Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate “Bengaluru Technological Summit-2020” (BTS-2020), on 19 November. The event will be held from 19-21 November. This is the 23rd edition of the BTS event.
The summit will be held virtually for the first time. The BTS-2020 has seen an overwhelming response from industry and experts than ever before despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the Deputy Chief Minister Dr. C. N. Ashwatha Narayana, who is also the minister of IT, BT and S & T, said.
The 22nd edition of the event held last November had witnessed 21 countries, 253 international delegations, 44 sessions, 262 speakers and 12,350 visitors. This time the response has surpassed that of last year’s, Ashawatha Narayana said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been emphasizing the larger use of science and technology to better deliver services, will inaugurate the event which is going to be held from Nov 19- 21.
Dy CM further stated that the state government had decided to establish an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Centre in collaboration with IISc, Bengaluru. The government has taken this decision by realizing the importance of the potential of AI in finding solutions to the problems of the future, he said.
He said, “It is high time that the Agri sector needed to be focused on. About 60% of the people of the state depend on this sector for their livelihood. While, on one hand, the economy is growing, the contribution from the Agri sector is falling. This has become a matter of serious concern.”
“The contribution from the Agri sector for GDP is just 16%, at present. This needs to be increased to at least 30% in the next five years. This only can put a check on migration to the urban from rural areas and this would enable the growth “Beyond Bengaluru” also,” he explained.
Narayana added, “The developments in the field of Bio-Technology will make a huge impact on agriculture and health care. This should be leveraged for value addition to agriculture produces, processing and other beneficial processes. At the same time, the quality healthcare system needs to be established by the application of these developments.”