Karnataka comes out with Research, Development and Innovation Policy at 25th Bengaluru Tech Summit 22.
Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai released the ‘Karnataka Research Development and Innovation Policy’ which has the objective of financing the infrastructure and institutions.
The policy which was released during the inaugural session of the Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS 22) also has aims to provide support for robust and well-connected ecosystem. It intends an easy access to a skilled talent base, grassroots innovators, support for university based cutting edge research, and researching enterprises for cooperation between industry & science and for innovative business startups.
The policy focuses on strengthening governance and financing of research and innovation system, strengthening research and innovation policy, research and innovation to drive the regional ecosystem, research & development and innovation to support entrepreneurship and Micro, Small and medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and promoting research & development and innovation in priority sectors for social transformations.
It is proposed to create a ‘Karnataka State Research Foundation’ to devise and implement strategies to meet the objectives outlined in the policy.
To expand the financial reach of the research and innovation ecosystem each department/ministry of the state government should earmark their budget for research and innovation activities. To achieve a national average of 0.7% of GDP and 2 – 3% of state GDP in the next 5 years, additional funding from state government agencies is proposed to increase by 0.1% of state GDP every year.
The policy is expected to act as a guideline to support undergraduate, postgraduate students, doctoral scholars and early stage researchers to undertaker high quality research and acquire the necessary skills. The policy will also work towards enabling higher education institutions to adopt ‘open science and research’ by ensuring open access to publicly funded research results, facilities and research data.
The policy aims to nurture the ecosystem by creating many science and technology parks. It recommends to create a special incentive scheme to encourage companies setting up research and development laboratories outside Bengaluru.
The policy also proposes launching an innovation incubation programme called Karnataka Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship (K-TIE) to strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem beyond Bengaluru.
The policy also hopes for creating a digital e- platform to ensure that the benefits of research and development reach the people all across the state.
Start-ups get Booster Kit
Dr C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister for IT/BT launched the ‘Booster Kit’ initiative which aims to support the growth of startups in the state. As part of the initiative the government inked 9 MoUS at Bengaluru Tech Summit 22 with ecosystem partners which included Google, Paytm, HDFC, RazorPay, Microsoft, The GAIN, Dayanand Sagar Entrepreneurship Research and Business incubation, AWS activate and StrongHer Ventures. On behalf of the government, The officials of the Department of IT/BT and Karnataka innovation and Technology Society (KITS) signed the MoUs. Minister Narayan said as per the initiative Startups which have got registered in ‘Karnataka Startup Cell’ will get banking, fintech, market expansion, sustainable business and transaction supports. The Initiative also includes accelerator support, incubation support and guidance for women entrepreneurs besides providing cloud based services. The initiative would also facilitate office infra structure, laboratories, experience of experts and necessary funding. Minister added that Startups should play crucial role in the economic growth of the state and increase their contribution for the digital economy.
Bengaluru Tech Summit 2022 ends with 5-point declaration document
Minister for IT-BT and Science and Technology Dr C N Aswath Narayan released the five-point declaration document adopted at the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2022 as the curtains went down on the 25th edition of the IT meet here on Friday. The declaration document envisages establishing a start-up park near there Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, setting up of R&D labs in 50 colleges of Karnataka state, establishment of science and technology research centres in universities, achieving synergy between educational institutions and the IT- BT companies and establishing relations between academia and educational institutions. The declaration document was released in the presence of chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. The minister said the meet saw 32 participating countries, 4.52 lakh visitors that reached out to about 4.99 crore visitors through the social media and other forms of media. He said 26,000 registered delegates participated in the meet and about 50,000 visited the stalls. He said 12 MoUs were signed and 28 new products were launched at the meet. Further elaborating on the number of foreign delegations, the minister said three high-level ministerial delegations visited the meet from foreign countries and nine high-level delegations held talks with the state government. He said many haveg expressed their interest to invest in the state’s tech sector.