From a new chief executive officer to an earthquake alert that had techies sprinting for the exits and the fun and frolic of Tech-a-break; from the pitfalls of recession, a security breach, awards, sports tournaments, TED talks…it’s been a happening year for Technopark and the 40,000 plus techies who work there.
Agreeing that it has been a eventful year K.C. Chandrashekar, Chief Finance Officer, Technopark, and Secretary and Registrar, Technopark Technology Business Incubator (T-TBI) says: “It’s not merely been a good year for Technopark, its really been a spectacular year. Quite a few companies seem to have taken on global recession as a challenge and an opportunity to get ahead of the game. To use a metaphor, this is a good phase in Technopark’s horoscope!”
M. Vasudevan, senior manager, Business Development, at Technopark says: “Indeed, 2012 has been a good year for us. The built up area of Technopark is going to increase manifold thanks to initiatives already in the works. In a matter of months we’ll be able to cater to an additional 40,000 techies. Earlier in the year Infosys announced plans for a second campus near Technocity; TCS too is coming up with India’s largest techie training centre that can cater to 16,000 new recruits; UST Global’s campus is progressing well… The continuing interest of both major corporations and small and medium enterprises in Technopark reinforces our success.”
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Anoop P. Ambika, managing director of Kreara Solutions, secretary of GTech and founder of Technopark’s cultural club Natana, opines: “This year Technopark’s turnover – all the companies put together – is close to Rs. 2,000 crore! On the cultural front, Natana organised many well-attended programmes. We started Nakshatra, our film club, which has become hugely popular. Recently, there was an impressive turnout at our cultural stage show, Jalwa.”
Perhaps one of the biggest achievements of the year has been the T-TBI winning the prestigious Asian Association of Business Incubation Award for the Best Incubator of 2012. “Technopark TBI currently hosts 70 companies inside the incubator and virtually incubates 28 companies in a range of areas such as mobile applications, holography and optics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, embedded systems, bio-informatics, medical electronics, and so on. I’m proud to say that we have a success percentage of 96.42,” says Chandrashekar.
Recently the Government of Kerala announced their landmark student entrepreneurship policy and it has appointed T-TBI as the nodal incubator to provide guidance to other TBIs and students till 2014. “We are launching a TBI for non-resident Indians on January 7, 2013 by the Prime Minister (waiting for confirmation from Prime Minister’s Office) and also planning the laying of the foundation stone for the innovation zone in Kochi,” adds Chandrashekar.
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Alexander Varghese, Country Head, UST Global, too is “excited and impressed” by the increasing number of entrepreneurial initiatives. “Both UST and Technopark have had a good run this year. The sheer number of entrepreneurial activities in Technopark and in Kerala in general is a matter of pride for the State. UST has been able to improve revenue and maintain growth – and that’s despite global recession and a conservative economy. We have also stepped up employee engagement activities this year (which seems to be a common trend across the board in Technopark),” he says.
By the looks of it, 2013 will most probably be a happening year too. “Phase III will soon become operational, Technopark Club will be getting a world class revamp… there’s much to look forward to,” says Anoop.