Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address at the 5th edition of VivaTech on Wednesday via video conference where he stressed on the need for 'insulating' the planet against the next pandemic. VivaTech 2021 is one of the largest digital and startup events in Europe, held in Paris every year since 2016.

Modi said that India and France have been working closely on a wide range of subjects. Among these, technology and digital are emerging areas of cooperation. It is the need of the hour that such cooperation continues to grow further, Modi said.

Modi mentioned India's Infosys providing tech support for the French Open tournament and collaboration involving French companies like Atos, Capgemini and India’s TCS and Wipro as examples of IT talent of the two countries serving companies and citizens all over the world, according to IBNS.

Modi pointed out that where convention fails, innovation helps. During the pandemic, digital technology helped us cope, connect, comfort and console. India's universal and unique biometric digital identity system - Aadhar - helped to provide timely financial support to the poor, he stated. 

“We could supply free food to 800 million people, and deliver cooking-fuel subsidies to many households. We in India were able to operationalise two public digital education programes- Swayam and Diksha - in quick time to help students,” Modi informed.

Modi praised the role of the start-up sector in meeting the challenge of the pandemic.

The private sector played a key role in addressing the shortage of PPE kits, masks, testing kits etc. Doctors adopted tele-medicine in a big way so that some COVID and other non-COVID issues could be addressed virtually.

Two vaccines are being made in India and more are in the development or trial stage. Modi indicated that indigenous IT platform, Arogya-Setu enabled effective contact tracing. The COWIN digital platform has already helped ensure vaccines to millions.

He said that India is home to one of the world's largest start-up ecosystems. Several unicorns have come up in recent years. India offers what innovators and investors need.

He invited the world to invest in India based on the five pillars of: Talent, Market, Capital, Eco-system and, Culture of openness.

Modi also stressed the strengths like Indian talent pool, mobile phone penetration and 775 million internet users, highest and cheap data consumption in the world and the highest use of social media to invite investors to India.

He also enumerated initiatives like state-of-the-art public digital infrastructure, 523,000 km of fibre optic network linking one hundred and 56,000village councils, public wi-fi networks across the country. He also elaborated on efforts to nurture a culture of innovation.

"There are state-of-the-art innovation labs in 7500 schools under the Atal Innovation Mission," the prime minister informed.

Talking about the disruption in different sector over the past year, Modi insisted that disruption does not have to mean despair. Instead, the focus should be kept on the twin foundations of repair and prepare.

“This time last year, the world was still seeking a vaccine. Today, we have quite a few. Similarly, we have to continue repairing health infrastructure and our economies. We in India implemented huge reforms across sectors, be it mining, space, banking, atomic energy and more. This goes on to show that India as a nation is adaptable and agile, even in the middle of the pandemic,” Modi said.

Modi stressed the need for insulating our planet against the next pandemic, ensuring we focus on sustainable lifestyles that stop ecological degradation; strengthening cooperation in furthering research as well as innovation.  He called upon the start-up community to take the lead in working with collective spirit and a human-centric approach to overcome this challenge.

 (SAM)