Karnataka and Finland to partner on driving innovation

13th September 2017
Karnataka and Finland to partner on driving innovation
Karnataka Minister of Information Technology, Priyank Kharge and Finland's Ambassador to India, Nina Vaskunlahti, exchange agreements

Bangalore, September 13, 2017:  The Karnatak state government's  Department of Information Technology (IT) and Biotechnology (BT),  has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Embassy of Finland to cooperate in driving innovation.  
A platform to be called called Karnataka – Finland Innovation Corridor,  will facilitate the exchange of information and expertise in the fields of science, research, innovation and skill development.
The Karnataka-based i-SAMARTH programme, initiated by Nokia, will act as an informal focal point for IoT-related Indian and Finnish companies to collaborate in the fields of Research and Development (R&D) and innovation.  And to meet the growing demand for quality human capital in technology, Karnataka and Finland plan to organise suitable skill development programmes.
A high-level steering committee will meet at least once in six months. This committee will be co-chaired by the signatory participants of the MoU, Priyank Kharge,  Karnataka Minister of IT, BT & Tourism and Nina Vaskunlahti, Ambassador of Finland to India.
Says Kharge: “The Karnataka – Finland Innovation Corridor heralds a new age of collaboration and knowledge sharing between the two regions. Besides organising industry events, exposure visits, startup–incubation programmes, competitions and research programmes, the MoU envisions providing landing pads (temporary office space and other assistance at a reasonable price) for startups when a company from one side plans to explore the market on the other side. Our aim is to facilitate collaborations between startup incubators and accelerators from Karnataka and Finland. Over the next few months, we’ll be organising matchmaking events where startups and large corporations from Karnataka and Finland get a chance to interact and work with each other.”
 Adds  Ms Vaskunlahti: “With this MoU, we wish to develop and intensify our mutually beneficial cooperation with Karnataka in the fields of innovation, science and research, and skill development. We look forward to organising a joint official and company programme along the sidelines of the Bangalore  Tech Summit, Bangalore India Nano and Nokia Innovation Day in Bangalore. The purpose is also to enhance the people-to-people connectivity, whereby students, researchers and company R&D professionals from Karnataka and Finland can connect, cooperate and meet on a regular basis"