Bengaluru Tech Summit

• 20 Nov 2020

Why in News

Recently, the Prime Minister has inaugurated the Bengaluru Tech Summit via video conference which was also attended by the Prime Minister of Australia.

Key Points

• It is India's flagship event which will deliberate on the key challenges emerging in the post-pandemic world with focus on the impact of prominent technologies.
  
  • It will also provide a platform for discussion to encourage disruptive technologies.
    
    • Disruptive technology is an innovation that significantly alters the way that consumers, industries, or businesses operate. It sweeps away the systems or habits it replaces because it has attributes that are recognizably superior.
    • Examples: e-commerce, online news sites, ride-sharing apps, and Global Positioning System (GPS).
• Theme for 2020: Next is Now.
• Focus: Innovations in the domains of Information Technology and Electronics and Biotechnology.
• Organisers:
  
  • The Government of Karnataka along with Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS).
  • Karnataka government’s Vision Group on Information Technology Software.
  • Software Technology Parks of India (STPI).
  • MM Activ Sci-Tech Communications.
• Concerns Highlighted:
  
  • With the increasing use of technology in governance and other areas, data protection and cybersecurity become significant.
  • There is a need to devise robust cybersecurity solutions which can protect digital products against cyber attacks and viruses.
• Role of Technology:
  
  • It was highlighted that India’s governance model is based on ‘technology first’.
  • PM-KISAN Mobile App:
    
    • It enables direct transfers to farmers and also digitises the complete database of farmers.
    • The farmers can view the status of their application, update or carry out corrections of their Aadhaar cards and also check the history of credits to their bank accounts.
  • Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana:
    
    • Under it, the government deployed fintech and digital technology to monitor swift and efficient transfer to the beneficiary through Direct benefit transfer.
    • It also ensured credit to the beneficiary's account without the need for the beneficiary to physically go to the branch which helped people a lot during lockdowns.
  • Ayushman Bharat:
    
    • Making good use of technology and innovation can further reduce the overall cost of healthcare. AI-powered mobile applications can provide high-quality, low-cost, patient-centric, smart wellness solutions.
  • Aarogya Setu App:
    
    • India's first contact tracing app, Arogya Setu app is based on the idea of ‘technological solutionism’ (technology providing an impartial solution to complex social problems).
    • It enables bluetooth based contact tracing and maps likely hotspots of Covid-19 and disseminates the relevant information.
  • Apart from all these, technology plays an important role in governance as well.
• India and Australia on Technological Development:
  
  • Both countries highlighted the unlimited possibilities of working together in space research, critical minerals, 5G, Artificial Intelligence, quantum computing, etc.
  • In June 2020, the India-Australia Virtual Summit was held where both countries signed the landmark Australia-India Technology Framework on cyber and cyber-enabled technology.
  • In December 2020, India-Australia Circular Economy Hackathon (I-ACE) will be organised which will focus on identification and development of innovative technology solutions by students, startups and MSMEs of both nations.
  • They are also planning to launch Australia-India cyber and critical technologies partnership grant programme and are also working together for an open, free, safe and secure Internet.

Government Initiatives to Promote Technology

• Digital India Mission: Launched in 2015, it aimed to prepare India for a knowledge future for being transformative that is to realise IT (Indian Talent) + IT (Information Technology) = IT (India Tomorrow) and for making technology central to enabling change.
• Unified Payments Interface (UPI): It is a payment system that allows money transfer between any two bank accounts by using a smartphone.
• National Digital Health Mission: It is a complete digital health ecosystem. It is a platform launched with four key features viz. health ID, personal health records, Digi Doctor and health facility registry.
• Swamitva Scheme: Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas (Swamitva) was launched to provide an integrated property validation solution for rural India.

Source:PIB