2022 Global Technology Summit

What’s new IN-SPACe?

Space activities in India, until recently, were predominantly carried out by the Indian Space Research Organisation. The Indian government however recently setup the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) to enable commercialization of space technology and boost investments in the space sector. The Indian private sector has positively responded to the creation of IN-SPACe. Moreover, the range of reforms introduced by the Indian government has also made the field ready for foreign investments.

Conversation

India as a Startup Nation

Startup 20: An Agenda for G20

Startups worldwide, empowered significantly by technology, are driving economic growth, and addressing global challenges relating to healthcare, climate change, and education, amongst others. While the global startup ecosystem has seen an exponential rise in recent years, both in numbers and value (with over 1000 unicorns globally and over 100 in India), they face the challenge of sustaining their growth responsibly. Recently, India has thoughtfully proposed on an additional G20 engagement group called “Startup 20” under its upcoming G20 presidency, which would recommend actions to the leaders of G20 to address the growth challenges of startups and related constraints.

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)

Healthcare.AI: Disrupting Healthcare for Bharat

The Covid pandemic highlighted the disruptive role that technology can play in ensuring easy access to affordable and quality healthcare. It is imperative for the various players in the healthcare ecosystem to embrace these changes caused by technology as they move toward patient centric digital models.

Keynote:: Contours of Building an EU-India Trade and Technology Council

The European Commission, earlier this year, announced a Trade and Technology Council (TTC) with India to encourage compatible standards to boost technical collaboration and deepen cooperation in trade and security. The council is being envisioned to provide the necessary structure to operationalize political decisions and coordinate technical work to ensure sustainable progress of European and Indian economies.

Technology & Trade: Opportunities and Challenges

Recent advancements in digital technologies have the potential to create novel products and open new markets. Such advancements are changing the composition of trade in services and goods and redefining intellectual property rights in trade. These technological changes are also slowly bringing the developing countries to play a major role in global trade. Acknowledging the rising volume of digital transactions in the economy, several countries, including India, are now updating their foreign trade policies to have a dedicated section for e-commerce.

Creating Public Infrastructure for an Open Digital Economy: The Indian Experience

Like all markets, markets in the digital economy call for creating public infrastructure that can help reduce transaction costs, bridge information gaps, and foster competition. India is looking to make the most of the digital revolution by developing infrastructure that enables development of digital markets. From the identity platform Aadhaar to the unified payment interface (UPI), to the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), which seeks to make ecommerce more open, India has taken many initiatives to enable the development of secure and open digital markets with low costs for participants. While these are bold initiatives, they carry some risks in terms of crowding out private initiative, the mechanisms for regulating these initiatives, the economics of developing and maintaining digital public infrastructure, and so on.

Conversation: National Quantum Mission

Talk

Bridgital USP: Building Unique Semiconductor Partnerships

Semiconductors are the fourth most-traded product after crude oil, refined oil, and cars, and are the backbone of the digital economy. Disruptions in semiconductor supply chains have given rise to a global chorus of calls for self-reliance among countries. India’s new semiconductor policy focusing on both chip fabrication and chip design, introduced in December 2021, is also aimed at attracting investment from major global semiconductor firms.

Talk

Responsible AI: A Strategic Imperative

The economic potential of artificial intelligence (AI) is being widely recognized by policymakers, technologists, academics, and civil society across the world. While AI is being deployed in different sectors such as agriculture, health, and education, ethical dilemmas such as lack of transparency, gender and ethnic bias, threats to privacy, and the danger of mass surveillance are also growing. Recognizing this, the 193 member states at UNESCO adopted the first global standard on the ethics of AI to guide countries that are building legal frameworks to ensure that AI is developed in a responsible manner and is deployed for public good.

Book Discussion: After Tiananmen: The Rise of China

Ministerial Address

Ministerial Address

Save the Data: Localization as Democratization?

Data democratization is often defined to mean the removal of barriers to accessing data. Data localization on the other hand, refers to the process of creating barriers to the free flow of data. If democratization requires greater access to data, why are countries and regions exercising their sovereign power to impose data localisation requirements? How can data localization serve the objectives of data democratization? In contrast, has the free flow of data across borders benefitted different parts of the world? This discussion will unpack why arguments for localizing data persist in spite of the benefits countries have reaped from the free flow of data.

Ministerial Address

Lessons from the War in Ukraine

Technology in the defence sector has been increasing rapidly for a few years. But the recent Russia-Ukraine crisis is the first conflict that deployed a combination of kinetic and digital weapons to gain supremacy. Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, facial recognition technology, commercial satellite imaging, 3D printing, unmanned aerial vehicles made it easier for everyday citizens, private companies, and civilian institutions to become an active part of the crisis. While many of the technologies used by Russia and Ukraine are not entirely new, their deployment in the recent crisis might place emerging tech into the military mainstream.

Promoting Sustainability: Transitioning to a Net-Zero Economy

As countries around the world make efforts to meet their zero-emission targets, investment in green technologies such as wind and solar power, electric mobility, and green hydrogen is slowly gaining traction. In addition to governments pooling in money and resources to transition to greener technologies, a lot of private actors have also announced their net-zero ambitions over the last year.

Conversation: Building Technologies for a Sustainable Global Food Chain

Food value chains across the world are built at the intersection of quality and yield. The sole determinant of fairness, transparency and traceability of the world’s food yield is hinged on the axis of ‘quality’. Yet globally, the measurement of quality from farm to fork is more speculative than science.

Panel: Local Content: Instrument of India’s Soft Power Globally

With the growth of the global streaming market, India is set to become the “content hub of the world.” India’s homegrown content could be a powerful instrument to showcase the rich heritage and cultural diversity of India. In addition, it could be a key soft power tool to garner economic benefits for India and shape the cultural and political landscape of content consuming societies.

Architecture for Biosafety and Biosecurity

The field of life science research is going through a revolutionary period with rapid change and innovation. Bioscience and biotechnology advances are vital for fighting disease, protecting the environment, and promoting economic development—but these innovations also can pose risks of accidents or deliberate misuse. Governments play a critical role in providing oversight to prevent abuse and misuse, but they have struggled to keep pace with rapid bioscience and biotechnology advances. There is a lack of shared international biosafety- biosecurity norms and available tools for upholding them.

Ministerial Address

Ministerial Address

Open-Network Technologies: A Driver of Financial Inclusion

Public and private sector banks across the world are deploying digital technologies to offer financial services for financially underserved and excluded population. Despite the rapid progress in leveraging digital technologies to enable inclusion, more than a billion people remain unbanked, with a large fraction of them being women. To bridge this gap, several countries are building digital public infrastructures that enable delivery of financial services. In India, innovations like Aadhar, UPI, and account aggregator have changed the way financial services are provided. Moreover, fintech and big tech companies are now competing with banks and other incumbents across a range of markets.

Ministerial Address

Address

Conversation: Personalized Cancer Care (virtual)

Book Launch: Grasping Greatness: Making India a Leading

Conversation About the Book

Panel Discussion About the Bok