Start up and Innovation Ecosystem – Panel discussion report

Report of Panel Discussion organized by IIC in Association with Goa State Innovation Council on ‘Innovation and Start up Ecosystem enables from the Region/ State/ National Level’

Institution Innovation Council of Don Bosco College of Engineering organized a panel discussion on “Innovation and Start up Ecosystem enables from the Region/State/National Level”, on June 29, 2021.  The discussion was moderated by Mr. Sudip Faldesai – Project Officer, GSinC. The panelists were; Mr. Scott B. Knox, Senior Architect/Urban Designer, Miss Divya Kakkar, Business Mindset Coach and Mr. Abhay Valsangkar, Founder of Alter Ego Learning. There were more than 300 participants for the webinar which included students, faculties and entrepreneurs. Prof. Suraj Marathe, the faculty coordinator of the panel discussion, set the tone of the webinar and welcomed everyone. He also explained the purpose of IIC and its objectives.

Mr. Sudip Faldesai took over as the moderator and explained in brief the topic of the discussion. He also explained the various schemes and opportunities provided by the government for nurturing their ideas related to startup and Innovation. Then he introduced the panelists, and the discussion began. Miss Divya Kakkar spoke on the concept of ‘Ikigai’. She went on to say “ Ikigai helps to motivate to think about how to innovate new ideas”. She led the audience in a short exercise as to find their Ikigai. Mr. Abhay Valsangkar spoke on his life experiences and the importance of learning. He spoke about the 3 ingredients to success-Mindset, skillset and toolset. Mr. Scott B. Knox spoke about the business model canvas and the value proposition canva. Mr.  Sudip asked questions relevant to each of the panelists. The discussion covered various topics such as role of students in the Start up and Innovation journey, how it will be beneficial to build up students ideas into reality. Various questions were then asked by the attendees which were then answered by the panelists.

Finally, the moderator asked each of the panelists to give their concluding statements. He then concluded the discussion by mentioning the points about the importance of discipline, practice and innovation, and attitude towards quality. Ms. Benecia Colaço, the student coordinator of the discussion delivered the vote of thanks.