The third entrepreneurship and incubation program at campus level, Innovative Academy, is held. Of 304 applicants, 105 participants made it through the first round to the Bootcamp which was held for 3 days, from 18 to 20 March. In this Bootcamp, participants were put into groups and given a sufficient stock of knowledge from the experts on how to build a startup.
Innovative Academy itself is a program held by collaboration between UGM and Kibar group. This activity aims to train students from various disciplines to build a sustainable business based on problem solving approach that can bring a positive impact to the community.
"Through Innovative Academy, we are committed to build UGM talent who not only think about themselves, but also solve problems that are all around us," said by the chair of incubation and Incubation Business Development Department, Dr. Sang Kompiang Wirawan, ST, MT, while opening the bootcamp, Friday (18/3), at Graha Sabha Pramana hall.
One of the purposes of this bootcamp, he said, is to bring together students from various faculties so that they can cooperate and contribute. "Spirit which should not be overlooked is togetherness. Here, Faculty of Engineering, Economic and Business, Social Sciences, and others are blending into one. We all here are UGM students who become part of Indonesia. So, we must help each other, we should think about how we can solve problem in society," he explained.
Seeing the increasing interest of students from year to year, the implementation of Innovative Academy this year was made a little different. In addition to their new bootcamp activities this year, they are also provided with a pre-seminar activity that is followed by 1,000 students, including 304 people who signed up. The number of applicants has increased compared to the number of applicants in 2014 which were as many as 200 people, and in 2015 as many as 230 people.
During the bootcamp, participants were not only equipped with the technical knowledge in business, design, and programming which are essential to build a startup, but also knowledge in establishing good relationships with business partners. According to founder and CEO of Kerjabilitas, Rubby Emir, this is a matter that must be considered since the beginning of the establishment of startup.
"Team is the major aspect of startup before we can think about what products are to be made, or what issues you need to resolve. Therefore, it is important to build a solid team to set up a startup,” he said.