Fuelled with the objective of nourishing livelihoods and reigniting our fiscal mechanism following the ‘COVID-19’ phase, ‘Ideas For Goa’ steps ahead calling for ideas, no matter how large or little that can aid in kick-starting the fallen economy!
Earl Nightingale has said, “Everything begins with an idea.” Considering the fact that the globe has currently been hit with a catastrophe i.e. the COVID-19, the global economy has evidently been affected and most certainly has buckled down to a huge extent. Thus, Ideas for Goa as a platform has been created with the prime purpose of reinvigorating Goa’s shrunken economy keeping in mind the belief that, actual changes can take place only with free flow of ‘ideas’ and outright civilian dispensation!
The Ideas for Goa initiative intends to give rise to a space that can influence the desire of the people to step ahead and take part in the noble mission of achieving the greater good and ultimately giving back to the society in the most creative and innovative way possible.
This platform is open to each and every one in order to contribute their ideas irrespective of any other facet and is absolutely free of cost! What is further better is that, the ideas that are shared shall be made available to everyone for viewing at all times. Ideas for Goa at its foundation, has a Core Team consisting of Mayank Pandya – Global Technology Leader, Rajesh Jog– Managing Partner, NexStage Ventures, D S Prashant– CEO, FiiRE and Sanjiv Khandelwal– Entrepreneur, Investor and Tech Mentor.
So, if you have an idea that can, in any way, make our state of Goa more sustainable and affluent then this is your chance to make the most of this opportunity and choose from the many sectors that this initiative has to offer and make your idea count! Ideas for Goa has six foremost and relevant sectors that include
- Tourism & Hospitality– involving beach shacks, security, beach cleaning, wildlife tourism, medical tourism, adventure tourism, hotels, guest houses, Bnb’s, water sports, casinos, vehicle rentals and so on.
- Local Food Ecosystems – focussing on agriculture, farm land utilisation, animal husbandry, stray cattle management, permanent and weekly markets, agro-forestry, fishing, restaurants, cafes, local product aggregation & distribution and so on.
- Creative Services – revolving around media, films, fashion, design services, art & sculpture, music, festivals, theatre, digital arts and the likes.
- Learning & Knowledge – involving schools, colleges, professional colleges, industrial training, institutes, vocational training, etc.
- Health & Wellness – including public hospitals, private hospitals, dental clinics, diagnostic centres, pharmacies, nursing homes, assisted living & senior citizen homes, ambulance & wheelchair services, yoga schools & retreats, salons & spas, animal rescue centres and so on, and lastly;
- Other Sectors – revolving around construction & real estates, housing, retail, banking/ATMs, natural resources (mining), water management, transportation, religious congregation, religious festivals, waste management and so on.
That having been said, Ideas for Goa urges people to share their tangible ideas that can swiftly be acted upon through contribution from credible entrepreneurs and nominal fiscal outlay. Further, those who visit the website (www.ideasforgoa.com) will be given the opportunity to vote for the ideas that have been provided in furtherance of which, the most popular ideas will be listed atop, giving due acknowledgment to the contributor of the idea!
Thereafter, based on the number of votes that every idea bags, the ‘top 100 ideas’ will be published and shared with the general public at large, and also with the State administrative mechanism and impending operation and support agencies. In addition, the contributors of those respective ideas will further have the opportunity to layout and present their ‘plan of action’ and assist in its execution in a systematised manner.
The Ideas for Goa platform has put in place certain mandatory guidelines that need to be adhered to for smooth functioning and implementation of the initiative. These guidelines include:
- Intellectual Property aspect– Contributors must undertake to contribute ideas without claiming any rights on the idea that they provide. The aim is selfless partaking in the greater interest of the economy.
- Privacy aspect– The platform shall store only the contributors first name, last name and email ID. All other personal data that has been provided shall be erased upon collection and publication of ideas.
- Ethical Conduct– Contributors are expected to participate with greatest reciprocal respect. Offensive and demeaning ideas will not be accepted. More importantly, ideas given must be free of political, religious or special interests agenda, must be supremely connected to the objective of reviving the economy post the COVID-19 phase, must be capable of practical functioning and execution within a short span of time and must not be an advertisement for any form of profit or business-related activities.
- Duration aspect– The platform shall be open and invites ideas till the 15th of May, 2020 following which an open letter consisting of the top 100 ideas along with the respective idea contributors’ names shall be published on the official Ideas for Goa website post the abovementioned deadline.
As far as accomplishing this colossal makeover objective is concerned, the core team of the initiative shall moderate the ideas with the intent to ensure that every idea adheres to the guidelines that have been put down and will further market the platform on all forms of digital, social and print media. Additionally, support from people and organizations such as the ambassadors will also be solicited in order to fuel more and more engagement and participation.
The Ideas for Goa initiative has roped in a couple of prominent partners that includes Herald, Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry, FiiRE, Sensible Earth, Business Goa, Confederation of Indian Industry, Salt Water Associates, JumpCutGoa, Goa State Industries Association, Womens Wing- GCCI, Goa Humanitarian Helpline, Travel & Tourism Association of Goa, Goa Womania, Indigomusic.com and the Corporation of City of Panaji.
Moreover, the platform has received immense support from its incredible Ambassadors namely Sujay Gupta, Jose Manuel Noronha, Sheetal & Sunil Pai Kane, Pallavi Salgaocar, Harshvardhan Bhatkuly, Dean D’Cruz, Vijaya Josephine Pais, Gautam Mukerjea, Sinead McManus, Vivek Talwar, Bhagyashree Patwardhan, Aritra Mukherjee, Prajyot Mainkar, Manish Gosalia, Audrey Menezes, Nupura Hautamaki, Wilbery Egipsy, Govind Mukundan, Damodar Kochkar, Cecille Rodrigues, Darryl D’Souza, Subodh Kerkar, Shekhar Sardessai, Gautam Verlekar, Siya Shaikh, Lalit Saraswat, Robert Lobo and Rina Barretto Shankar.
Shedding light upon the response received by the Ideas for Goa platform so far, Core Team member Mayank Pandya exclaims, “the response has been overwhelming where the platform has generated close to 150 idea in the first 5 days itself! We have been getting fabulous ideas from far and wide. The Government and private sector are taking notice of these ideas and we are confident that many of these ideas will see the light of the day.”
Rajesh Jog says “we believe that an entirely new set of ideas can serve as the bedrock on which a new Goan economy can be fashioned. With enlightened minds and ideas coming from the common man, we truly believe that the Goan society can be enriched leading to greater prosperity for all Goans in the times to come.”
Sanjiv Khandelwal, another member of the core team says that “when the crisis came in, a large group of volunteers reached out to help and felt that it was time to start looking at the next big thing and figure out what can be done to kick-start the economy once again given that the some of the major sectors of the economy have been badly hit by the pandemic. The main objective was to revive hope amongst people and motivate them to think positively!”
D S Prashant, while commenting upon what led to the formation of Ideas for Goa says “we come across great discussions pertaining to solving pressing challenges for the Goan state almost everywhere, but, they generally just remain discussions. Thus, Ideas for Goa is an opportunity to give a voice to the power of thought and ideas so that it can amplify with the support of the citizens and lovers of Goa into a wave which shall be the foundation for the economic revival of Goa post the COVD-19 phase!”
All in all, Ideas for Goa appeals to every citizen of the State to come forward, log on to their website and join the faction for the formation of a new-fangled Goa which they rightly call ‘Goa 2.0’ by contributing their precious ideas, voting for the ideas they like and spreading the word across terrains at large!
For more and latest information on the IFG initiative, stay connected to their social media handles at
Instagram: https://instagram.com/ideasforgoa?igshid=1bjbzy0wx0ufl
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ideas-For-Goa-113405760352964/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/for_goa/
