India & Italy was announced next phase of the India-Italy Industrial Research and Development Cooperation program to enable research institutes and industry to combine the high quality research of the two countries and convert them to technological solutions.
While addressing the valedictory session Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi expressed happiness in the enhanced cooperation between India and Italy in fields like heritage conservation, Lifestyle Accessories Design (LAD) and develop new products in the areas like leather, textile, design, transportation and automobiles.
Valedictory Session of 24th India – Italy Technology Summit was jointly addressed by the Prime Ministers of India and Italy.
In his address, H. E. Mr. Giuseppe Conte, Hon’ble Prime Minister of Italy stated that India and Italy were already working together in areas such as energy, railways and healthcare and were opening up new areas of cooperation such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles among others.
The two-day annual summit provided a platform for Indian industry, academic and research institutions to forge collaborations with global partners and boost policy to trigger investment in research & development and technology. It set a stage for industries, institutions and government agencies from India and partner countries for forging tech transfer, joint venture and R&D partnerships in wide ranging areas.
Talking about the importance of technology, Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi said that India has made technology a medium for attaining social justice, empowerment, inclusion and transparency. He added that the government is using technology to ensure effective last mile delivery of services and also emphasised on bringing together the high quality research of the two countries for technological solutions to make the lives of the people of both countries better.
Shri Narendra Modi said that the government is emphasising on developing technological temperament along with scientific temperament among the citizens. In this context, he mentioned about Atal Innovation Mission, Umang App and three lakh Common Service Centres spread across the country. He said that these technological solutions have ensured that government is brought to the doorsteps of the citizens.
He mentioned that the joining hands in initiatives like DST's SHRI for preservation and restoration of cultural heritage of the two old civilizations can boost technology, tourism and history.
Highlighting the Indian Space Program, Prime Minister said that it is an example of innovation with quality. He added that India is now able to send space satellites of many countries including Italy's and that it showcases India's capability of creating innovative solutions at low cost.
The focus of the summit was renewable energy, clean technology, information and communication technology, healthcare, aerospace, education and preservation of cultural heritage.
“India is making Science and Tech more relevant for society by using technology in innovative ways to solve its developmental issues.” said Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, Environment and Climate Change while addressing the Valedictory Session of the India – Italy Technology Summit.
The Minister highlighted the need to strengthen the India – Italy bilateral partnership by bringing in more participation of industry and techno-entrepreneurs from both the sides in addition to researchers. He was of the view that Italy has had wide experience in applied research and has the ability to convert the fruits of research into commercial technologies and the two countries could form a partnership in this regard.
Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology highlighted that India – Italy Cooperation in Science and Technology had been going on for four decades now and had diversified to cover a wide variety of areas. Currently, he stated, there were 30 ongoing projects that India was conducting with Italy.
Mr. Vincenzo De Luca, Director General for Cultural and Economic Promotion and Innovation, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Shri Rakesh Bharti Mittal, President, CII presented the key findings of the one-and-a-half-day Summit.
The summit recommended focus attention towards joint imitative in clean technology, water reduction & treatment, research & development for generation & storage of renewable energy, high degree research programmes and skill development in a range of areas. It emphasised on converging creativity for research and development in existing as well as emerging areas to actively participate in the 4th Industrial revolution.
