Bengaluru, 16 Nov

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will inaugurate the 27th Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS) here on 19 November, officials said on Saturday.

The three-day tech conclave is organised by the Department of Electronics, IT and BT of Karnataka government. Australia is the official country partner for the event.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and international dignitaries will take part in the inaugural ceremony, where two MoUs with Switzerland and Finland and a Letter of Intent with the Sharjah Innovation Authority (UAE) to foster deeper global collaboration will be signed, officials said.

At a press conference here, Information Technology Minister Priyank Kharge said, "This year, Bengaluru Tech Summit takes on the theme of being unbound, embracing the spirit of breaking boundaries and redefining what's possible. It serves as a pivotal platform where ideas converge, sparking groundbreaking advancements and fostering global partnerships.

"Karnataka remains steadfast in its commitment to technological excellence, strengthening its role as a leader in innovation and growth." "This time it's going to be bigger, better and more impactful and green than ever before. For the first time, we will be having a huge delegation of over 15 countries from both governmental and private delegations along with our 33 global innovation alliance countries as well," he said.

Also, for the first time, the government is connecting startups directly to Venture Capitalists live. More than 300 startups have already been identified and over 100 VCs have come forward for this initiative, he said.

The minister said the focus will be on Artificial Intelligence and deep tech startups, and many policies will be released at the tech summit, including the global capability center policy and space tech policy which are first in India.

"A very agile re-skilling programme called Nipuna Karnataka (so skill locally and work globally) will be launched at the summit. We will be talking about road maps or blueprints for the next couple of years with respect to emerging technologies. This BTS has gone completely global and ensures that Karnataka maintains its leadership positions in sectors of electronics, IT and biotechnology," he added.

According to officials, BTS 2024 is set to host delegations from over 15 countries, including USA, Australia, UK and France. These high-level delegations, featuring government officials, industry leaders, and innovators, will enrich the summit with diverse perspectives and collaborative opportunities.

The summit will feature a multi-stage conference across six tracks: IT, Deep tech and Trends, Biotech and Health Tech, Startup Ecosystem, Global Innovation Alliance, India-USA Tech Conclave, and the newly introduced Electro-Semicon track, officials added.