Karnataka announces single mega event for IT, BT industries in November

Move based on suggestions from industry leaders such as Kris Gopalakrishnan, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw

Karnataka is doing away with its multitude of technology events and plans to hold a single mega meet in Bengaluru in November with the goal of promoting collaboration between various tech focused industries.

The move made by Karnataka's IT, BT & Science & Technology Minister Priyank Kharge was based on suggestions from industry leaders such as Kris Gopalakrishnan, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw apart from industry bodies such as Nasscom.

"This single mega (event) will showcase Karnataka's ideation, innovation & invention prowess across all technologies to an international audience," said Kharge on Twitter. "It will be called Bengaluru Technology Summit & it will enhance Bengaluru's brand as an innovation & knowledge hub for emerging technologies."

The Bengaluru Technology Summit will replace two of the state's largest flagship events - BengaluruITE.biz and Bengaluru India Bio. Kharge is hoping the merger will throw up interesting ways in which IT companies can learn and collaborate with biotechnology firms, which are increasingly reliant on computation to do research, and vice versa.

Apart from the two major stakeholders in the IT and BT space, shareholders in the gaming, animation and nanotechnology space will be part of the programme as well. These upcoming sectors are being looked as major employers by Karnataka which is facing stiff competition from cities such as Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai to rope in investments in these spaces.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the chairman of Biocon, endorsed the event, calling it a "Good global event to showcase convergence of technologies in Bengaluru."

Apart from driving investments in Bengaluru, the state is also looking at drawing industry to tier-2 cities such as Mangaluru, Mysore, Hubballi and Dharwad, which offer a skilled workforce, less stressed infrastructure and overall lower operational costs to global as well as local companies.

"The objective of this year's joint event is to discover game-changing ideas and solutions in Information Technology and Biotechnology. We are committed to the growth of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises as well as start-ups in tier-two and tier-three cities," said Karnataka's minister for large and medium industries R V Deshpande, at the announcement of the Bengaluru Technology Summit on Friday.