Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (November 19) inaugurated the virtual Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS) 2020 event.
PM Modi while addressing the programme highlighted how the Covid-19 outbreak, earlier in the year, threw up so many challenges to the country, and yet, the Indian tech industry showed resilience and turned them into opportunities.
They were able to help the employees to work from home and from anywhere. This has become a new normal and is going to stay. We will see a high amount of tech adoption in education, agriculture, and other sectors, Modi added.
It can be noted that despite the constraints, Karnataka-based IT & ITes companies were able to beat the expectations and made Rs 1.16 lakh crore plus worth in exports during the middle (March-October 2020) of the pandemic.
"BTS brings out the need for innovation, technology, and speed. We must go forward and prepare for the future by encouraging innovative minds. In our time technology has grown immensely. Today the time has come that has forced us to change and so the crisis is the kind of catalyst that will speed up the adoption and innovation - this fits into the theme of NextIsNow. Integration is going to give rise to decades of exciting technology. Investment is the missing 'I' between invention and impact, and we need to more confidently invest in upcoming technologies," Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group, said in his keynote speech.
In the three-day BTS event, the government of Karnataka is slated to sign at least five Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) partner countries.
"India's biggest tech cluster, and 4th at the world sector, Bengaluru has proven 'NextIsNow'. I'm very excited to lead the Australian delegation of more than 150 people, " said Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia.
"As PM Modi said, we have unlimited possibilities for innovation. In partnership with India, Australia will work on cyber-enabled technologies," Morrison added.
"Despite being a small country, Switzerland is one of the biggest innovation hubs in the world. The city of Bengaluru is now one of the major tech hotspots and we recognize its potential. We like to collaborate in the fields of education, agriculture, research, and innovation. This year the Bengaluru Tech Summit, our Swiss team will set up a new panel with a focus on food and nutrition," said Guy Parmelin, Vice President of Swiss Confederation.
(Minister of Large and Medium Scale Industries).
"The government of Karnataka will sincerely work towards making India a $5 trillion economy by 2025," said BS Yediyurappa, Chief Minister, Karnataka.
"With the new IT Policy 2020-25, we plan to expand tech ecosystem beyond Bengaluru and make Karnataka the most favourite destination for Foreign Direct Investment, and also make sure the state becomes a major Data and Knowledge hub," CM BS Yediyurappa added.
Ashwath Narayan, Deputy CM, Karnataka reiterated that Bengaluru and tier-II cities will help Karnataka reach a $1 trillion economy and enable India to reach the $5 trillion economy milestone envisioned by PM Modi. Also, will take all suggestions from industry leaders to further improve ease of doing business and help setting up more start-ups in the state.
With the IT Policy 2020-25, the Karnataka government wants to see ITes business growth to hit $300 billion in five years from $52 billion (as of March 2020).
In collaboration with GIA nations, Karnataka is slated to set up Center of Excellence for Data Science & Artificial Intelligence (with Finland), Cybersecurity and Agri-Innovation (with the Netherlands), Machine Learning & Robotics (with Germany), and Electric Vehicles & Medical Devices/Healthcare (with the USA).
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