New Delhi: In pursuance of the UK-India Tech Partnership set up two years ago, Britain on Monday announced a three million-pound Innovation Challenge Fund to support scientists in academia and industry taking into account the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and tackle the challenge of climate change.
According to a statement issued by the British High Commission here, the Fund invites tech innovators with connections to the Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Data cluster in Karnataka and the Future Mobility cluster in Maharashtra to submit research and development proposals for tackling Covid-19 or which promote a greener planet.
"At least 12 grants up to 250,000 pounds are expected to be awarded," the High Commission statement said.
"Applicants are required to submit bids as an academia-industry consortium, ideally with an international member," it added.
The deadline for submitting two-page concept notes is August 31.
"The UK and India have a strong history of research and innovation," British High Commissioner to India Philip Barton said in the statement.
"Both Covid-19 and climate change demonstrate that the most urgent challenges are global. Never has there been a greater need for academia, business and government to accelerate innovation, and for nations to collaborate to save lives and build a better future."
Karen McLuskie, Head of UK-India Tech Partnership in the British High Commission, said that the Fund is aimed at getting "behind the innovation heroes, whether they are working to battle the virus or the even greater looming global threat: climate change."
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"We are proud to work with India, as twin world leaders in the development and adoption of emerging tech for the benefit of all," she said.
Britain and India announced the setting up of the UK-India Tech Partnership following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his then British counterpart Theresa May during the former's visit to London in April 2018.
The focus of Modi's visit was on technology and to increase cooperation in trade, investment and finance. It was decided to launch the UK-India tech alliance between NASSCOM, the trade association of India's IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) industries, and Tech UK, establish a UK-India Tech hub, develop UK-India tech cluster partnerships, an advanced manufacturing centre in India and collaborate in AI and digital healthcare in India's Aspirational Health Districts Programme.
The idea behind the UK-India Tech Partnership is to identify and pair businesses, venture capital, universities and others to provide access routes to markets for British and Indian entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises.
Britain will potentially invest up to 14 million pounds by 2022.
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Initially, the pilot will connect Britain with Pune in Maharashtra, focussing on the Future of Mobility, including low emission and autonomous vehicles, battery storage and vehicle light-weighting. Additional connections will be linked to Bengaluru with a focus on augmented and virtual reality, advanced materials and AI.
According to a concept note issued by Britain's Department for International Trade regarding the new Innovation Challenge Fund, proposals are being sought to meet the primary criteria of addressing the Covid-19 19 response and recovery and climate change or environmental protection and meet the following challenge areas: safety and convenience (such as hygiene/sanitization/social distancing in shared and public transport, contactless deliveries); technology leap (such as new energies, temperature controlled transport for essential/medical supplies, drone mobility); connectivity (such as first-mile/last-mile healthcare delivery services, micro mobility for logistics and services delivery, rural mobility); energy transition (such as internal combustion engine or ICE electrification, hydrogen fuel cell, energy efficiency); and smart mobility (such as intelligent transport systems, trip repurposing tech, demand-supply matching).
The concept note added that the Department for International Trade will also consider proposals which do not fit into the above categories provided the focus is on Future Mobility and there is a strong connection to the climate change and environmental agenda or Covid-19 containment.
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