Bengaluru, Sep 7 (PTI) The Karnataka government on Monday discussed with Italian Ambassador Antonio Bartoli ways to strengthen cooperation in startups, innovation, research, space, AI and emerging technologies, officials said.
Both sides emphasised the need to move from broad discussions to focused and practical initiatives, beginning with a limited number of startups, institutions and sectors and scaling them up based on outcomes, they said.
N Manjula, Secretary, Department of Electronics, IT, Biotechnology and Science and Technology, Karnataka government, said the state has a strong innovation ecosystem comprising startups, industry, academic institutions and research centres working across emerging technologies.
“We welcome opportunities to
build stronger connections with Italy and create practical pathways for startups, researchers and institutions to collaborate,” she said.
According to a statement, the meeting explored three to four sector-specific acceleration programmes to connect startups from Italy and Karnataka with technical experts, investors, corporates and potential partners, with the possibility of expanding them based on outcomes.
The two sides also discussed “soft-landing” opportunities to help startups from the two regions access each other’s markets, physical spaces, ecosystem networks, industry partners and research institutions.
They explored stronger sectoral linkages between key innovation hubs, including Mangaluru, to facilitate engagement between the Italian and Indian innovation ecosystems, officials said.
On space and deeptech, the meeting discussed opportunities to connect companies, incubators and research institutions in Italy and Karnataka for potential collaboration in space technology, Earth observation, disaster management and environmental monitoring.
Opportunities in artificial intelligence were discussed, with linkages proposed around Karnataka’s AI university, which is being developed as a public-private initiative focusing on advanced and frontier research, postgraduate and postdoctoral programmes, industry participation and R&D.
The meeting focused on industry-academia and research partnerships through joint programmes, knowledge exchange and greater interaction among students, researchers, entrepreneurs and technology professionals.
Institutional collaboration in science and technology, energy, urban technology and design was explored, as well.
On urban mobility, the discussions covered technology-led solutions for integrated public transport, intermodal connectivity, AI-based passenger information systems and predictive maintenance.
Karnataka outlined its ongoing efforts to integrate different modes of public transport in Bengaluru, the statement said.
The department highlighted the Global Innovation Growth Alliance, a soft-landing platform being developed to help international startups enter India by providing access to physical space, ecosystem networks, industry partners and research institutions.
The Italian side said a delegation of companies and institutions would participate in the upcoming Bengaluru Tech Summit 2026, offering an opportunity to advance partnerships in startups, research, technology and industry, the statement said. PTI AMP SSK
/images/ppid_59c68470-image-178877256413242742.webp)
