India to showcase Start-up prowess in G20 Presidency
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, October 28: With over 60,000 Start-ups and over 100 unicorns, India is bracing up to showcase its tech-enabled entrepreneurial talents during the G20 Presidency, commencing from December 1. India will host the research event in July next year for member countries of the multilateral body.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also pitched a startup conclave for the BRICS during the virtual summit hosted by China. Srivari Chandrasekhar, secretary, Department of Science and Technology, inaugurated the 1st ASEAN-India Start-up Festival (AISF) in Bogor, Indonesia. Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Economic Community, Satvinder Singh, highlighted that ASEAN has a vibrant and promising Start-up ecosystem.
“Despite the pandemic, last year we welcomed 25 new unicorns in ASEAN, with their combined valuation at $55.4 billion. The successful hosting of the 1st ASEAN-India Start-up Festival saw opportunities to further strengthen ASEAN-India cooperation to accelerate the Start-up economy,” he added. The AISF is part of a series of events to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the ASEAN-India diplomatic relationship.
It has four main events – Start-up exhibitions; seminar and talk show; G2G meetings and B2B meetings, as well as Start-up pitch battle. The event has also sought to bring together government officials, Start-ups, research institutes, universities, inventors and innovators, and other financial institutes.
“Materials for sustainable energy, scientific challenges & opportunities to achieving a sustainable blue economy, biodiversity, and economy would be the major themes and topics of the Research Innovation Initiative Gathering (RIIG) during India’s presidency starting from 1st December 2022,” said Chandrasekhar.
He informed that discussions would be centered on developing the science for innovation and sustainable growth, connecting science and society, science for culture & heritage, traditional knowledge, and medicine.
“India is committed to implementing G-20 Research Innovation Initiative Gathering (RRIG) deliverables and seek support on the G-20 research and innovation agenda for India’s G-20 presidency next year,” said Chandrasekhar, who was representing the Minister for Science and Technology at the G-20 Research Ministers meeting at Jakarta.
He stressed that India is partnering in all the global forums, including the construction and establishment of mega-science facilities in India and abroad. “We also partner with multilateral forums like UN, ASEAN, BRICS, BIMSTEC, SCO, G-20, etc. Science has to be global, and solutions to challenges should be regional,” he said.
The official further stated that India is promoting a plurality of solutions for a variety of social, economic strata as well as geographical regions and focus on rural as well as urban problems in the country. “Impact-based research evaluation is undertaken in a framework of research excellence keeping in mind local needs. Mainstreaming science communication has been taken up as a major challenge with the aim of increasing people’s participation in science,” he said.
Chandrasekhar stressed that collaborations will bring opportunities for G-20 partners and promote innovation as single point agenda for all in the group. The Research Ministers meeting has been planned to be held in 1st week of July 2023.
About The Author
Amongst other global platforms, the periodic G20 conferences witness some of the most ambitious initiatives and schemes formulated by our nation, the recent initiative catering to research and development, being one of them. While all such initiatives appear to be promising on paper, I believe only time can tell us how fruitful this meeting was, considering that the last G20 conference was critiqued to be non-productive.
All that being said, my best wishes to our nation to accomplish all of it’s goals set for the upcoming years to come!