Secretary of MeitY inaugurates Apiary- A Centre of Excellence in Blockchain Technology in Gurugram
-The centre has been established under the aegis of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), in association with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of Haryana, Government Blockchain Association and several blue-chip companies and top- tier academic institutions
Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) launched Apiary, a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Blockchain at STPI incubation centre, Gurugram, in association with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of Haryana, Government Blockchain Association and several blue-chip companies and top-tier academic institutions.
Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT, Govt. of India inaugurated Apiary- A Centre of Excellence in Blockchain Technology in the august presence of Ms Jyoti Arora, Special Secretary & Financial Adviser, MeitY, Govt. of India, Dr Omkar Rai, Director General, STPI, Dr Ajay Garg, Director, MeitY, Shri Rajneesh Agrawal, Director, STPI-Noida, Shri Pankaj Thakar, Chief Mentor of Apiary CoE & Founder, Padup Venture Pvt. Ltd. & Dr Anil Wali, MD, FITT, IIT Delhi.
STPI Apiary would revolutionise the Blockchain incubation ecosystem by fostering R&D innovation & entrepreneurship while nurturing start-ups to build indigenous products. The most exciting feature of blockchain is that it dramatically reduces the possibilities of a data breach. With all the fraud-resistant features, blockchain technology holds the potential to revolutionise various business sectors and make processes more intelligent, secure, transparent, and more efficient compared to traditional business processes.
At the launch of the CoE, Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT, Govt. of India, underlined, “Apiary is taking shape by bringing together all stakeholders. We can put India stack in blockchain. Let’s seek those use cases where we can provide the solutions. 2020 is the time to become ambitious; it’s time for us to change. We have 35 unicorns – more than Europe has. India has become a factory for unicorns & soonicorns.”
Ms Jyoti Arora, Special Secretary & Financial Adviser, MeitY, Govt. of India, underscored, “We have a lot of expectations from this CoE. We have to bring the young people to the fore and empower them to create path-breaking solutions in blockchain.”
Expressing his thoughts on the launch of STPI Apiary, Dr Omkar Rai, Director General, STPI, said, “The kind of leadership we have for Apiary can help us to achieve the mandate of this CoE and succeed by translating the ideas of start-ups into world-class blockchain products. Our programmes will disperse the tech start-up ecosystem to Tier- II/III cities, and we are trying to reach the unreached and facilitating support for democratising product innovation.”
Outcome of the 1st Cohort of Apiary:
STPI APIARY invited applications from start-ups/ entrepreneurs for ‘Idea Challenge Program in Blockchain Technology’ in domains like Supply Chain, Agriculture, Finance and e-governance use cases about Land Records, Public Health, Labour, Service Record, Pension Delivery and Law Enforcement & Evidence Management. Ten best start-ups are onboarded, selected from 100+ applications received, in the 1st Cohort of Apiary.
Selected start-ups represent multiple industries, including Financial Services, Healthcare, Government, Travel and Hospitality & Retail. TraceFood, Jal Jaivik Bazzar & SATV Emerging Technology Private Limited are from the food supply chain domain, Swapnet Pvt Ltd & Trustless Capital are from the fintech domain, Calculus & Sofocle Innovation Labs Pvt are into eGovernance & Digital Records, Sofexsto Technologies and Procure+ are working in Healthcare sector and last but not the least CredibleMe Pvt Ltd (A subsidiary of Snapper Future Tech) is from Education & Banking domain. These start-ups are mentored by technocrats & domain experts. India will soon realise the massive potential of this technology and drive a new wave of decentralised applications.
The 7,000 sq. ft. Apiary -CoE, at STPI-Gurugram, targets 100 start-ups in the coming five years. The centre aims to provide blockchain as a service and allow all stakeholders to benefit from shared learning, experiences, and resources. The start-ups will be mentored by a group of accomplished industry and academic pioneers, led by the Chief Mentor Shri Pankaj Thakar, CoE & Founder Padup and aided by a robust Governing Council (GC) & Project Management Group (PMG) consisting of top technology industrialists, investors, and academicians. Several corporate and academic partners have already come on board, including IBM, Intel, Padup Venture, Indian Angel Network, Vintners Angel Group, Padup Syndicate and Venture Catalyst. Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer, FITT- IIT Delhi/Sonepat Campus, will participate as an academic partner.
