The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu, today urged scientists, technocrats and entrepreneurs to come out with new ideas and innovations to create knowledge wealth and economic wealth for the progress of humanity and betterment of society at large.
Inaugurating the Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS) 2021 in Bengaluru, Naidu said that the ultimate goal of technology is to bring happiness in our lives and called for development of technologies that address people’s pressing problems and make their lives happier and comfortable.
The Vice President, while acknowledging the recent technological disruptions in many areas, stressed that the real potential of technology can be unleashed when there are significant improvements in sectors such as agriculture, education, healthcare, governance and climate change.
Urging the Bengaluru Tech Summit participants to bestow greater attention on agriculture, he called for adopting smart agro-tech solutions such as precision agriculture, online marketplaces and artificial intelligence in agriculture to help improve farm productivity and incomes. Expressing concern over the adverse impact of climate change on agriculture, the Vice President called for technological solutions for this challenge.
Praising the Government for its focus on transforming the governance systems through use of technology, he said that digitization of processes has helped in better delivery of the services to the people.
Reiterating the age-old Indian philosophy of ‘share and care’, Naidu hoped that the participants in the Summit will share and discuss their ideas, experiences and innovations for the larger good of humanity and world.
Referring to the Prime Minister’s three-word mantra – Reform, Perform and Transform, the Vice President suggested that in the coming days, we should focus more on creating a knowledge economy, digitalization and innovation.
On this occasion, the Vice President also expressed his condolences on the untimely demise of renowned Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar. “Puneeth was not only a talented actor but also a great human being who cared for welfare and well being of the needy,” he said.
The Vice President thanked the Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison and the Prime Minister of Israel, Naftali Bennett for joining the BTS-2021 through video conferencing.
Naidu also commended the state of Karnataka for pioneering the IT revolution in India and Bengaluru for becoming the chosen centre for R&D for many leading companies in the world. He also congratulated the Government of Karnataka for its dedication and consistent effort to successfully establish the BTS as a leading global conference on innovation and technology.
Thaawarchand Gehlot, the Governor of Karnataka, Basavaraj Bommai, Chief Minister of Karnataka, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister, Dr. C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister, Government of Karnataka, Murugesh R. Nirani, Minister, Govt. of Karnataka, P. Ravi Kumar, Chief Secretary, Karnataka, senior government officials, researchers, entrepreneurs and innovators from across the world attended the event in virtual and physical mode.
