Dell Technologies on Wednesday virtually launched the “Student Entrepreneurship Programme 2.0” in partnership with NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission. The initiative is intended at “transforming innovative prototypes” of the ideas of young children who are part of the programme into complete operating products. NITI Aayog, policy think tank of the government of India in 2016 had partnered with Dell Technologies, Texas based multinational technology company to adopt Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) in select government schools. The objective of the ATL is to “foster curiosity, creativity and imagination in young minds; and inculcate skills such as design mindset, computational thinking, adaptive learning, physical computing.”
Dell Technologies Launches Student Entrepreneurship Programme 2.0 with NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission
It was said that the 10-month Student Entrepreneurship Programme in 2016 aided the top six innovations of the Atal Tinkering Marathon to transform their prototypes into working products across six themes.
“While the final six teams of the Tinkering Marathon 2017 are now entering the world of entrepreneurs, there is another batch of young talent that is ready to foray into the world of innovation and entrepreneurship,” Dell Technologies, said in a release.
It was highlighted that the top eight teams that were selected from the Innovation Marathon 2018 will begin their Student Entrepreneurship Programme 2.0 journey with Dell Technologies.
“Dell Technologies is investing in human capital which has been the driving force for us,” Alok Ohrie, president and managing director of Dell Technologies India, said in the release. “We have always considered the power of innovation and technology to be great levers of change. We are extremely delighted with the outcome of the first Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP) and we are positive that SEP 2.0 will take entrepreneurial innovation to newer heights.”
The second edition of the Student Entrepreneurship Programme is said to introduce “exciting changes” along with the “learnings” from the first edition.
It has to be noted that the ATL is open to students in grade VI to X studying in schools managed by the government, local body or private trusts or society. According to Atal Innovation Mission, the initiative behind ATL and the one designed to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the country, ATL is aimed to act as a work space for young minds.
“Young children will get a chance to work with tools and equipment to understand the concepts of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). ATL would contain educational and learning ‘do it yourself’ kits and equipment on – science, electronics, robotics, open source microcontroller boards, sensors and 3D printers and computers,” Atal Innovation Mission said on its site.
Further, Atal Innovation Mission notes that the students will receive facilities such as meeting rooms and video conferencing facility.
“These innovators make me wonder what the young children of this nation can achieve when given the opportunity to think unconventionally in order to combat challenges faced not only by their fellow country men and women but also by the rest of the world,” Rajiv Kumar, vice chairman of NITI Aayog, government of India, said in the release. “As we conclude SEP 1.0 and launch SEP 2.0, I am excited to see the impact that these innovations will create in the country.”
Dell Employees Enrolled as “Mentors of Change”
In the release on Wednesday, Dell Technologies noted that its employees have enrolled as “mentors of change” and that they “have volunteered to nurture the innovative spirit among students.”
The second edition of the Student Entrepreneurship Programme is said to enable student innovators to work with Dell volunteers and “avail mentorship to create a test bed for their innovation and collect customer feedback."
“The aim of Atal Innovation Mission is to create over a million neoteric innovators and potential job creators of the country,” Ramanathan Raman, mission director of Atal Innovation Mission, said in the release. “Our partnership with Dell Technologies in spurring the entrepreneurial capabilities of the budding Atal Tinkering Lab innovators through the Student Entrepreneurship programme gives great encouragement to young aspiring school students, while also creating a value adding recognition platform to innovative talent across the country.”
Crucially, it was said that the students will receive support and guidance to manufacture their operating product and to launch it in the market along with patenting their ideas.
