Karnataka govt enters into MoU with New Jersey to strengthen cooperation in tech, innovation

Bengaluru, Sep 22 (PTI) The Karnataka government on Monday announced that it has entered into a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with New Jersey to strengthen cooperation in technology, innovation, and economic development.

According to an official statement, the agreement covers multiple areas of collaboration, including soft landing and startup support. Startups from Karnataka seeking opportunities in New Jersey, and New Jersey startups exploring Karnataka will be supported with market access, mentoring, and ecosystem connections.

It will also ensure joint initiatives in Lifesciences (Allied Health Sciences), Deep Technology (Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence), and Electronics & Semiconductors, twin city collaboration with promotion of innovation and research linkages between New Brunswick, New Jersey and Bengaluru.

The MoU will help in building strong bridges between industry, academia, and government, including exchange of students, researchers, and industry professionals, joint skill development programmes with universities in both states, it stated.

Speaking to reporters here, IT Minister Priyank Kharge said, "We have signed a memorandum of understanding for innovation, incubation, accelerator, exchange, and also trade with the state of New Jersey. This has been in the works since last December. This will help the two innovation ecosystems to come out with global solutions with respect to AI, cyber security and sustainability." In addition to the government-to-government MoU, several academic and institutional partnerships will be formalised, officials said.

The New Jersey delegation led by Governor Phil Murphy will also engage with leading industry associations, centers of excellence, and companies in Bengaluru, exploring deeper avenues of collaboration across emerging sectors, the statement added. PTI AMP KH