Panaji: The Goa Institute of Management (GIM) on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with STPINEXT, the startup and entrepreneurship initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), to build an integrated academic-startup innovation framework.

The MoU was signed at the GIM campus during the pre-summit event of the India-AI Impact Summit 2026. The agreement was exchanged between GIM Director Ajit Parulekar and STPI Director General Arvind Kumar in the presence of senior officials from the Union government and the Government of Goa.

The collaboration aims to create a multidisciplinary innovation ecosystem integrating technology with law, finance, sustainability, public health, social sciences and global partnerships. Officials said the partnership would focus on research and knowledge exchange in areas such as startup policy, digital laws, data protection, cybersecurity and AI governance.

As part of the agreement, the two institutions will jointly organise hackathons, startup pitching sessions and cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship programmes. Collaborative initiatives are also planned in climate technology, environmental sustainability, public health innovation, fintech and regulatory compliance.

The partnership will additionally work towards developing an annual startup needs assessment framework and a structured “one startup-one mentor” engagement model.

The event also featured a panel discussion on “AI in Education”, with participation from academicians and industry experts, highlighting the growing role of artificial intelligence in learning and innovation.