Nagas want to do the Tech Tango, with graphics design

December in Nagaland is the time for the Hornbill festival, for the cultural extravaganza of tribal dances from all of the state’s 17 major tribes, for rocking music concerts, and rousing choral music. Amidst this cultural extravaganza, the state decided this year to throw its hat into the ‘tech’ space and hold its first-ever tech summit.
The day-long ‘NE (North East) Tech Summit’ in Kohima earlier this month was Nagaland taking its baby step into attracting tech investment. Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), which sponsored the event, has been at the forefront of fostering tech entrepreneurship in the region by giving startups a helping hand through various initiatives, prominent among them being ‘OctaNE.’ In each of the eight capital cities of NE, it has set up Centres of Entrepreneurship (CoEs) and tailormade a different domain for each depending on its perceived attractiveness to a particular sector.
For example, data analytics & AI at STPI-Agartala, animation at STPI-Shillong and IT applications in graphics design in STPI-Kohima. It is also offering budding entrepreneurs Rs 25 lakh of seed funding in return for equity, mentoring and technical support, domain specific lab facility at each CoE, and investor and industry connect, among other things.
Nagaland’s secretary for industries & commerce, Shanavas C, said: “Technology is a new subject in Nagaland. We hardly have two engineering colleges here in Dimapur and there are no tech institutions in Kohima and beyond. This summit means getting an introduction to a technical field for the startups and the entrepreneurs so that they can explore this field.”
Nagaland has a handful of small tech startups, mostly in the edtech space. The state is looking at creating an incubator hub to help local tech entrepreneurs. Nagaland is famous for its handicrafts and agricultural produce. The plan is to not only encourage tech startups but also to encourage startups in textiles, crafts, agriculture, etc to scale by using technology.
Given that English is the official language of Nagaland and the medium of instruction in schools, it would seem that the state would be a natural habitat for BPOs. But the small size of the population (about 2 million) means such operations are difficult to scale.
Also, in schools and later in college, the preference is for humanities. Kvulo Lorin, chairman, Nagaland Industrial Development Corporation (which organised the day-long tech event), said that of the 16,000 kids enrolled in the 12th std in the state, barely 3,000 take science. There’s a need to change the mindset and get more people interested in sciences at the school level, he said.
Hekani Jakhalu, MLA & advisor to the industries and commerce department of Nagaland, said she’s bothered seeing the huge number of Naga students studying and working outside of the state and wants to create opportunities for them within. Hence, her desire to create a tech industry in the state which will be attractive to its young people.