BTS 2020: Karnataka govt to sign 7 MoUs with GIA partner countries

With Global Innovation Alliances (GIA) initiative, the government will engage with partner countries for cooperation in startups, research & development, and skilling.

On Monday (November 9), the Karnataka government confirmed more than 25 nations participating in the prestigious annual Bengaluru Tech Summit (November 19-21).

With Global Innovation Alliances (GIA) initiative, the government will engage with partner countries like Australia, France, Germany, Israel, Netherlands, Switzerland and UK, among others, to play a key role in showcasing advancements made in technology and how future-ready their innovations are with G2G meetings and MoUs, to active projects for skilling, R&D and startup cooperation.

"Numerous favourable factors such as proactive government, industry-friendly labor laws, salubrious climate, enabling Law & Order situation, the talent pool of highly trained professionals, cosmopolitan social life, etc., have made Karnataka a preferred destination for MNCs. This has helped the workforce in our State to understand and learn from the best in the world. Today, Bengaluru is widely cited as one of the fastest-growing technology and startup hubs in the world, counted amongst the likes of New York, Tokyo, London, Beijing, Tel Aviv, etc," said Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, and Minister for IT, Bt and S&T.

In the upcoming BTS 2020 edition, the Karnataka government will sign over 7 Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with GIA partner institutions for cooperation in startups, research & development, and skilling. The MoU will be signed for a period of 5 years.

"GIA will benefit us in the area of education, skill development, healthcare, agriculture, and other streams. Also, it will ensure providing market access for the up-and-coming start-ups, who want to expand globally," Dr. Narayan told DH on asked on how GIA will help Karnataka.

MoU between Center for Excellence of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI), Karnataka, and Business Finland will focus on bi-lateral market access for startups, a joint research programme for societal good, and a mutual student-and-faculty exchange programme.

The Center of Excellence for Agri Innovation housed at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) has agreed to sign an MoU with the World Startup Factory in the Netherlands, where the main area of focus will be a virtual market access program for the growth stage startups to explore global markets.

Furthermore, the Department of Electronics IT Bt and S&T and the Department of Commerce and Industry have jointly decided to sign an MoU with Indiana Economic Development to work on projects in Electric Vehicles and Medical Devices/Healthcare.

BTS 2020 will see some key sessions such as 'Tech’s role in Green Recovery and a Sustainable Future' by UK, 'From Cyberspace to Outer space' by Australia, 'Driving the Future of Food and Nutrition' by Switzerland, and 'E-mobility – Moving into the Future' by Germany.