The State government has set up the ‘Karnataka Innovation Authority’ which will sanction formulating regulatory sandboxes and will have powers to exempt or relax provisions of laws enacted by the State Legislature to promote innovation.
Karnataka Chief Minister, BS Yediyurappa inaugurating the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2019, said that innovation and entrepreneurship will be the driving forces in the years to come. “Innovation in science and technology has always been one of the major driving forces of the State’s economy. We, in Karnataka, have been moving towards becoming an innovation hub - a gradual shift from the services sector to product development,” he said.
He also said the State government will examine setting up of the Karnataka Technology Development Board (KTDB) to promote IT and knowledge economy. It will be responsible for investment promotion, industry development and manpower development of the broad technology sector, and shall aim to strengthen the State’s position as one the world’s leading hubs in the high technology arena.
He also pointed out that Karnataka led the first-ever innovation ranking of States by NITI Aayog by becoming the most innovative State in the country. Bengaluru was ranked 11th best global start-up eco-system as per the ‘Startup Blink Startup eco-system Rankings Report 2019’. Within the last one year, Bengaluru has moved up 10 spots in this ranking. Bengaluru has contributed to the creation of nine unicorns out of the 27 in the country. The State has also set up Centres of Excellence in advanced technologies with private institutions to provide a platform for collaboration for industry, academia, corporates and start-ups. It has also created Global Innovation Alliances with the innovation hubs of the world to foster strong partnerships between R&D institutions and industry.