Indian Professional Forum discusses methods to enhance Technology Entrepreneurship

Tuesday 11th December 2018 14:08 EST
 

Over 50 delegates from academia, industry, finance, media and entrepreneurs including large IT companies like Infosys and TATA Consulting Services gathered at the House of Lords to explore ways to enhance the contribution of Indian ventures and technology entrepreneurs in the UK. The meeting was chaired by Lord Bilimoria and organised by the Indian Professionals Forum (IPF.)

The main objective of the gathering was to address a number of issues to assist in galvanising the entrepreneurial spirit among the UK’s Indian professional community and ultimately implement a framework to direct specific collaboration, investments and community engagement. It included discussions on topics such as, how can we make UK as attractive for Technology entrepreneurs as Silicon Valley whilst rising to the challenges of fast rising technology hubs such as Stockholm and Tel Aviv, how can we evolve an innovative ecosystem to foster the growth of Technology Entrepreneurs in general and Indian entrepreneurs in particular, how do we collaborate with existing support mechanisms like Intra-government support, Bank Financing, Investors, Business Support etc and how can we can we enhance UK India-Technology corridor involving both UK, Indian and global companies?

IPF had also circulated a white paper on Enhancing Technology Entrepreneurship prepared by one of its members Subhash Jogia, an accomplished Technology leader in Investment banking formerly with Morgan Stanley and UK cabinet office. The paper highlights the key aspects essential for an ecosystem to support start-ups and scale ups  to flourish over a long period of time.

The main points of debate included: Technology Revolution, UK ecosystem for influencing change, Basic indicator of the health of the Ecosystem, Issues of capital and UK –India Corridor

Greeting the delegates to the meeting of the Indian Professionals Forum, President Dr Mohan Kaul said that as well as representing the work of the Indian diaspora in the UK, the impending Brexit had strengthened the need for the creation of the IPF.

He said: “Brexit or no Brexit, the UK and India will remain as strong partners, with the UK continuing to be the first choice of location for a lot of Indian business. London will remain a strong financial centre for raising finances for Indian businesses and infrastructure.

“Our focus has been on advanced technology companies and particularly start-ups in the UK and India as we look to strengthen the UK-India technology corridor for UK companies to scale up in India and for Indian companies to innovate in the UK. We are focusing on strengthening the technology parks in the UK to match Silicon Valley in the US. As you are aware, 20% of the technology start-ups in Silicon Valley are by Indian diaspora while the number of such companies in the UK is very small and we are looking at ways to increase this.”


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