Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually delivered the keynote address at the 5th Edition of Viva Technology 2021, which was held from June 16-19, 2021 at Paris, France. He was invited as a Guest of Honour to the event, which is one of the largest digital and startup events in Europe.
- It is jointly organized by Publicis Groupe – a advertising and marketing company & Les Echos, a leading French media group.
- The event brings together stakeholders in technology innovation and the startup ecosystem. It has been held annually since 2016.
- Other prominent speakers in the event were Emmanuel Macron, President of France; Pedro Sanchez, Prime Minister of Spain; Tim Cook, CEO of Apple; Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman & CEO of Facebook and many others.
Key Points from PM’s Address
i.PM Modi highlighted the emerging cooperation between India & France in areas like technology & digital.
- He highlighted the role of Infosys in providing technical support for the 2021 French Open Tennis Tournament.
- India’s biometric digital identity system ‘Aadhaar’ has helped in providing financial support to the poor during pandemic.
- Two Public Digital Education programmes – ‘SWAYAM’ (Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds ) & ‘DIKSHA’ (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing)’ were operationalized to help students.
ii.He Highlighted the role of technology in managing COVID-19 in India such as
- Arogya-Setu, an indigenous IT platform which enabled contact tracking of COVID-19 patients.
- CoWIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Work) platform ensured vaccines to millions in India.
iii.He listed the initiatives taken by India to improve digital reach
- Modern public digital infrastructure, Fibre optic network of length 5,23,000 kms which will link 1,56, 000 village councils, and installation of public wi-fi networks across India.
- In order to develop a culture of innovation, innovation labs have been set up in 7500 schools across India under the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM).
iv.He invited the world to invest in India based on 5 pillars of Talen, Market, Capital, Eco-system and, Culture of openness. India is home to one of the world’s largest start-up ecosystems. India has 775 million internet users, highest and cheapest data consumption in the world, and the highest use of social media.
Recent Related News:
On January 25, 2021, the Government of Netherlands hosted a virtual international Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS Online) 2021. From India, the summit was addressed by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.
About Publicis Groupe
Chairman & CEO – Arthur Sadoun
Headquarters – Paris, France
About Les Echos
Director – Henri Gibier
Headquarters – Paris, France
