YIP 2018 -2021 – Young Innovators Programme, Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC)
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YIP 2018 -2021

About YIP

Young Innovators Programme is a specially designed programme under Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC). The programme aims to empower future innovators to innovate new products, services or models to meet emerging requirements, unarticulated needs, or existing market needs of the society more effectively through an innovative challenge.

 

 

 

 

Selection Criteria

An idea in innovation for business or innovation for societal change shall be evaluated based on the following, the relative weightage of which could be suitably decided by DISC

 

  1. Usefulness

  2. Value of the solution

  3. Market potential or social worth

The indicators for each evaluation criteria shall be as follows

Usefulness, novelty and non-obviousness

a) Assess whether the idea is useful.

Indicators

How useful is the idea based on its characteristics?

The extent to which the utility is specific, substantial and credible.

b) Assess the novelty of the idea.

Indicators

Idea must be new, not previously known or used by others, based on literature survey, product information and IPR

c) Assess Non-obviousness of the idea

Indicators

Idea is different from the usual practice, that a person having normal skill in the related area, would not find it obvious to make the change otherwise

Value of the solution

Indicators

a) Real measurable consequence of inaction on the problem

Is the problem unworkable?

b) Implication of non-fixing the problem- the mandate not addressed

Is fixing the problem unavoidable?

c) Consequence of a delay in addressing the problem

Is solving the problem urgent?

d) Conspicuous absence of other valid solutions to the problem

Is solving the problem underserved?

Market potential

Indicators

a) Will the product or service satisfy as market need?

– Who are the customers and where can they be found?

– What completion is there? Direct/Indirect/International

– How distinct is the product from what is offered by the competitors?

b) Can the product stand test of changing trends or take advantage before it dies out?

c) Does the law of land allow the business to be established?

d) At what prices are customers prepared to buy the product?

e) Can the innovator make a profit?

Additional indicators for evaluating ideas for societal advancement

a) An idea shall be included in the category of STEM Innovation for Societal Advancement if

– it targets a social process.

– it creates positive value of being good or better than what it replaces.

– it promotes a bottom up or civic centered solution where bureaucratic planning or market process fails.

– it promotes a solution addressing a global challenge humanity is facing.

– it pertains to public service delivery of a common social good

– it addresses a need of the marginalized, downtrodden or deprived.

– it helps resolve a conflict or strife.

Social worth of the idea can be estimated by the following indicators

Indicators

a) Does it result in one or more of the following?

– An organizational change

– Create a social support system accompanying a material innovation

– Political interventions triggered by a large-scale reform

– Create novel patterns of need fulfillment

– Create novel lifestyles often adaptation of material and societal challenges.

b) What is the extent of impact?

 

 

 

Who can participate?
  1. Stream One (Students -Age below 16)

Students of age less than 16 from government, aided and private schools including technical schools in the state who have reached the penultimate level in a multi-level merit track during the last three years and shortlisted by the District innovation council can submit an innovative idea through the K-DISC idea exchange.

  1. Stream Two (Students -Age above 16)

Students of age more than 16 from Government, Aided and Private Higher Secondary Schools, Vocational Higher Secondary Schools, Technical Schools, Industrial Training Schools and Polytechnics who have reached the penultimate level in a multi-level merit track during the last five years and shortlisted by the District Innovation Council shall be included.

  1. Stream Three (Students of Special Schools)

Students or old students of age below 25 from any special school in the state having exceptional creativity in problem solving shall be included.

  1. Under each of these streams, there shall be two themes
  2. STEM innovation for Business.
  3. STEM Innovation for Societal Advancement.
Conditions
  • The Young Innovators Program currently chooses people for the innovation workshop who have won in any of the following competition. Don’t worry if you have not won in any of the below contests, your ideas will still be considered and evaluated through the Idea rocket Challenge.

1) Students winners at district and state level for Sasthra- Ganitha Sasthra-Samoohya Sasthra-Pravarthi Parichaya Mela ( Last 5 Years)

2) Students qualified for INSPIRE at state level ( Last 5 Years)

3) Student winners for district level and state level for VHSE Vocational Expo (Last 5 Years)

4) Talents identified for Skills Kerala 2018 by Department of Employment and Training- penultimate screening ( Last 5 Years)

5) Talents identified for walk with the scholar Programme by Director of Collegiate Education (Last 5 Years).

6) Talents identified through Sastrayan by Director of Collegiate Education (Last 5 Years)

7) Promising talents identified by department of employment and training during earlier years. (Last 5 Years)

8) Promising innovators associated with TBI’s, IEDC’s, IETE, IEEE and other special innovation promotion units established in engineering colleges (Last 5 Years)

9) Rural innovators short listed by Kerala State Council for Science Technology  and Environment.

10) Shortlisted candidates of Kerala Startup Mission’s Idea Day

11) Promising innovators associated with TBI’s, IEDC’s, IETE, IEEE and other special innovation promotion units established in polytechnics ( Last 5 Years)

12) Winners of Kerala Sastra Sahithya Parishad Vignjanothsavam

13) Yuvamanorama Mastermind competition ( Last 5 Years)

14) Adhi Shankara -Asianet Young Scientist Awards ( Last 5 Years)

  • The applicant must have soft copies of the following documents for registration.

– Your ID card

– Soft copy of the certificate, in case you have won any of the above competition.

  • There should be a multi-level screening process involving two or more levels.
  • The focus should be on real life problem solving using Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), the term science encompassing social sciences as well.
  • There shall be focus on assessing overall creativity of students preferably using through Multiple Intelligence Assessment Metrics.
Procedures

The YIP 2019 Challenge will be open to all students, from every institution, across Kerala. Applicants can apply to be part of the YIP 2019 Challenge in one of the following two ways:

Institution-based Applications
With notifications and direct communications, K-DISC will invite institutions from all over Kerala to apply to be part of the YIP 2019 Challenge. There will be a minimum requirement these institutions will have to meet before they can register for the Challenge.
With the consent of their Heads, interested Institutions will have to register for the YIP 2019 Challenge with at least 2 Teachers or Faculty Members who would be the “FACILITATORS” of the Institution for YIP, if the institution is shortlisted. The institutions could also recommend mentors for the YIP Programme. Further, these institutes will identify and support groups of students to participate in the Challenge.

Eligibility Criteria
Since the Institutions are envisioned to play a crucial facilitating role in the YIP, K-DISC has stipulated a minimum Eligibility Criteria for Institutions:

a. Institute must be registered Institution recognized by the Govt of India, Govt of Kerala.
b. The Heads/Directors/Principals of these Institutions must consent to register for the program.
c. Institution must nominate at least 2 (TWO) Teachers or Faculty members to be the FACILITATORS for the entire duration of YIP 2019.
d. Institution may nominate mentors for the YIP programme
e. Institution must be able to identify, support and ensure the participation of at least a few students.

Screening & Selection Process
K-DISC will use the following Screening & Selection Criteria for prioritizing the final selected list of YIP 2019 Institutions:

a. NIRF Ranking during the last year – for Institutions of Higher Education
b. NAAC Grade during the last year – for Institutions of Higher Education
c. ARIIA Ranking of institutions on Innovation Achievements during the last year
d. Number of Studentsenrolled in regular programmes during the last year– for all kinds of Institutions
e. Previous Years’ Results – for different regular courses
f. No of requests originated for Mentor Registration till the time of application

Individual Applications
In cases where the individual is interested in being a part of the YIP 2019 Challenge, but is part of an institution which is not part of the Institutions screened and shortlisted for the Challenge, they may be allowed to register if they are able to obtain the consent of their Head/Principal and the Institute meets the eligibility criteria for the program.
Screening & Selection Process
K-DISC will find the most suitable candidates for the program through a rigorous Screening & Selection process. The selection process is designed with enough rigor to look at the quality and merit of ideas submitted by the applicants. The programme shall be built to check for inquisitiveness, spirit of enquiry, grit and passion which are important pre-requisites for the applicant’s progress and success through the program.
After final submission of their ideas on the digital platform, applicants will be individually and collectively contacted, and even observed closely during interactions, to understand the rationale for their choice of the problem, their rough approach for solving the problem and their passion for the cause.

Objectives
Enhancing identified youth with design thinking, collaborative, creative problem solving and leadership skills
Empowering and building youth through immersive programmes to Learn, Empathize, Accelerate and Disrupt (LEAD).
Mentoring them and intensifying networking to build a product or develop a process for showcasing in the Young Innovators’ Challenge.
Certifying promising innovations and attaching the young innovators to research institutions in related areas with scholarships for 1 year.
Tracking these young innovators and linking them to institutions, industries, enterprises and prospective funding agencies.
Build a strong pool of mentors to identify, assess and track innovations as well as provide young innovators the necessary academic, domain specific as well as psycho-social support necessary through the process.

 

Strategy

K-DISC will use talent scouting agents, agencies and institutions with excellent credentials and track record and who are engaged in the process of identifying ideas in innovation. These agencies will be relied on to undertake the first level of screening of potential talent.

K-DISC will undertake a process of selection from among the students identified under the various streams.

Agencies and institutions organizing state level knowledge fests, science fairs, work exhibitions, and innovation talent hunts for high school and higher secondary levels in Kerala for at least five years continuously with multi-level merit-based and transparent selection processes shall be involved.

Such agencies shall be certified by any one of the following government departments involved in human resources development of children and youth.

  • Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment.
  • Directorate of Technical Education
  • Directorate of Higher Secondary Education
  • Directorate of Vocational Higher Secondary Education
  • Directorate of Industrial Training
  • Directorate of Collegiate Education
  • Directorate of Social Justice
  • Agricultural Technology Management Agency

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