Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh, highlighted that while innovation has been an integral part of industry, digitization is changing the very nature of the innovative process, providing companies new opportunities to create value, evolve and grow, at the DST-CII Technology Summit.
Participants from India, the Netherlands, Brazil, Canada, and Russia are deliberating on collaboration opportunities between industry, academia, and research intuitions from the different countries in the areas of climate technologies & green economy, advanced manufacturing, new materials, mobility, healthcare, agriculture & water technologies at the two-day summit jointly inaugurated by Indian Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh and Vice Minister, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, the Netherlands Mr. Focco Vijselaar.
“Government of India, under the able leadership of our Hon’ble Prime Minister, is creating an enabling innovation ecosystem with recent reforms like design linked incentives for semi-conductors, PLI schemes for automobiles, drone policy and removing barriers through initiatives like faceless assessment,” Dr. Singh pointed out during the inaugural address of the summit.
“Department of Science & Technology (DST) has made concerted efforts in cultivating and promoting scientific temperament amongst the masses and is leading the innovation drive in the country. As the largest extra-mural STI funding agency in the country, DST is boosting India’s entire innovation value chain comprising researchers, entrepreneurs, academic and research institutes, startups, industry, and so on,” Dr. Jitendra Singh said at the 27th annual event.
He highlighted some of the initiatives being taken by DST like NIDHI, which has significantly impacted India’s innovation ecosystem by nurturing 3,681 startups through a network of 153 incubators created by DST, which generated more than 65,000 jobs as cumulative direct employment, and generated nearly 2000 intellectual properties and SATHI, a new scheme to build a shared, professionally managed, S&T infrastructure for industry, MSMEs and startups.
“These will provide easy access for pursuing research on high-end and sophisticated equipment and will further strengthen the innovation ecosystem,” he added.
Underlining some of the most impactful technologies that open up scope for future collaborations, he said, “Artificial Intelligence has stood out as one of the frontier technologies, which are shaping the economy’s present and future. “We have started seeing the impact of Artificial Intelligence across healthcare, agriculture, education, governance, and financial services,” Dr. Jitendra Singh pointed out.
He added that a platform like DST-CII Technology Summit offers a plethora of opportunities for collaborations in the critically important technology areas across sectors such as healthcare, water, agriculture, energy, IT, digital, and several others.
Mr Focco Vijselaar, Vice Minister, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, The Netherlands, highlighted the long-standing collaboration between India and the Netherlands, which has connected the brightest minds of Netherlands with DST and DBT in various science and R &D projects in India. He also mentioned Netherland’s close ties with India as the third-largest FDI partner of India.
HE Mr. Marten van den Berg Ambassador of the Netherlands to India, mentioned that India and the Netherlands will be completing 75 years of diplomatic ties next year, and it has been a very strong relation with India, which is constantly increasing in intensity with S &T as one of the key drivers.
Dr. S Chandrasekhar, Secretary, DST, emphasized that India, with a tradition that is embedded in science and technology, needs to carry the theme of technology forward. Focused investments on technological initiatives will pave the way for a prosperous future and let us aim big.
Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said that as India marches towards its 75th year of Independence in 2022, it is important to reflect the technological journey of India in the last 75 years and at the same time, further strengthen global collaborations that will contribute towards achieving the goals set out for New India 2022.
Mr Vipin Sondhi, Chairman, CII National Committee on Technology, R&D and Innovation, and Mr Sanjeev K Varshney, Head, International Cooperation, Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, also participated in the inaugural programme along with other DST and CII officials.
The Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), co-organized the 27th edition of the DST- CII Technology Summit from 16th – 17th December 2021 over a digital platform with Netherlands, Brazil, Canada, Russia as partners.
The summit will be attended by a global pool of technology experts, government leaders, eminent academicians, industry stalwarts, and startups from India, the Netherlands, Russia, Brazil, Canada, and many other countries to engage in high-level technology leadership dialogues to explore technology & business partnerships and thereby boost innovation, investment, and trade.
