Code for Kerala: KSUM joins hands with IBM, NASSCOM

In a unique initiative to create solutions to mitigate the fallout of natural disasters by improving preparedness for relief operations, the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has planned a two-day hackathon from September 7 here for social good.

The programme, titled “Call for Code Kerala Challenge,” will be held at Meet Up Cafe, Thejaswini, Technopark, in partnership with the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM).

The event, which assumes significance in the backdrop of the devastating floods that ravaged vast swathes of Kerala recently, is aimed at creating solutions that will significantly improve the preparedness for natural disasters and relief operations.

Leading technical experts from IBM and the ecosystem will help software developers design and build solutions that will help solve problems on the ground.

 The last date for applications is September 4. 

 For more details, visit,   www.http://callforcodekerala.mybluemix.net/.

 The event has been planned in line with the maiden “Call for Code Global Challenge” to encourage software developers who want to take their skills forward for the specific mission of easing human sufferings.

The global initiative has the support from experts, humanitarian and international organizations, including the United Nations Human Rights Office and the American Red Cross’ International team.

The inaugural “Call for Code Global Prize Event and Concert” is scheduled to be held on October 29 at the Regency Ballroom, San Francisco.

UN Human Rights Office, Red Cross, Linux Foundation and David Clark Cause are behind this initiative that unites software developers to solve pressing social issues. IBM is the founding member of the initiative. 

It is the largest and the most ambitious effort to bring startup, academics and enterprise developers together to solve, prevent, respond and recover from natural disasters.  

Online registration of drones must from Dec. 1

Drones, their operators and pilots will have to be mandatorily registered on aviation regulator DGCA’s online portal, effective December 1.

The use of remotely piloted aircraft, a kind of drone, is allowed for taking photographs, conducting surveys such as for laying of pipelines and agricultural purposes and surveillance, as per the regulations on remotely piloted aircraft system unveiled by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Monday.

The rules bar use of drones for delivery of items. They can be deployed for spraying of pesticides and delivery of relief material during a natural disaster only on a case-by-case basis.

Remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) have been divided into five categories – nano (less than 250gm), micro (between 250 gm and 2kg), small (between 2 and 25 kg) and large (more than 150 kg).

Users will have to go online to seek a unique identification number for each drone as well as an operator’s permit licence.

They will have to provide details of flight path to be undertaken for every flight. However, nano drones are exempt from all these pre-requisites.

Wedding photographers

Operations are allowed in daylight and within the visual range or a range of 450 m. Wedding photographers are allowed to use micro drones during night, if they are taking pictures in an enclosed premises which is also well-lit.

Drones are barred from being flown near airports, international border, coastline, Parliament, Secretariat complex in State capitals, military installations and eco sensitive zones.

Small and large drones can fly up to a maximum height of 400 feet. Nano drones must not fly beyond 50 feet and micro drones must be within 200 feet from ground level.

“The DGCA will also be connected to district police officers and will inform them about drone flights cleared by it,” Secretary, Civil Aviation Ministry, R.N. Choubey told a press conference. Drone users are also advised to keep the local police informed of flights planned by them.

Source: The Hindu

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Kerala start-up provides vital help to rescue ops in flood-hit areas

A Geo Spatial Technology Solution with built-in drone mapping and location intelligence, developed by Kerala-based start-up Strava Technologies, has helped save many lives during the devastating floods in Kerala by providing critical support to the massive real time rescue operations undertaken by the Defence teams and state agencies.   

Mentored by the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the solution developed by Strava Technologies provided vital intelligence to the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Disaster Response Force and Coast Guard in carrying out the rescue operations in areas ravaged by the worst-ever floods in the state.

According to officials at the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), the Geo Spatial Division of the startup offered immense help in the functioning of the Emergency Control Centre by consolidating distress calls, social media and WhatsApp SoS and other inputs  from all parts of the state, thereby providing the final intelligence data to the forces. 

"We added our Spatial Big Data Analytic platform "CyberMonkey™” - a Geospatial Intelligence System-- to compile all the location data. This solution provided error and duplication free location data of people, who need emergency assistance. The real time Geo Visualization feature of the platform supported the entire team to visually analyze and to plan the rescue mission from the State Emergency Operation Control (SEOC) room,” said an official of the startup.

Officials of the State IT Mission, KSDMA, SEOC and the Secretariat IT Cell had worked along with the teams of Defence and Strava Technologies to sort out all data from social media, e-mails and WhatsApp groups of officials including District Collectors, Deputy Collectors and personnel of other departments.

"Location is very crucial in the rescue operation as each life is precious for us. We really appreciate the work done by Strava Technologies in the rescue operation. Cyber Monkey™ helped us achieve our goal on time, and thus saved many lives," said Mr. Sanooj, Commander, Indian Navy. Mr. Vairav, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF); and Ms. Kavitha, Major, Indian Army also lauded the services of the startup.

Commenting on their contribution, Ms. Jancy Jose, Managing Director, Strava Technologies, said “Most of my team members had worked tirelessly, at least 18 hours daily, under higher officers, who are handling the disaster from the State Control Centre.”

“As an entrepreneur from Kerala, this is a proud moment for me and my team. Now we are working in supporting our state in the third phase of rehabilitation by providing our drone-based solutions to analyse the intensity of flood affected areas in various parts of Kerala,” she added.

KSUM is the nodal agency of Government of Kerala for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state. 

KSUM to organise national-level Coconut Challenge; seeks innovative ideas to revamp the sector

Kerala’s ubiquitous coconut will test the ingenuity of innovators, entrepreneurs and startups as Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) is all set to organise a national-level Coconut Challenge aimed at fostering ideas and innovations to give an impetus to the coconut sector, including its farming, marketing and process improvement.

KSUM, in association with Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (KSIDC) and State Planning Board, is holding the two-day competition on the sidelines of the International Coconut Conference and Expo 2018 on September 6-7 at The Raviz Kadavu, Kozhikode.

The event will be a unique opportunity for innovators, startups, individuals and students to showcase their ideas and prototypes that could facilitate mentoring and funding support from various government agencies.

The main objective of the programme is to rejuvenate the coconut sector in the state by linking entrepreneurs, innovators and farmers. Ideas and technologies are invited in resolving industry-level problems in different farm-level operations such as harvesting, procurement, processing, value addition, supply chain management and marketing.

The last date for submission of entries is August 19. Entries will be accepted at the link https://startupmission.kerala.gov.in/programs/ncc/. Top 10 entries will be announced on August 22. Presentations of top three entries will be held on September 6 and 7. These entries will get Rs one lakh in total and KSUM will provide scale-up grant up to Rs 7 lakh to them.  

Further, top 10 entries will get an opportunity to present their ideas in the Idea Day conducted by KSUM.

The best startups will get Rs 25 lakh in total seed support from the KSIDC. Top three will be given opportunity to present in the International Coconut Conference and Expo.

KSUM announces second K-accelerator cohort for startups, application on

After the successful graduation of the first cohort of  K- Accelerator, Kerala Startup Mission(KSUM) and Zone Startups India have announced its second cohort to look out for high-tech, high potential startups from Kerala seeking to expand their industry connects and scale up customer conversions.

K-Accelerator Monsoon Batch 2018 has been designed as a three-month virtual progamme with one-week residential session in Bengaluru or Mumbai, aimed at giving national level exposure to start ups who have generated traction.

K- Accelerator was born out of the need to identify and nurture startups who can build and scale world-class products from Kerala and beyond, thereby bringing about economic growth in the state by creating jobs, wealth and favourable business conditions in the state, one of the earliest hubs of Information Technology in the country.

After success of its first round, the programme  is now being  curated  to focus on B2B start-ups, under a hybrid delivery model that includes virtual and physical hand-holding sessions by leading mentors, world-class investors and prolific industry connects.

The application for the programme, which has a fee of Rs 50,000 per startup, is  alredy on, with August 17 as the deadline. This will be followed by the selection pitch on August 23 and announcement of results on August 25.

The programme will start on September 3 with the residential boot camp scheduled on November 1. The Demo Day and Investor Pitch will be held on November 3. 

The (KSUM) is the nodal agency of Kerala Government to promote entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.

Zone Startups  is the global brand of tech accelerators and early stage venture funds operated by Toronto-based Ryerson Futures Inc., a subsidiary of Ryerson University.

"Kerala has a large number of startups with products which have potential to lead in national and global markets. Through K-Accelerator program Kerala Startup Mission and Zone Startups India aim to provide the right platform for these startups to realise their potential," said Saji Gopinath, CEO, KSUM.

"We have been very pleased with the quality of startups that we got to work with during the first cohort of K-Accelerator. We see this program as a platform for emerging tech startups from Kerala to leverage our existing industry connects and network of mentors and advisors,” said Ajay Ramasubramaniam, Director, Zone Startups India.

“With a strong local talent pool, Kerala definitely offers an edge to startups for scaling. We are looking to nurture and scale startups from Kerala, and further build on the local entrepreneurship ecosystem." Ramasubramaniam added.

The primary objective of KSUM is to create and promote an ecosystem that provides necessary support to technology-based startups to grow, create jobs and add value.

Startups in Kerala have begun to stretch their limits by focusing more on future technologies and creating solutions with highly innovative methods, in ways that have not  been experimented with before. Multiple success stories have been written about entrepreneurs from Kerala, across different sectors, other than the traditional Software and IT.

Zone Startup India was set-up in 2014 as a joint-venture of Ryerson Futures Inc., Bombay Stock Exchange Institute, Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, B.C) and the DST (Govt. of India).

Its portfolio includes over 160 startups,  of which nearly 55 have gone on to raise a cumulative of $ 60 Mn in venture funding.

Zone Startups India has established a very strong footprint in the country’s  startup ecosystem through its niche programs such as empoWer, Next BIG Idea Contest and a number of corporate accelerators and innovation programs.  

The applications for the second cohort are open now at https://startupmission.kerala.gov.in/programs/k-accelerator/, products startups who are at early revenue to growth stage who are solving problems in the B2B space must apply.