The Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has proposed community innovation centres to identify and promote rural innovators and bridge the gulf that leave the start-up ecosystem of the State inaccessible to them.

The idea is to set up centres in all 140 Assembly constituencies of the State starting with 10 centres on a pilot basis. It has been proposed at the Assembly constituency level considering that elected representatives driven by political aspirations will take the lead and turn themselves into digital leaders.

“Around 71% of people are cut off from the start-up ecosystem but may have excellent ideas. The centres will be designed as an extension of rural libraries. We hope that the centres will help get rural innovators plug on and then thrive,” said KSUM Chief Executive Officer Anoop P. Ambika.

Among the proposals for developing infrastructure for the centres is utilising skill parks across the State. The centres have been conceived as places where people can drop in irrespective of their age and social status. Students should be brought to visit the centres like a trip and encouraged to innovate.

Mr. Ambika said identifying and mainstreaming rural innovators was a major challenge. “They [innovators] need to be convinced that technology is not about IT, and that even their everyday work may qualify as technology. For instance, a small machine created by a welder or a coconut shell breaking machine qualify as an innovation,” he added.