Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: The UK-India Business Council has committed its ongoing efforts towards greater industry collaboration and to help India and the UK to maximise the technological expertise and innovation within the bilateral partnership.
A technology- focused conference was hosted by the UK-India Business Council (UKIBC) here last week to bring together eminent leaders and experts from government, industry and academia.
Digitalisation and skill development are core to India’s development agenda, said Prof Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. Delivering the keynote address at the ‘Technology transformation and new frontiers for collaboration’ conference here, Prof Sood said, “India has witnessed unprecedented growth in IT, space technology, defence, digital public goods, and many areas. To continue on this path of technology transformation, we need a forwardlooking strategy.”
He also spoke on the development of emerging technologies taking place in India, such as AI, quantum computing, blockchain and IOT.
UKIBC Group CEO Richard McCallum said: “At UKIBC, we see the future UK-India relationship and indeed our countries’ relationships with the rest of the world being infused by technology collaboration. As each country helps the other solve local as well global, shared challenges.”
The UKIBC has supported more than 700 businesses in both countries to grow trade, investment and collaboration. It sees technology collaboration as a fundamental cornerstone for collaboration in key areas such as renewable energy, mobility, defence, education, financial services, and telecommunications.
Research agreement
India and the UK signed a research and innovation agreement in April earlier this year, which aims to enable quicker, deeper collaboration on science, providing a strong framework for science and technology collaboration.
DPIIT joint secretary Balamurugan D said, “India holds boundless opportunities for trade, investment, and growth. The average age of our population is 29, promising a vibrant future. India is moving in the path of inclusive growth and invite global collaboration.”
Deputy British High Commissioner to India Christina Scott and Senior Adviser to Group Chairman, HSBC, Lord Udny-Lister also spoke.
Public-private models
Two industry-focussed sessions on ‘technology innovations turbocharging India’s vision for an inclusive society’ and ‘leveraging public private collaborations on research and innovation’ was also held.
The conference was supported by HSBC and Vodafone. Both companies have a significant presence in India and the UK and are contributing to the development and roll out of technology solutions to the benefit of both populations.
