Bengaluru Tech Summit 2022 ends with 5-point declaration

‘Better industry-academia connect, Beyond Bengaluru push to fuel next phase of tech industry growth in Karnataka’

The 25th edition of Bengaluru Technology Summit, the three-day annual tech exposition hosted by the Karnataka government, culminated here on November 18 with a five-point declaration.

It envisages establishing a start-up park near Kempegowda International Airport, setting up R&D labs in 50 select colleges in the State, opening science and technology research centres in universities, working towards achieving synergy between educational institutions and the IT-BT companies, and building better connect between the industry, academia and educational institutions.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, at the concluding session said, the summit received 4.52 lakh visitors in person and another 4.99 crore people virtually. Also, ecosystem partners such as Google, Paytm, HDFC, RazorPay, Microsoft, The GAIN, Dayanand Sagar Entrepreneurship Research and Business incubation, AWS Activate, and StrongHer Ventures have signed MoUs with the State. The summit also saw the launch of 28 new products, he said.

Three high-level ministerial delegations (from Australia, Finland, and UAE) attended the summit and held several rounds of talks with Ministers and State government officials. “Many have expressed their interest to invest in the tech sector in Karnataka,” said Minister for IT-BT and Science and Technology C.N. Aswath Narayan. He launched a ‘Booster Kit’ initiative on Friday which aims to further support the growth of startups in the state.

Start-ups that were registered in ‘Karnataka Start-up Cell’ would get support in the areas of banking, fintech, market expansion, sustainable business and transaction in addition to acceleration and incubation support for women entrepreneurs.

Srinand Sudish of Malappuram in Kerala and Vivek of Surathgad in Rajasthan have bagged the first and second prizes, respectively, in the Rural IT Quiz competition held at the summit. Meanwhile, Mythili, a student of Manipal School of Life Sciences in the City won the BT Quiz contest.

Participating in a panel discussion on Biological Manufacturing in India, N. Suresh, Chief Operating Officer, ABLE, said that to achieve the revised target of the country becoming a $150 billion bioeconomy by 2025, the biotech community was striving to give the much-needed impetus through various products and services ranging from Biopharmaceuticals to Veganism.