’s first and India’s 61st Software Technology Park of India (STPI) centre was opened on September 17, 2021, in Kohima. The Center was inaugurated by the Union Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar.

The Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Nagaland, KD Vizo informed that in 2015, the Director-General of STPI, during the e-Naga Summit had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set up the Software Technology Park of India at Kohima, Nagaland.

The Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar, while speaking on the occasion said that the inauguration of STPI in Nagaland was a part of the fulfillment of PM Modi’s vision of creating a technology ecosystem in the Northeast by creating opportunities for the future generations of the region.

Significance:
The Software Technology Park in Nagaland will host as a Centre of Entrepreneurship in IT Applications in Graphic Design, where the students, start-ups, and innovators will be able to utilize the facility for the research and development of new innovative solutions.

Software Technology Park in Nagaland: Objective
• The Software Technology Park of India (STPI) in Nagaland will help in promoting the region as one of the preferred IT destinations.

• The Center aims at attracting IT/ITES/ESDM units to the State, promote the export of IT Software and Services from the region thus contributing to the Gross National Exports.

• The State-of-the-art STPI Centre which covers 18,137 sq ft aims at providing high-speed data communication and other value-added services, creation of IPR, encourage innovation, mentoring, and promotional support and strive to create direct and indirect employment opportunities.

Nagaland to create 5,000 IT jobs in two years
Mmhonlumo Kikon, Advisor to the Department of IT, Science and Technology, New & Renewable Energy announced that Nagaland Government has decided to create 5,000 jobs for the IT and Information Technology-enabled services (ITES) in the next 2 years.

Kikon further said that the silent revolution through the IT sector will continue to determine the future of the people. From being a government-dependent state to a state which creates jobs through IT and ITES, he assured that the Government of Nagaland will address various challenges.

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), an organization under Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India via Apiary, a Centre of Entrepreneurship (CoE) in Blockchain Technology, has launched the Second Idea Challenge Programme (ICP 2.0). As part of this initiative, a comprehensive screening process in the form of hackathon, Idea Challenge Program etc. will be conducted to identify and select innovative startups having the potential to create disruptive blockchain-based products and solutions. The theme of the Second Idea Challenge Programme is “UPSCALE” – which brings the focus on start-ups that are ready to launch and scale. The ICP 2.0 portal (https://innovate.stpinext.in/apply-now/apiary_icp_2.0) is open now to receive applications from eligible start-ups and the last date for submission of completed application is Sunday, 03 October 2021.

The ICP 2.0 comes after an overwhelming response to the First Idea Challenge Programme and in line with its mission to empower 100+ Blockchain technology start-ups in the next 5 years, the Second Idea Challenge Programme (ICP 2.0) was launched by Dr Omkar Rai, DG, STPI in the august presence of dignitaries from MeitY, Govt. of Haryana, Academic Partners FITT, IIT Delhi, JC Bose University of Science & Technology, Faridabad, Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science & Technology, Faridabad, Industry Partner Government Blockchain Association (GBA) and technology partners IBM & Intel to select start-ups from Blockchain domain for the second cohort of Apiary CoE.

“The global blockchain technology market size is expected to expand at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 82.4% from its current size of USD 5.88 billion in 2021 to USD 394.60 billion by 2028. The investment data in blockchain start-ups, suggests that blockchain startup companies around the world have amassed USD 2.6 billion and USD 4.4 billion in the first and second quarters of 2021 alone, in venture capital funding. Investment in Indian blockchain start-ups has also seen a quantum jump in 2021 as compared to previous years and have already attracted USD 100 million in venture capital funding by June 2021”, said Dr. Rajneesh Agrawal, Director, STPI Noida.

“In the First Idea Challenge Programme that was launched by Dr Omkar Rai, Director General, STPI on 17th of July 2020, a total of ten start-ups were onboarded to the first cohort of Apiary”, said Shri Subodh Sachan, Director, STPI-HQ. “These start-ups are building cutting edge technology for diverse industries such as financial services, supply chain, food & pharmaceuticals, global logistics, smart contracts, digital credit issuance & verification, digital identity management, digital records, tax administration, healthcare & e-governance. This year, we plan to onboard over ten start-ups through this Idea Challenge Programme, ICP 2.0.”

On Launch of Idea Challenge Programme (ICP 2.0) of Apiary CoE, Dr Omkar Rai, Director General, STPI said, “STPI firmly believes that with the promotion of disruptive technology-led innovations & supporting ecosystem, such initiatives will transform India into a hub for new generation software products, through policy support as an enabler, market catalysts for growth and knowledge exchange resulting in innovative product and solutions by next-gen entrepreneurs. I congratulate the Apiary team for assembling a great set of start-ups for the first cohort and expressed that this Idea Challenge Programme shall be equally successful.”

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday urged the Nagaland government to build a network among the Kohima centre of STPI, units of National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology and major educational institutes of the state to create job opportunities. Inaugurating the centre of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) here, he said the mission of creating such infrastructure is to provide opportunities to youths so that they can fulfil their aspirations. Chandrasekhar, the minister of state for skill development, electronics and IT, also unveiled an entrepreneurship development centre here.

In India, five lakh jobs have been created in the IT sector alone within a year, while three lakhs generated in electronics manufacturing and maintenance, he said.

On the first of his two-day visit to the northeastern state, the minister inaugurated the new building of National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT) at Chuchuyimlang in Mokokchung district.

The main objective of NIELIT centres across the country is to take skills, knowledge and expertise closer to the people who can use them.

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a shift in demand for technology around the world, and one of the sectors in India which grew in double digits is the IT industry, he said. Speaking on the occasion, Nagaland Advisor for Information Technology and Communication Mmhonlumo Kikon said the STPI is not just for giving grants and identifying entrepreneurs, but the Centre will help them to achieve success.

The Nagaland government aimed at creating 5,000 IT and ITeS related jobs in the next two years in active collaboration with the Centre, he said.

The STPI and the state IT department will create an ecosystem where the internet will be made accessible to every part of Nagaland.

With 18,137 sq. ft. of built-up space, 2,484 sq. ft. raw incubation space and 114 plug-n-play seats, STPI-Kohima centre provides state-of-the-art incubation space, high-speed data communication facility and NOC.

Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday inaugurated the STPI-Kohima, the 61st centre of STPI in the Nagaland capital.

To ensure holistic development of IT in the Northeast region of the nation, STPI has embarked on creating an enabling ecosystem in NER by facilitating the physical and digital infrastructure required for promoting the IT/ITeS sector, according to STPI. With this mandate, a new STPI centre has been established at Kohima which will promote IT exports and boost entrepreneurship from the region, it said.

While inaugurating the Centre, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “Today, we are fulfilling a part of Prime Minister’s vision in creating the technological ecosystem in North East, thereby creating opportunities for future generations of youngsters of this region. STPI is a platform where you can take those aspirations, make experiments, some would be successful some would fail, but you can stand up and get up again reskill and upskill. I have been working effectively on this two-pronged strategy and STPI-Kohima is part the second prong of creating opportunities for North East people to start their micro entrepreneurship and business.”

Mmhonlumo Kikon, MLA and Advisor, Information Technology & Communication, Science & Technology, NRE, government of Nagaland said, "Coordinated effort of various IT related organisations of government of India along with Department of IT, the government of Nagaland will make Kohima the IT hub of Northeast.”

Dr. Omkar Rai, DG, STPI from headquarters at New Delhi said on the occasion, "This center is aligned with STPI's vision of dispersing IT/ITeS industry to tier-2/3 cities, and especially, strengthening the tech entrepreneurial ecosystem in North East to build innovative tech products, boost software exports, and create enormous employment opportunities for the local talent pool."

The establishment of STPI-Kohima center is a joint effort of STPI, MeitY and the government of Nagaland. This is another step forward to facilitate and support the IT/ITeS industry, tech MSMEs, startups, budding entrepreneurs, and innovators of the state. With 18,137 sq. ft. of built-up space, 2,484 sq. ft. raw incubation space and 114 plug-n-play seats, STPI-Kohima centre provides state-of-the-art incubation space, high-speed data communication facility and NOC.

STPI said it has been working with distinct focus for promotion of IT/ITES exports from the country by providing single window regulatory services under STP & EHTP schemes, plug & play incubation facilities for the start-up companies and young entrepreneurs as well as high speed data communication services for a seamless access for offshore IT/ITES exports. STPI has been successfully delivering statutory services to the IT/ITES/ESDM industry in the most industry-friendly environment and has earned the goodwill for its liberal style of functioning, it said, adding that working closely with all the stakeholders, STPI has played a key role in transforming the country as the most preferred IT destination.

The growth in exports by STP units from Rs 52 crore in 1992-93 to Rs 4,92,074.55 crore in 2020-21 is a clear testimony of the effective policies of the STPI, which has also played a phenomenal role in promoting tier-II/tier-III cities of the country, it said. Out of 61 STPI centers, 53 centres are in tier-II and tier-III locations with an objective of a uniform and overall development of IT/ITES exports across the country. STPI has been nurturing the tech start-ups ecosystem by implementing Next Generation Incubation Scheme (NGIS) and establishing Centres of Entrepreneurship (CoEs) in emerging technologies pan-India, it said.

Mandates of STPI centre at Kohima
To promote the region as one of the preferred IT destinations and to attract IT/ITES/ESDM units to the state; to promote the export of IT software and services from the region thus contributing to Gross National Exports; to provide statutory services under Software Technology Park (STP) & Electronic Hardware Technology Park (EHTP) scheme; to provide state-of-the-art incubation facility, High Speed Data Communication (HSDC) and other value-added services; to encourage innovation, creation of IPR and product development; mentoring and promotional support; offering a vibrant ecosystem for creating a maker culture among the young techno-entrepreneurs and startups; and to stimulate to create direct and indirect employment opportunities, STPI said in the statement.