Various departments can now directly purchase apps from start-ups
In a bid to promote start-up companies and to find technology-enabled solutions for various departments, the State government has allowed all departments and agencies to directly place work orders for mobile apps with the start-ups under the Kerala Startup Mission.
Each purchasing officer can buy up to two mobile applications in a year from an entrepreneur, with the maximum cost of each set at Rs. 5 lakh.
Information Technology Secretary M. Sivasankar called it a landmark order in an interaction with start-up entrepreneurs and investors as part of the Seeding Kerala event organised by the Mission at the Technopark here on Saturday.
“At the beginning of the shift to information technology, the government, instead of looking towards IT companies, tried to look at public sector companies to lead the e-governance movement. But now, a change in outlook has happened and the youth who are at the cutting edge of technology have a lot to contribute to government departments,” said Mr. Sivasankar.
He said that some of the mobile applications presented at the event, including the one related to hyper local retail sales of consumer goods, had tremendous potential.
“The government is not looking for aesthetically designed apps. The departments already have numerous such websites and applications. The applications henceforth have to provide a comprehensive solutions,” said Mr. Sivasankar.
The government is also organising a “demo day” once a month for start-ups to display their mobile applications, which would be of interest to departments. Separately, an “idea day” will be organised, where start-ups could pitch new ideas.
Jayasankar Prasad, CEO of Kerala Startup Mission, said the past year had been a fabulous one for start-ups in Kerala.
“In the last two years, the mission could channelise investments worth Rs. 540 crore for start-ups,” he said.
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Quelle/Source: The Hindu, 29.01.2017
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