From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Nov 18: All set for Karnataka’s and the country’s flagship event, Bengaluru Tech Summit 2020 (BTS2020), which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conferencing on Thursday at 11 am.
The BTS2020, organised by the Government of Karnataka along with Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), Karnataka government's Vision Group on Information Technology, Biotechnology and Start-Up, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is scheduled to take place from November 19 to 21.
Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, deputy chief minister and minister for IT, BT and S&T, is leading from the front to make 23rd edition of the BTS a grand success amid the whole world is going through a tumultuous phase because of COVID-19 pandemic.
"We have made elaborate arrangements to make BTS a grant success as the event sessions are going 100% virtual," said deputy chief minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan after visiting the BTS2020 facilitating centre set up at the Shangri-La Hotel in Bengaluru.
Dr C N Ashwath Narayan expressed happiness over the gesture shown by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the event.
"After former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurating the tech summit 22 years back, it is for the second time that the Prime Minister is inaugurating the event,’’ he said pointing out that, "We are looking forward to hear his inaugural speech which will have a huge impact on our state, the whole country and the entire BTS2020."
The deputy chief minister also highlighted the fact that the event is very relevant, particularly in the COVID-19 backdrop as the entire physical world has become virtual world and it is more of a solution for the challenges humanity is facing in various sectors.
"Technology and innovation have come as a boon and a solution to mitigate and overcome all kinds of challenges. If you compare with all other past events, this event will become one of the best events happened so far. The event will showcase the entire country, especially Karnataka and Bengaluru," the deputy chief minister said.
International Presence
Dr C N Ashwath Narayan said the BTS2020 has become truly global with the participation of Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Swiss Confederation Vice President Guy Parmelin along with many other prominent international figures.
"Despite the pandemic challenge faced by the world, I am glad to see that over 25 tech nations are participating at the BTS2020 along with thought leaders, industry captains, technocrats, researchers, innovators, investors, policymakers and educators from India and around the world. It is a testimony to the recognition of Bangalore and the entire State as the leading tech hub of the country," said the Deputy Chief Minister.
Besides signing 12 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with foreign countries, BTS 2020 will also pave the way for more investment to Karnataka.
The event will have the participation of more than 200 Indian companies setting up their virtual exhibition, more than 4000 delegates, 270 speakers, around 75 panel discussions and more than 50,000 participants every day.
Next is Now
This year, the theme of the summit is 'Next is Now.' The summit will deliberate on the key challenges emerging in the post-pandemic world with a focus on the impact of prominent technologies and innovations in the domains of 'Information Technology and Electronics' and 'Biotechnology'.
The event will have four tracks on major themes namely Knowledge Hub, Innovation Corner, One Health and Country Sessions for the three days. Each tack will hold various sessions, either with individual speakers or there will be a panel discussion.
Some of the key focus areas of the summit are aerospace and defence technologies, healthcare, future of work, startup for public good, electronics & semi-conductor, reimagining digital health and Covid-19 pandemic preparedness among others.
Global Innovation Alliance
Global Innovation Alliance, a partnership initiative of Karnataka will feature 16 countries which will conduct country sessions namely Canada, Finland, France, Israel, Netherland, UK, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Taiwan, Switzerland, Denmark, Bahrain, Japan and Lithonia.
Expressing happiness over the participation at the summit, consul general of Netherlands to South India Gert Heijkoop said Karnataka is a valuable partner for the Netherlands in India in a number of fields, all of them related to hi-tech.
"The Bengaluru Tech Summit is the perfect platform to bring the strategic ties between our two countries to an even higher level. The Hague Business Agency will launch a digital soft-landing program for Indian start-ups, during this year’s BTS2020. Karnataka and the Netherlands have a lot to offer to each other, and every new BTS2020 brings our cooperation to a higher level,’’ he said.
Tech Start-Up
This programme will enable some 50 Indian tech start-ups to take their technology to Europe.
Holland is the gateway to Europe for goods and services, and for technology as well. In addition to this, two MoUs will be signed in the areas of cybersecurity and agri-tech, where both sides will be working together on mentorship, honing skills, start-ups, and R&D.
Karnataka and Netherlands have a lot to offer to each other, and every new BTS brings our cooperation to a higher level, said consul general of Netherlands to South India Gert Heijkoop.
The Karnataka state startup community along with academia are eagerly waiting for attending the session. According to government officials, more than two lac registration from abroad happened this time.
Prince Jacob, a prop-tech start-up founder, said he is looking at BTS2020 to understand more on the emerging technology in real estate space.
"We know that AR and VR are making a deep impact on multiple industries. Realty sector is also no exception to it along with other disruptive technologies like AI and ML. Since there is global participation at the event, it is easy to get a perspective on the technology shift happening around the industry along with other verticals," said prince Jacob.