The FutureTech Festival is a thought-leadership summit taking place in Delhi and across India in December 2018, bringing together business, policy makers, venture capital, scientists and entrepreneurs.Announced by Prime Ministers Modi and May in April 2018 as a key deliverable in the ambitious India-UK Tech Partnership, it will focus on:

• AI/data
• future healthcare
• future mobility
• Fintech
• cyber security
• ease of doing business
• regional clusters

Both the UK and Indian governments hope the event will drive trade, investment and partnerships across key sectors, and promote and celebrate the UK and India as major technology innovators and trading partners.

Reciprocal relationships

Prime Ministers Modi and May announced the formal creation of the India-UK Tech Partnership in In April 2018. The FutureTech Festival will take place two years after the leaders inaugurated the 2016 India-UK Tech Summit in Delhi and the latest in a series of events bringing together businesses and expertise across borders.Last November, with the support of the Indian High Commission and UKIBC, the DIT ran the India-UK Future Tech Month. Over 60 of India’s most innovative tech companies and buyers criss-crossed the UK’s regional tech and manufacturing centres of excellence set out in the Industrial Strategy.This was followed in February by the UK-India Createch Summit in Mumbai, an event the DIT reports produced £58 million worth of new commercial deals.

India and UK in partnership 

Both the UK and Indian governments are committed to increasing partnerships in technology through industry, government, science and research, and by fostering trade and investment opportunities in both directions.Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox spoke of the strength of the relationship between the UK and the world’s sixth largest economy in his address to 150 business people at the Taj Hotel in London to mark the start of UK-India Week 2018.Highlighting that in 2016 approximately 800 Indian companies were operating in the UK, accounting for around 110,000 jobs and recording combined revenues of £47.5 billion, Mr Fox further acknowledged India also established 127 new investment projects in the UK, bringing 4,000 new jobs and safeguarding more jobs than any other country.

Boosting trading relationships

An example of the trading partnerships developing further between India and the UK is the launch this weekend from India of Guildford-based Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd’s (SSTL) British-built radar satellite. Operating since 1981, SSTL already has 40% of the world’s small satellite export market.NovaSAR-1, the new satellite from SSTL, will offer low-cost remote imaging to global customers including the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia, and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Expanding the reach of UK expertise

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox recently launched the Department for International Trade’s (DIT) first space exports campaign to target opportunities initially in the US and India.In India, the Department for International Trade (DIT) said it will increase its operations by recruiting British space sector experts to work in market.Speaking to mark the launch of NovaSAR-1, Sam Gyimah, a joint Minister for Higher Education at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said: “The data from this satellite, backed by a £21 million investment from the government, will help innovative start-ups develop new apps that could revolutionise the way we live.“It’s a great example of how we are working with the space sector through our modern Industrial Strategy, ensuring we remain at the forefront of pioneering science and exploration.”For related news and features, visit our India pages. 

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