US aerospace and defence giant, Lockheed Martin, will soon invite innovative ideas via its annual programme, “India Innovation Growth Programme”, which focuses on startups and university students, aiming to help them come forward with their ideas and thereafter enable them to enter the market.

“Applications for this programme, launched in 2007, will be received from March 21. It looks for startups and university students, who have got innovation, and they may be allowed to take their ideas to the next stage, enabling them to enter the market,” Phil Shaw, Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin India said in a statement.

Each year, the programme has been receiving around 1500 applications, he added while addressing the audience at Kerala’s first national level hardware startup conclave, which was organized by Maker Village on Saturday.

“People need exposure, investors or venture capitalists. The programme is set up to identify the innovation that is taking place in India. From the ideas, an expert panel will select the best 10 and they will be going to the United States each year to be exposed to the innovation ecosystem in the US,” said Phil Shaw.

“In the first week of April, along with Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), we are planning to have an international conclave of start-ups, in which around 2000 startups will participate,” M Sivasanker, IT Secretary of Kerala Government, said at the conclave.

The state’s first conclave saw participation from  industry leaders like Siemens, Dassault Systems, Qualcomm India, Intel, ARM, Imec, Bosch, Tejas Networks, Invecas, Rambus, and Texas Instruments India, in addition to Lockheed Martin. Around a thousand participants , consisting of hardware startups, Centre and State Govt officials, industries, technology firms, funding agencies, accelerators, hardware startup incubators and academic institutions, from all over the country attended the conclave, which was held at the Gokulam Convention Centre.

(Picture courtesy: gineersnow.com)