The opening ceremony of the 24^th edition of Bengaluru Tech Summit was conducted as a hybrid event in the city today. Organized by the Department of Electronics, IT, Bt and S&T of the Government of Karnataka and Software Technology Parks of India - Bengaluru, the Summit was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Vice President of India, Shri. Venkaiah Naidu. With the theme of ‘Driving The Next’, the three day summit is scheduled from 17^th to 19^th November, 2021, and will highlight the role of digital and technological innovations that drove and supported growth of multiple sectors in a post-pandemic world.  With prowess in driving the growth of technology and global businesses, despite the challenges of the pandemic, BTS 2021 will focus on further boosting innovation and international engagements in the country.

The inaugural ceremony was graced by the Guests of Honor which included Shri. Scott Morrison- Hon’ble Prime Minister of Australia, Shri. Naftali Bennett, Hon’ble Prime Minister of Israel, and Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot- Hon’ble Governor of Karnataka. The ceremony was presided by Shri Basavaraj Bommai- Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Distinguished guests at the ceremony included Dr. C. N. Ashwath Narayan, Hon’ble Minister for Electronics, IT & Bt, Science and Technology, Higher Education, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Livelihood, Government of Karnataka; Shri Murugesh R Nirani, Hon’ble Minister for Large and Medium Industries, Government of Karnataka; Shri P Ravi Kumar, Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka; Prof. Klaus Schwab, Founder and Chairman, World Economic Forum; Mr. Martin Schroeter, Chief Executive Officer, Kyndryl; Shri Pawan Goenka, Chairman, IN-SPACe; Shri Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman Vision Group on Information Technology, Government of Karnataka; Dr. Kiran Majumdar Shaw, Chairperson Vision Group on Biotechnology, Government of Karnataka; and Shri Prashanth Prakash, Chairman, Vision Group on Startups, Government of Karnataka, and Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM.

Also present at the event were Dr. E. V. Ramana Reddy, ACS Dept. of Electronics, IT, Bt and S&T, Government of Karnataka; Smt. Meena Nagaraj C.N. IAS, Director, Dept. of Electronics, IT & Bt, and Managing Director, KITS, Government of Karnataka; and Dr. Omkar Rai, Director General, Software Technology Parks of India. 

The three day summit will feature Multitrack Conferences, International Exhibition, Global Innovation Alliance, Startup focus, National Rural IT Quiz, BioQuiz, Biotech Posters, STPI IT Export Awards, Smart Bio Awards and Startup Unicorn Felicitations. The new features added this year are India USA Tech Conclave, India Innovation 

Alliance, Bengaluru Next - Leadership Conclave and Startup Conclave and showcase of Science Gallery.

India continues to be a powerhouse of talent holding bright prospects for various multi-national companies across sectors. The exponential growth of Biotechnology, Technology, IT and startup ecosystems in India is a key driving force for innovation and development.  In this regard, the latest summit will include the India-US Tech Conclave, India Innovation Alliance and the Global Innovation Alliance to further narratives and prospects in the space.

Overview of the events scheduled under each track for DAY 1:

 IT

• 4 sessions which covered the themes of: Harnessing Global Innovation, Hybrid Multi-Cloud, ESG opportunities as well as 5G and Edge Computing
• The sessions saw participation of leaders and subject matter experts from VMWare, Goldman Sachs, Bosch, Philips, Cisco, Kyndryl India, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, Jeena and Co. Pvt. Ltd. CDPQ Global, Capco, Adani Group, Airtel Business, Telstra, Vistara TATA SIA Airlines Ltd., and Virescent Infrastructure

STARTUPS

• 4 sessions which covered the themes of: Women Entrepreneurship, the Future of Fintech, Beyond Venture Capital and the EdTech Boom
• The sessions saw the participation of subject matter experts from Portea, Medical, SUGAR Cosmetics, Sequoia Capital, Razorpay, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), Klub, Stride Ventures, Alteria Capital, Chamaeleon, Sylvant Advisors, Simplilearn, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Venture Highway LLP and 1BRIDGE

 BIOTECH

• 5 sessions which included the themes of : Re-Igniting Innovation in Indian Life Sciences, Moderna & mRNA Technologies in Conceiving Vaccines, Investing Nextgen Medtech & Diagnostics, Creating Transformative Gene-based Medicines for Serious Diseases using CRISPR and Gene-Editing on Centrestage in Crop Regeneration, Therapeutics, Precision Bioscience & Environment Protection
• The session on Moderna & mRNA Technologies in Conceiving Vaccines was presided by Dr. Robert Langer, Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Dr. Samarth Kulkarni, Chief Executive Officer, CRISPR Therapeutics spoke about Creating Transformative Gene-based Medicines for Serious Diseases using CRISPR

GIA

• Panels by 5 partner countries : Israel, Japan, Sweden, UK and Canada
• The sessions saw discussions on the Semiconductor roadmap for India, Co-creating solutions for the digital world and a sustainable future and accelerating technology and innovation

The first day of the event included plenary talks by Martin Schroeter, Chairman and CEO, Kyndryl and Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan, *Nobel Laureate, Group Leader, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology Past President, The Royal Society. The other highlights of the day included insightful conclaves of the BENGALURU NEXT Leadership Conclave followed by the STPI IT Export Awards, as well as The India US Tech Conclave.

Source : Press Release