Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) jointly organised an international technology policy summit titled “Technology Dialogue 2025: Exploring New Frontiers in Technology Diplomacy” on 24 and 25 January 2025 in IISc, Bengaluru as a continuation to Dialogue 2023 held in November 2023.

Recognising the importance of technology in driving India’s global partnerships, the summit focused on India’s international technology engagement framework, and the need for leveraging strategic partnerships on critical and emerging technologies such as quantum, AI, semiconductors, space tech, and bioeconomy.

The summit was inaugurated with a keynote address on International Technology Engagement Framework (ITEF) by the Hon’ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh, who highlighted various national initiatives and missions aimed at advancing India’s technological aspirations while emphasizing the importance of global partnerships and collaborations. Hon’ble Minister Dr Singh also emphasised the need for a structured framework and approach in elevating India’s International Technology Engagements. The inauguration ceremony was joined by Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood (Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India), H.E. Pavan Kapoor (Deputy National Security Adviser, Government of India), Shri S. Raghuram (Joint Secretary of Policy Planning & Research, Ministry of External Affairs), Prof. G. Rangarajan (Director of IISc), and Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon), and was chaired by Prof. G.K. Ananthasuresh (Dean of the Division of Mechanical Sciences, IISc). PSA Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood delivered a special address on conceptualisation and building blocks of ITEF. Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw delivered a special address on industrial perspective that should shape India’s ITEF.

The summit featured a keynote address on leveraging strategic partnerships on critical and emerging technologies for India by H.E. Pavan Kapoor (Deputy National Security Adviser, Government of India). This was followed by a featured panel on expanding the contours of international engagements for technology partnerships featuring H.E. Chandru Iyer (His Majesty’s Deputy Trade Commissioner for Investment for Souh Asia, Deputy High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Karnataka and Kerala), H.E. Carly Partridge (Minister Counsellor,  Australian High Commission), H.E. Alfonso Tagliaferri (Consulate General of Italy in Bengaluru), Dr Soren Tranberg Hansen (Consulate General of Denmark) and Dr Rama Swami Bansal (Chief Scientist & Head, International S&T Affairs Directorate, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

The second day began with a keynote address on Technology and Development Partnerships of India by Shri Periasamy Kumaran, Special Secretary (ER & DPA), Ministry of External Affairs where he highlighted the ongoing bilateral efforts of Government of India with multiple countries in emerging and critical technologies.

Thematic panel on ‘Fostering Collaboration for Quantum Revolution’ was organised on to deliberate on advancements in quantum technologies and policy imperatives globally. The panel began with a lead presentation by Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood highlighting features of India’s National Quantum Mission (NQM). The panel also featured Prof Andrew White (ARC Australian Laureate Fellow), Dr Amith Singhee (Director, IBM Research India) and Prof Urbasi Sinha (Professor at Raman Research Institute), moderated by Mr Luke Preskey (Chief Revenue Officer, Resonance).

The summit also featured a dialogue between Dr S Somanath (Former Secretary, Department of Space and former Chairman of ISRO), and Dr Koichi Wakata (Astronaut and CTO, Asia-Pacific at Axiom Space) on the theme, ‘Unlocking Potentials of Space Tech’ discussing space exploration boom, the entry of private entities, industry partners and foreign investment, as well the encouraging growth of space startups.

The panel on ‘Accelerating Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovation’ featured Shri S Krishnan (Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology), H.E. Arthur Barichard (Deputy Ambassador for Digital Affairs, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Republic of France), Ms Laxmi Shenoy (Managing Director, Accenture), Shri Biswajit Das (Head – Data Analytics and AI, Amazon Web Services), and Dr Leah Junck (Global Center on AI Governance, South Africa), moderated by Prof Chiranjib Bhattacharyya (Chair, Department of Computer Science and Automation, IISc). The panel deliberated on building a trustworthy AI ecosystem, focusing on AI governance, the future of work, and AI for public interest.

The panel on ‘Advancing India’s Bio-Economy’ featured Dr Alka Sharma (Adviser, Department of Biotechnology), Shri Krishna Mohan Puvvada (Senior Vice President, MEIA Novonesis), Mr Peter Bains (Group CEO of Biocon Group), Prof Usha Vijayraghavan (Dean, Biological Science Division, IISc) and Dr Bhuvnesh Shrivastava (Director- Healthcare, US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), moderated by Prof Gayatri Saberwal (Dean, Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology). The panel discussed the importance of international collaboration for India to achieve its bio-economy ambitions.

The valedictory session featured a keynote address on driving sectoral transformation through independent and synergistic technology advancements by Dr Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. The session also featured a fireside chat on positioning India in the global semiconductor value chain between Shri Utpal Shah (Senior Vice President - Strategy and Business Development, Tata Electronics) and Prof Andrew White, chaired by Prof Navakanta Bhat (Dean, Division of Interdisciplinary Sciences, IISc).

The Technology Dialogue 2025 also featured the India-France AI Policy Roundtable: Roadmap for the AI Action Summit 2025. The roundtable was co-chaired by Shri Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, and Chief Executive Officer of the IndiaAI Mission, representing India, and H.E. Mr. Marc Lamy, Consul General of France in Bengaluru, representing France. The discussion focused on key policy positions related to global AI development and governance, while also exploring opportunities for collaboration and synergy between India and France. The roundtable focused on the following key objectives:

 

●          Unified Global AI Governance

●          Understanding AI Technologies and Implications

●          Addressing Digital Divide and Market Concentration

●          Common and Open AI Infrastructure

●          Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in AI

●          Sustaining AI Innovation and Addressing Resource Needs

 

The India-France AI Policy Roundtable, during Technology Dialogue 2025, served as a platform for discussions leading up to the 2025 AI Action Summit to be co-chaired by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.

The two day summit exploring technology policy and diplomacy efforts with key partner countries witnessed the participation from various foreign missions in India, global thought leaders on critical and emerging technologies, industry and academia thought leadership in various technologies, industries bodies, start-ups and scholars of public policy.

More details at: https://technologydialogue.in/

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Mattu J.P. Singh/Siddhant Tiwari

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