Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020: Karnataka govt signs 8 MoUs with GIA partner nations

Karnataka-GIA partner nations will collaborate in areas such as skilling, R&D, life science and biotechnology, healthcare, aerospace and defense, education and more.

The government of Karnataka Friday signed eight Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) agreements with five Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) partner countries at the ongoing Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020.

The Karnataka government is collaborating with GIA nations-- Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, UK, and the USA-- to work on areas such as skilling, R&D, developing networks in the ecosystem, life science and biotechnology, healthcare, aerospace and defense, education, sports economy, and automotive.

Karnataka is slated to set up Center of Excellence for Data Science and 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).

Also, institutions in Fairfax County (Virginia) will offer support for the application of drone technology in areas of agriculture, surveillance for military and medical assistance, in addition to providing mentorship, and market entry to the USA, for the Karnataka startups.

Furthermore, US-based Applied Material Inc will help to provide incubation and mentoring related support to state-run Semiconductor Fabless Accelerator Lab (SFAL).

With the UK, the MoU will focus on knowledge sharing with Karnataka's Center of Excellence of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in addition bi-lateral market access for startups, a joint research program for citizen-centric AI solutions by startups in public service, education, water, energy, incorporation of Data Science and AI readiness for industry professionals and more.

The MoU between Karnataka and Sweden will focus on the Center of Excellence for the Internet of Things (IoT), facilitate the growth of startups in areas of smart city, smart Health, smart Manufacturing, smart Agriculture, and more.

"It’s great to participate in the BTS in Bengaluru, the tech capital of India, home to ISRO and several Swedish-Indian companies. I am also happy to be addressing a longstanding area of Swedish-Indian cooperation today - space! Today, we’re taking another important step by bringing together experts and interested parties who will explore possibilities for further Swedish Indian collaboration on and in space, including commercially!,” Klas Molin, Ambassador of Sweden to India said.

Left to Right : Meena Nagaraj. C. N, IAS - Director, Department of Electronics. IT & BT and Managing Director, KITS, Government of Karnataka, Dr. E.V. Ramana Reddy, IAS – Additional Chief Secretary to Chief Minister and Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka, C. N. Ashwath Narayan - Deputy Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka, Narayanan Suresh, Chief Operating Officer, ABLE, Noor Zahara Khanum, KAS – General Manager, KITS, Government of Karnataka.

“We are delighted to announce 8 MoUs with our Global Innovation Alliance partner countries today. These MoUs will be strategic institution-level collaborations to focus on further enhanced skilling, R&D, and startup collaboration. This will provide international exposure and ecosystem connections for our entrepreneurs and industries in Karnataka. Our Centres of Excellence will be key enablers in implementing initiatives along the lines of these MoUs, and I am confident we will see many more such meaningful and impactful partnerships in the coming days,” Dr. CN Ashwath Narayan, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, and Minister for IT, BT and S&T said.

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