New UK-India Tech Partnership to create jobs, generate investment

New Delhi :The new UK-India Tech Partnership agreed to during the bilateral meeting between visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Theresa May will help generate significant investment and create jobs, the British High Commission here said.

"An ambitious new UK-India Tech Partnership is expected to generate significant investment and support the creation of thousands of new jobs across the UK," the High Commission said in a statement.

It said under the Partnership, Britain will establish a new UK-India Tech Partnership to identify and pair businesses, venture capital, universities and others to provide access routes to markets for British and Indian entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises.

"It follows on from the success of the UK-Israel Tech Hub which has generated £62 million worth of deals over the past five years, with a potential impact of 600 million pounds for the UK economy," it stated.

"The most up-to-date figures show the UK exported 358 million pounds of digital services to India in 2015."

According to the statement, based on these figures, the success of the UK-Israel Tech Hub and the size of the Indian economy, Britain believes this initiative could give its economy a significant boost. 

It said the UK-India Tech Partnership is expected to contribute to an increase of thousands of tech jobs in the UK in the coming years.

"Our world-leading digital economy is booming, worth more than 116 billion pounds a year and employing more than two million people," British Digital Secretary Matt Hancock said in the statement.

"We're determined to see this incredible success continue, and this ambitious UK-India Tech Partnership will bring together some of the best minds working in tech to unlock its future potential and deliver high-skilled jobs and economic growth in both countries."

According to the High Commission statement, Britain will initially invest 1 million pounds to pilot the approach and potentially up to a further 13 million pounds by 2022.

"To build the network the government will engage in-country experts to work with the British High Commission in New Delhi, the Indian government and the private sector in order to increase tech investment, exports and research and development," it said

It also said that smaller regional teams will link specific cities and regions in India and Britain.

"The Partnership will encourage innovation and productivity by helping businesses in the UK and India collaborate on emerging technologies, develop mentoring relationships and exchange staff," the statement said. 

"The regional teams will also ensure the impact is felt across the breadth of both nations' expansive tech sectors, and that successful approaches adopted in one region can be shared and adopted in others."

Initially the pilot will connect Britain with Pune in Maharashtra, focussing on the Future of Mobility, including low emission and autonomous vehicles, battery storage and vehicle light-weighting. Additional connections will be linked to Bengaluru with a focus on augmented and virtual reality, advanced materials and artificial intelligence.

If it is as successful as expected, the Partnership can be scaled up to bring in more regions of Britain and India which share expertise in the relevant fields.

In parallel, Britain and India's tech trade associations TechUK and Nasscom will work together through a new UK-India Tech Alliance, bringing senior tech leaders together to collaborate, help develop policy and encourage innovation, according to the statement.

"This is an incredibly important partnership and something tech businesses from both countries have been driving for. The UK and India are leaders in the development and use of digital tech, and there is a huge amount we can learn from each other and big opportunities to join forces in innovation," Julian David, CEO of techUK, said in the statement

"This is an incredibly important partnership and something tech businesses from both countries have been driving for. The UK and India are leaders in the development and use of digital tech, and there is a huge amount we can learn from each other and big opportunities to join forces in innovation," David said.

"India is also a key strategic partner for the UK with world-class digital skills. Deepening our engagement will open up opportunities for business in both countries and help ensure we maximise the benefits of technology for our societies and citizens."