Thiruvananthapuram Military Station Commander Brigadier Anurag Upadhyaya visits Technopark
Military officials explore Kerala’s Digital Ecosystem and Defence Innovation Synergies
Trivandrum / July 5, 2025
Thiruvananthapuram, July 05: Brigadier Anurag Upadhyaya, Station Commander of Thiruvananthapuram Military Station, along with his Staff Officer, Lt Col Arun Sathyan, from the Pangode Brigade, visited the Technopark campus, where they were received by Col Sanjeev Nair (Retd), CEO of Technopark, along with other park officials on Friday.
The visit focused on exploring Kerala’s digital technology landscape and potential synergies in defence innovation under the Kerala Defence Innovation Zone (K-DIZ). Discussions centered around possible avenues for collaboration with companies and startups operating within the Technopark ecosystem.
K-DIZ serves as a unique platform offering Kerala’s innovators the opportunity to engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Armed Forces, iDEX, the Technology Development Fund (TDF), Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), KSPACE (Kerala Space Park), ISRO (through KSPACE), BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Limited (BATL) (via KSPACE), IT parks like Technopark, Infopark, and Cyberpark, as well as key industries such as KELTRON, MSMEs, industrial and defence parks, academic institutions, technology business incubators, defence think tanks, consultants, and subject matter experts, including Armed Forces veterans.
Impressed by Kerala’s vibrant digital and startup ecosystem, Brigadier Upadhyaya expressed interest in establishing an Innovation Cell at the Pangode Brigade. This cell would serve as a liaison with K-DIZ, aiming to foster deeper collaboration and facilitate joint initiatives in Defence and Aerospace, leveraging the strengths of all stakeholders under the K-DIZ framework.
The interaction also brought together several key stakeholders from Kerala’s innovation and technology ecosystem.
Notable participants included Er. Levin G, CEO of KSPACE; Dr. Alex James, Director of IIITM-K and Professor at the Digital University Kerala; Sreekumar V, Secretary of GTech and Centre Head at Tata Elxsi; Vinod N, Syam Kumar R, Reflections, Sunil Jose, Development Centre Head, Infosys Thiruvananthapuram, Pius Varghese, Founder Vinvish technologies, Manu Madhavan, COO-DCube, Tony Joseph, CEO Kennedys, Cdr Roy Francis Branch Head Administration, TCS, Rejeesh R, VP New Initiatives ACSIA, Maneesh VS, MD, ARS Traffic India Ltd, Anoop Kumar GXP Technologies, Toni Eapen, CEO of GTech; Prajeet Prabhakaran, Lead IT Strategist, and Jayesh Natarajan, Defence Innovator, industry leaders from G Tech, and officials from IIITM-K, Maker Village.
As part of the visit, the dignitaries toured the Genrobotics facility located in the CDAC Building at Technopark Phase I. Renowned for its groundbreaking innovations in robotics, Genrobotics offered an engaging setting for an insightful interaction with its founder, Vimal Govind.
The delegation also visited the eco-friendly UST campus in Technopark Phase II, one of the leading IT companies operating within the park. There, they held discussions with Alexander Varghese, Chief Operating Officer of UST, and his leadership team, including Shilpa Menon (Centre Head), Harikrishnan Mohankumar (Sr Director), and Lt Col Vigil Nair (Director, Workplace Management).
ENDS
Photo Gallery
