India and the US are working together to expand strategic technology partnerships: Dr Jitendra Singh

New Delhi, Oct 12 The government has said that India and the US are working together to expand strategic technology partnerships and collaborate on emerging technologies such as AI and smart connected cities.

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said this while presenting the India-US Endowment Awards to 17 winning teams.

At the award ceremony, the winning teams were directed to work together mainly to develop AI-enabled technology and quantum technologies.

Speaking at the US-India Science and Technology Endowment Fund (USISTEF) Awards ceremony here, Dr Singh said that new implementation agreements have been signed between science agencies to expand international cooperation in various fields to build a strong innovation ecosystem as part of the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (ICET). US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti was also present during this.

The minister said, “The DST-National Science Foundation joint appeal in the areas of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Cyber-Physical Systems and Secure and Trusted Cyberspace resulted in the approval of 11 high-level proposals.”

India and the US are at a critical juncture in the development of future technologies such as AI, advanced manufacturing, blockchain, green energy and quantum computing and are gearing up for one of the biggest technology transformations of the century.

Dr Singh said the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “creating an enabling innovation ecosystem with recent reforms such as design-linked incentives for semiconductors, PLI schemes for automobiles, drone policy and removal of barriers through initiatives like faceless assessment.”

There were 350 startups in 2014, which has grown to over 1,40,000 startups.

The minister said India has over 110 unicorns, of which 23 emerged last year alone, indicating India’s rapid ascension up the STI (science, technology and innovation) ladder.