Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday emphasised the importance of talent by stating that India is a young country with a strong sense of innovation and the number of unicorn startups has nearly doubled since 2021.
“India is a young nation with a great innovative spirit,” the Prime Minister said while addressing the United Nations World Geospatial International Congress virtually. “India is one of the top startup hubs in the world with the number of unicorn startups having almost doubled since 2021—a testimony to India’s young talent,” he added.
“Geo Enabling the Global Village—No One Must Be Left Behind” is the topic of the second UNWGIC.
Welcoming international delegates, the Prime Minister said, “The people of India are happy to host you on this historic occasion as we build our future together.”
The city is famed for its culture, gastronomy, hospitality, and hi-tech vision, the prime minister remarked in expressing his satisfaction that the conference is taking place there.
“We have been working on a vision of Antyodaya, which means empowering the last person at the last mile, in a mission mode,” he said.
The actions India has taken over the past few years show that no one should be left behind.
He continued by stating that “India is ensuring that no one is left behind” by providing sanitation services to 110 million people and tap water connections to more than 60 million families.
The two pillars that are essential to India’s development are talent and technology. The Prime Minister asserted that technology brings about transformation, mentioning the flawless delivery of welfare benefits to 800 million people by JAM Trinity and the tech platform that drove the greatest immunisation campaign in history as examples.
“In India, technology is not an agent of exclusion. It is an agent of inclusion,” PM Modi said.
The prime minister emphasised how geospatial technology promotes inclusivity and development. The Prime Minister stressed that the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals on poverty and gender equality are directly impacted by the role of technology in programmes like SVAMITVA and housing, as well as the results in terms of property ownership and women’s empowerment.
He continued that geospatial technology also powers the Digital Ocean platform and the PM GatiShakti Master Plan. The South Asia Satellite, which facilitated communication in India’s neighbourhood, was cited by the Prime Minister as evidence that India has already set an example in terms of sharing the advantages of geospatial technology.
According to the prime minister, the freedom to innovate is one of the most crucial liberties, and it has been secured for the geospatial industry. Geospatial data development, digitization, and collection have all become more accessible, he continued. These reforms have been accompanied by the growth of the drone industry, the opening of the space industry to private investment, and the launch of 5G in India.
The COVID-19 outbreak, according to Prime Minister Modi, ought to have served as a reminder of the importance of bringing everyone along. He underlined that the world community needs an institutional strategy to assist one another in times of hardship.
“Global organisations like the United Nations can lead the way in taking resources to the last mile in every region,” he highlighted.
The Prime Minister continued by saying that providing support and sharing technologies are also essential in the battle against climate change and that the greatest strategies might be shared in an effort to save the earth.
The geospatial technology’s limitless potential was emphasised by the prime minister. Sustainable urban development, disaster management and mitigation, tracking the effects of climate change, forest and water management, halting desertification, and food security are a few of these. He expressed the hope that this conference would serve as a forum for the discussion of advancements in such crucial areas.
PM Modi also expressed his confidence during the event, saying, “I am optimistic that this conference will help steer the global community into a new future with the stakeholders of the global geospatial industry coming together, with the policymakers and academic world communicating with one another.”