Focus areas are Centre of Excellence, techpreneurship and ethical tech: Karnataka Minister
BENGALURU:
To facilitate the growth of emerging technologies in the state, the Government of Karnataka inked 3 MoAs (Memorandum of Association) to the tune of Rs 100.52 crore on Friday.
At an ‘Innovation and Indigenization in Karnataka’ meet organized by the Karnataka and government, the agreements were signed in the presence of Dr CN Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Electronics, IT/BT and S&T.
Speaking on the occasion, Narayan said, “The Centre of Excellence which will be set up under these MoAs aims to nurture and facilitate researchers, academicians, start-ups, and industry to develop a technological framework characterising ethical bindings and to enable responsible deployment of AI and IoT across agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, Smart Cities and education.”
Funding assistance
The first MoA with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) is to set up a centre of excellence in Bengaluru. The Minister said the department will provide financial assistance of Rs 17.60 crore (total project cost is Rs 26.77 crore) towards setting up the CoE and its operations for a period of 5 years.
Another MoA between Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) and I-Hub ARTPark, will work on AI and 5G and help nurture technopreneurship. The government will provide financial assistance of Rs 60 crore towards the CoE for a period of 5 years.
We are delighted to launch Amrit Start-up initiative with 75 startups handpicked from Karnataka. It is an initiative to support startups with seed funds under Idea2Poc and Elevate Unnati Program. It encourages entrepreneurs from all sectors to work towards Aatmanirbharata. pic.twitter.com/rDIeOm67PX
— Dr. Ashwathnarayan C. N. (@drashwathcn) September 24, 2021
The third MoA is related to establishment of a Centre for Internet of Ethical Things (CIET) in Bengaluru at a cost of Rs 22.92 crore, which was signed by KITS , IIIT-Bangalore and World Economic Forum (WEF).
Further, Amrit Start-Up (75 start-ups) will support with seed funding start-ups from backward classes, SC/STs and minorities. There will be a special drive under the ‘Elevate Unnati’ programme to encourage entrepreneurs.
India and Namma Karnataka always approached innovation through the lens of an opportunity for growth. On this #AzadiKaAmrutMahotsav year, let the indigenisation efforts further scale up to build an #AatmaNirbharBharat.@CMofKarnataka @BSBommai
— Dr. Ashwathnarayan C. N. (@drashwathcn) September 24, 2021
Panel discussions
Post the signing of the three MoAs, panel discussions on ‘Redefining Inclusion’, ‘Equality in Tech – Celebrating Women Leaders’ and initiatives undertaken by Startup India were held. Dr Madhav, IIT-B, Prof Shadagopan, III-B, Mohan Padaki, CEO, 1Bridge, Dr Lakshmi Jagannathan, CEO, DERBI Foundation, Purushotham Koushik, World Economic Forum, and others were among the speakers.
Dr EV Ramana Reddy, ACS, Dept of IT/BT and S&T, Prashanth Prakash, State Start-Up Vision chairperson, BV Naidu, Chairperson, KDEM, Dr Meena Nagaraj, MD, KITS, and others were present.
