Karantaka Chief minister vows to make the state a global technology hub

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on 16 November vowed to make the southern state a global technology hub and a leader in emerging industries. “It is my dream to make Karnataka as a global technology hub and a leader in the emerging industries,” the Chief Minister said at a tech summit here. [caption id=“attachment_4205939” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah. PTI[/caption] Unveiling the ‘Bengaluru Tech Summit’ at the Palace Grounds in the city centre, he said the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) had ranked Bengaluru first in the confidence of businesses in their ability to transform digitally on their strength of skills and infrastructure. The EIU is the research and analysis division of ‘The Economist’, a global weekly business magazine published from London since 1843. “Our vision is to become a torch-bearer of India by 2025 and lead the country in embracing Industry 4.0 led by technology,” Siddaramaiah said. The World Economic Forum also listed Bengaluru among the top 25 high-tech cities the world over in September. “We have taken pro-active steps to promote emerging technologies for the Industry 4.0 revolution in the state, where IT and BT (biotech) flourished on account of robust research eco-system and high talent pool,” he added. Hoping innovation and entrepreneurship would result in good economics, the Chief Minister said his government was committed to replicate Bengaluru’s success by adopting a cluster-based model approach in the state’s other cities and towns. “We are setting up new talent development centres and incubation facilities at Mysuru, Mangaluru, Kalaburagil, Hubballi, and Dharwad,” Siddaramaiah said. Noting that Karnataka had been a leader in the knowledge-intensive industries since 1947, the Chief Minister said manufacturing would undergo a dramatic transformation through the Internet of Things, Robotics, 3-D Printing, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. “As the world adapts newer technologies, I assure you to make our state future-ready with policies and schemes in line with our vision of being a global technology leader and a pioneer in driving inclusive growth,” Siddaramaiah told about 1,000 delegates participating in the three-day summit. As a pioneer in framing industry-specific policies for various sectors such as IT, BT, aerospace and defence, start-up, animation visual effects, gaming and comic and electronic system design and manufacturing, the state government has set up a start-ups warehouse and incubation centres in tier-1 and tier-2 cities across the state. “We are also giving grants for idea to proof of concept, mentoring and encouraging start-ups for solving social problems to drive innovation and entrepreneurship, a reiterated Siddaramaiah on the occasion. Organised by the state department of IT, BT and Science and Technology, the summit on “Ideate, Innovate and Invent” also has an exhibition, state pavilions, and B2B meeting zones.