India wants to strengthen ties with Israeli start ups, a visiting delegation of Indian IT companies to the Jewish State stressed. The delegation was organised by Nasscom, Indian association representing software companies, and the global consulting firm Accenture. “The Nasscom Product Council and IT consulting major Accenture plan to collaborate with Israel Innovation Authority to help startups from both countries in joint product development, knowledge transfer and in the creation of hardware ecosystem,” Indian business daily Economic Times reported.
“We are working with startups in Israel and the collaboration between the two countries will benefit the world at large with new hardware innovation.” Nasscom official Somdutta Singh told the Indian newspaper. The initiative will “also overcome the cultural challenges in workspaces in both the countries,” He added.
The objective of the last week’s visit was to “collaborate with Israel start-ups on innovation, joint product development and knowledge transfer,” Nasscom’s website stated. The members of the delegation also met with the representatives of Israel Innovation Authority (IIA), the government authority responsible for country’s innovation policy, to seek support for the technology initiatives launched in India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Nasscom, which represents $154 billion in the Indian IT industry, was upbeat about the prospect of bilateral cooperation in the start up ecosystem. A statement on the trade body’s website read:
There exists a unique opportunity for Indian companies to partner with their Israeli counter-parts for mutually beneficial relationship. Israeli technology Industry is a major contributor to National GDP, contributing 26 percent of the GDP, having second largest NASDAQ listed companies after USA. Its major focus is on Innovation and IP creation. This is aided by significant Government spending to encourage innovation and creativeness. The highlight of Israel is innovation and development of cutting edge technology.
When Prime Minister Modi visited the Jewish State in July, Nasscom and Accenture issued a joint study assessing the potential of bilateral cooperation in start up sector. The report claimed that “a cumulative cross-border investment of USD 25 billion into Indian and Israeli start-ups by 2025 can create 25 world-class products across different sectors, unleashing a revenue potential of up to USD 25 billion from these products by 2025.”
During the Indian leader’s visit, both countries signed a series of bilateral agreements aimed at strengthening ties in various technological fields. A joint innovation fund was also set up with the seed money of $40 million, seeking to promote research in the field of technology and industry.
“We are of one view that together our scientists and researchers would develop, build and implement mutually beneficial solutions,” Prime Minister Modi said during his historic visit. India’s IT sector hopes to build on that promise.
Watch: Israel’s envoy to India, Ambassador Daniel Carmon on bilateral technology cooperation:
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