Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020: India, Australia, Switzerland to work closely for tech innovation

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday attended the virtual Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS).

During the event, Morrison while expressing pleasure to lead the contingent of 150 Australian (virtual) delegates at the 23rd edition of the BTS, said that he has plans to take the bilateral relation with India to new heights.

"Bengaluru is the biggest technology cluster, fourth biggest in the world and is home to a third of India's technology professionals and to at least 25 Australian companies as well. It is pulsing with energy and ambition and it is a place where it is easy to believe that 'Next is Now', your (BTS) conference's theme," said Morrison.

"This year, we faced Covid-19 pandemic, a global health and economic crisis. It cost lives and livelihood, devasting for all of us. In the midst of such suffering, we have faced toughest of the challenges of our time head-on with an accelerated rate of adoption in everything from keeping businesses alive, families and communities connected and continue our effort to find the vaccine. Here in Australia, we saw rapid uptake of technologies as a direct response to the Covid lockdown. Our businesses were scaling their online presence and even citizens adapted well to the new normal," Morrison said.

"Technology, we believe, holds the keys to the new science, medical research, reducing carbon emission, addressing the global climate crisis. It is at the forefront of foreign policy and defence. It is pushing us to new frontiers in governance, data protection and privacy and more," Morrison added

"That is why countries like Australia and India, need to work together on these challenges and opportunities. We have common roots with respect for democracy and rule of law, shared institutions in many respects," he noted.

"In Bengaluru, our Australian firms ANZ, Telestra and others employ thousands of people. While, Indian companies Infosys, Wipro and TCS are growing their footprint here in Australia," Morrison noted.

"Australia and India have unlimited possibilities of working together in quantum computing, astrophysics, Artificial Intelligence, critical minerals, 5G, Space research and much more," Morrison highlighted the bilateral arrangement details, which was signed between the two countries in July.

He also confirmed to launch the Australia-India Cyber and Critical Technologies Partnership grant programme.

Besides Australian Prime Minister, Guy Parmelin, vice president of Swiss Confederation was the chief guest of honour on day-one of BTS 2020.

"Switzerland is proud of Roger Federer and loves to see swiss alps in many Bollywood movies. However, Switzerland is a land of innovation and science powerhouse, two key pillars of industries. Switzerland has been consistently ranked as one of the best innovative countries in the world for the past decade," Parmelin added.

"As a small country with limited natural resources, we have no choice other than to invest heavily in on talent and ideas. The city of Bengaluru is now one of the major tech hotspots and we recognise its potential and have set up Swissnex to collaborate in the fields of education, agriculture, research and innovation in India. This year the Bengaluru Tech Summit, our Swissnex team will be working with a focus on food and nutrition" Parmelin noted.

"It is our priority to conclude the India-EFTA (European Free Trade Association (EFTA) negotiation and the new investment protection agreement as soon as possible, These two will help companies of both the countries have better access to the local markets and ecosystem" Parmelin noted.

"India and Switzerland are uniquely positioned to find solutions and together turn challenges into opportunities," Parmelin concluded.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on kicked off the virtual Bengaluru Tech Summit. 

Speaking through video conference PM Modi highlighted how despite constraints caused by Covid-19, resilient Indian tech sector turned challenges to 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.

Must read | Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020 Highlights

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