GOA :Goa Institute of Management (GIM) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with STPINEXT, a Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) Software Technology Parks of India initiative, to jointly build a multidisciplinary innovation ecosystem that integrates technology with law, finance, social sciences, health, sustainability, and global partnerships.
The MoU was signed today, 18th December 2025, at the GIM campus during the Pre-Summit event for the India-AI Impact Summit 2026. The formal document was exchanged between Prof. Ajit Parulekar, Director, GIM, and Shri Arvind Kumar, Director General, STPI, in the presence of Shri Kabir Shirgaokar, Director, DITE&C, Government of Goa; Shri Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, MeitY; and senior dignitaries from GIM.
Speaking during the event, Prof. Ajit Parulekar, Director, GIM, said, “GIM’s collaboration with STPINEXT is an important milestone in strengthening our vision of building an ecosystem that brings technology, policy, law, sustainability, health, and social sciences on the same platform. Under the aegis of MeitY’s STIP, this partnership will reinforce our commitment to nurturing responsible innovation, multidisciplinary entrepreneurship, and future-ready leadership for India’s digital economy.”
The collaboration between GIM and STPINEXT will span across multiple domains including:
- Knowledge exchange and research on startup policy, digital laws, data protection, cybersecurity, AI governance, and regulatory innovation.
- Organising hackathons, contests, and pitching sessions to nurture cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship across law, business, policy, and social-impact domains.
- Collaborative programs in Environment & Sustainability, such as climate-tech, Environmental, Social, and Governance solutions, and circular economy models
- Projects in Public Health & Human Development including telemedicine, health data analytics, counselling innovations, and human development tech, among others
- Engagements in FinTech & Compliance (regulatory sandboxes, risk management frameworks, and digital financial inclusion
In addition, the collaborators will also work on jointly curating an Annual Startup Needs Assessment framework to capture startup founder requirements, compliance challenges, and policy gaps, and shall develop a structured “one startup – one mentor” engagement model, including piloting its implementation.
The event also featured special addresses by dignitaries from the Department of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Government of Goa; Software Technology Parks of India; and the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India.
This was followed by a panel discussion on the topic “AI in Education”, moderated by Prof. Aishwarya Ramesh, GIM, and participated in by Prof. Sudarshan Iyengar, IIT Ropar; Shri Ajay Sardesai, HOD, Tata Consultancy Services; Prof. Bala Subramanian, GIM; and Shri Ashwani Rawat, CEO, Neural Machines Pvt. Ltd.
