Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) at IGNOU organized a “Workshop on Entrepreneurship and Innovation as Career Opportunity”  on 1st  December, 2021. The workshop focused on the following:

• Interpersonal skills & Entrepreneurship

• Critical & creative thinking skills

• Practical entrepreneurial skills & knowledge

The resource person of the workshop was Dr. Vijeta Banwari, Associate Professor, SOSS. Dr. Vijeta Banwari spoke about skills required entrepreneur and highlighted various prospects for the students to be an entrepreneur. 

Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) at IGNOU organized a session on “Developing on Online Repository of Ideas – An Idea Bank” on 2nd  December, 2021. The session mainly focussed on the following:

• Create a repository of Innovative Ideas by Students.

• The ideas should be at Technological Readiness Level (TRL) - 0 to 2 (refer TRL levels).

• Once a student submits idea(s), respective IIC-Institutes need to evaluate Ideas based on the evaluation criteria provided to IIC-Institute and need to list/ upgrade them at the IIC portal at the end of the Quarter 1

• Each student can submit multiple Ideas.

• Institute will get their own portal to manage the innovations submitted by your students.

The resource person of the workshop was Dr. Jyotsna Dikshit Deputy Director, NCIDE. Dr. Jyotsna highlighted open innovation, crowd sourcing and said that NCIDE has designed and developed and Online Portal for creating a repository of the ideas of the students in the form of Idea Bank. She demonstrated the portal and how the students can submit their ideas. She also presented how they can document their journey from ideas to startup through the e-portfolio component of the portal.

Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) at IGNOU organized a session on “Exposure and Field Visit for Problem Identification” on 2nd  December, 2021. The session mainly focussed on the following:

• Organise a Field/Exposure Visit to Village/Society/ School/ Industry/ Market and facilitate Interaction with Key Stakeholders to Identity real life problems need solutions.

The NCIDE faculty members, Dr. O. P. Sharma, Dr. Jyotsna Dikshit and Dr. Sujata Santosh were the Expert Resource Persons. In this session, the experts discussed the topics of problem identification, creative problem solving and ideation. The students were also given activities and exercises related to problem identification, idea generation and creative problem solving. All the students participated in the exercises actively. They were guided to visualize their surroundings, work places and other areas to identify the problems which require innovative solutions. They were given an exposure about different techniques of ideation.

Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) at IGNOU organized a session on “My Story – Motivational Session by Successful Innovator” on 2nd December, 2021. The session mainly focussed on:

• Idea generation & implementation

• How to overcome challenges & set targeted goals?

• Innovator's Life & Crossroad by successful Innovators

The session was taken by Dr. Animesh Mohan, a successful Innovator and student innovation awardees of IGNOU and Panchakarma Consultant (Panchakarma Vaidya), All India Institute of Ayurveda, New Delhi. He is also the Founder of Dr. Animesh’s Ayurveda Solutions (dranimesh.com). He spoke innovation and shared his experiences of his personal journey as an innovator.

Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) at IGNOU organized a session on “My Story – Motivational Session by Successful Entrepreneurs/Startup Founder”  on 3rd  December, 2021. The session mainly focussed on:

• Risk taking opportunity & critical thinking.

• How to - build a team, raise capital, learn from failure

The session was taken by Mr. Avinash Kumar, a successful Entrepreneur. He is an Engineering Graduate in Computer Science and also a student of IGNOU. He discussed the various phases an entrepreneur goes through while setting up an enterprise.

Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) at IGNOU organized a session on “Pitching Event for Ideas Scouted” on 3rd  December, 2021. The session mainly focussed on:

• Guidance and training on setting up goals by Innovation Ambassadors.

• Ambassadors should mentor to build up innovator's ideas and set the context for challenges & opportunities.

• Pitching creative ideas & problem identification.

The session was conducted by the NCIDE faculty members, Dr. O. P. Sharma, Dr. Jyotsna Dikshit and Dr. Sujata Santosh. In this session, the students presented the problems identified by them. This was followed by brainstorming on the various ideas shared to find innovative solutions to the problems identified. The resource persons guided the participants on the ideas pitched.  

As an activity of IIC, IGNOU organised a Session on the topic “Design Thinking and Innovation” on December 10, 2021 through Facebook Live. The expert Resource Person was Dr. Abhilash Nayak, Senior Regional Director, IGNOU Regional Centre Patna. Dr. Nayak explained what design and design thinking is. He explained the importance of design. He also explained the stages of design thinking with appropriate examples.

The National Centre for Innovations in Distance Education (NCIDE) and IGNOU Regional Centre Bhopal jointly organized two consecutive Expert Lecture on the theme of "Process of Innovation Development & Technology Readiness Level (TRL)" & "Commercialization of Lab Technologies & Tech-Transfer" on 14th January, 2022 at 03:30 PM through virtual mode. The main speakers for this programme were Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Majumdar, Manager in Startups Activities & Intellectual Property Division of National Research Development Corporation, New Delhi and Dr. Ashutosh Pastor, Manager, Startup Incubation at Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer Indian Institute of Technology New Delhi. Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Majumdar elaborately discussed about the processes and types of technology transfer relevant for academic institutions. He explained the importance of research and its output that can be multiplied by the industry and the legal instruments involved in the process so that the interests of the innovators can be protected and they can reap the economic benefits. Dr. Ashutosh Pastor explained the audience in detail about the Project management cycle with different examples and innovative solutions. He also defined the Technology Readiness Level with different scale, Manufacturing readiness level and Industrial Readiness Levels. Each step of TRL were explained with suitable examples along with ongoing support programs for TRL. He explained the difference between a mature and immature technology and other related issues to TRL. 

A One Day Webinar on “Entrepreneurship, Attitude and Behaviour Development” was organized by National Centre for Innovations in Distance Education (NCIDE), IGNOU HQs and IGNOU Regional Centre, Jaipur on 19.01.2022. Dr. Rajdeep Deb, Principal, School of Entrepreneurship Skills, Bhartiya Skill Development University (BSDU) Jaipur (Rajasthan) was the Chief Speaker on this occasion. Dr. Rajdeep Deb spoke on the current innovations and skill required in the field on Entrepreneurship. He also motivated the Learners for Start-ups by giving very day to day and simple examples.

A Session on the Role of Pre-incubators in Nurturing Innovators ” was organized by IGNOU IIC on 14.02.2022. Mr. Saurav Kumar, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of NewGen Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (sponsored by DST, GoI) was the Resource person on this occasion. Mr. Saurav Kumar spoke on the role of incubators in nurturing innovative ideas. He told about the incubator he is managing and the ways in which the incubator nurtures the innovators to develop their startups.

IGNOU IIC organised Pitching event of Proof of Concepts on 17.02.2022 at 11.00 AM. And 18.02.2022 virtually through Google Meet. The pitching was followed by mentoring of the students by the Innovation Ambassadors. The Innovation Ambassadors were Dr. O.P. Sharma, Dr. U. C. Pandey, Dr. Abhilash Nayak, Dr. Jyotsna Dikshit, Dr. Moumita Das and Dr. Sujata Santosh, who mentored the students. The students were asked beforehand to prepare a document of their proof of concept/innovation based on a format and submit. Thereafter they were asked to prepare a 20 minute Pitch to be presented before the Mentors. A total of fourteen students presented their PoCs in the event.

As an IIC 4.0 Activity NCIDE organized a Session on Prototype Product/Process Design and Development for IGNOU Students on May 17, 2022 at 10.30 AM to 12.00 PM. Dr. Oum Prakash Sharma, Director, NCIDE was the Resource Person for the Session. He gave a presentation on Prototype Product/Process Design and Development. He said that the Prototype Development is a very important stage of the Product Development Process. Besides explaining the Concept of Prototype, he explained the importance of Prototyping in the Process of Product/Process Design and Development with the help of examples he explained different types of Prototypes and common methods of Prototype Development.

The NCIDE, IGNOU organised a Three-Day Student Empowerment Programme on Innovation and Business Model Development on May 17, 2022. The expert Resource Person was Dr. Anupriya Pandey, Assistant Professor, SOMS. Dr. Anupriya explained the Business Model Canvas and its various components. She discussed the business or startup ideas with the students. She then elaborated the aspects of the business model canvas in context of different business ideas.

As an IIC 4.0 Activity NCIDE organized a Special Session on “Exposure to the Incubator Unit and Its Role in Startup Support” for IGNOU Students on May 19, 2022. Dr. Sujata Santosh, Assistant Director, NCIDE was the main Resource Person. Dr. Sujata Santosh began her talk by highlighting the importance of incubation for startups. Thereafter she explained about incubators and the various kinds of incubators available for startups. While giving her presentation Dr. Sujata Santosh also highlighted the importance of Incubation accelerators.

As an IIC 4.0 Activity NCIDE organized a Special Session on “How to Plan for Startup and Legal and Ethical Steps” for IGNOU Students on May 18, 2022.  Dr. Suneet K. Srivastava, Director, School of Law (SOL) was the main Resource Person. Dr. Suneet K. Srivastava. Dr. Suneet K. Srivastava began her talk by highlighting that the legal and eithical considerations when planning for startups would require taking care of the intellectual Property Rights aspect. While giving her presentation Dr. Suneet K. Srivastava explained the basic concepts and terms related to IPR such as Trademark, Intellectual Property, Patent, etc. She highlighted the importance of IPR and Patent in context with the Innovation and Startups.

As an IIC 4.0 Activity NCIDE organized a Special Session on Intellectual Property Rights and IP Management for Startups for IGNOU Students on May 18, 2022. Dr. Moumita Das, Assistant Director, NCIDE and Convener, IIC was the main Resource Person. While giving her presentation Dr. Moumita Das explained the basic concepts and terms related to IPR such as Trademark, Intellectual Property, Patent, etc. She highlighted the importance of IPR and Patent in context with the Innovation and Startups. She mentioned different types of Intellectual Property and also difference between different types of Property Rights. Further, she described the process and important steps for getting IPR approval. She demonstrated the process of applying for Patent and highlighted the important steps for managing the Intellectual Property for Startup.

The session on Developing Online Repository of Business Plan/Prototypes Developed was organized on May 19, 2022. The expert Resource Person was Dr. Jyotsna Dikshit, Deputy Director, NCIDE. Dr. Jyotsna Dikshit discussed the business ideas of the students. She explained the online repository of business plan/prototypes and how the ideas could be submitted online. She also gave an overview of the NVRIETI: NCIDE’s virtual resource and incubator for entrepreneurship, training and innovation.

NCIDE, IGNOU organised The National Startup Day on 17th January 2022 in virtual mode through Google Meet in which a talk on the innovation related activities of the university was organised. The speaker on this occasion was Dr. Oum Prakash Sharma, Director, National Centre for Innovation in Distance Education (NCIDE). Dr. O. P. Sharma, in his talk, highlighted the efforts of NCIDE in creating an ecosystem of Innovation and entrepreneurship in the university. The activities belong to three categories, student centric, faculty centric, and systemic activities. He elaborated these activities and focused on student centric activities in his presentation. He enumerated the following activities undertaken by the University.

1. Identifying and recognizing potential innovators and entrepreneurs,

2. Incubating, nurturing and empowering potential innovators and entrepreneurs,

3. Mentoring and Handholding through networking and collaboration, and

4. Encouraging and motivating towards innovation and entrepreneurship.

Thereafter he proposed the way ahead in these activities.