Search giant Google and software maker Microsoft were among some of the largest technology giants that pledged their support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India initiative, announcing plans to improve internet penetration and entrepreneurship in the country .
“We are working on many connectivity projects, including bringing connectivity to railway stations in India,“ said Google CEO Sundar Pichai. The company plans to launch WiFi hot spots at 500 Indian railway stations.
Google will also make it possible for people to type in more than 10 Indic languages on the Android operating system, “including the Prime Minister's mother tongue Gujarati,“ Pichai said at the event attended by tech industry royalty.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that the company plans to join others to enable broadband internet using television white-space technology . “We have plans to partner with the government of India, state governments, telecommunications companies and local ISPs (internet service providers) to take this technology to 500,000 villages in India,“ said Nadella. Networking major Cisco's executive chairman John Chambers pledged support on behalf of the industry.
“The USIBC (US-India Business Council) and Silicon Valley will be there for you,“ he said. “I think the US and India will be very strong together.“ Chambers has just been elected USIBC chairman.
Chip maker Qualcomm announced a $150 million fund to invest in Indian startups.
The company , which has been funding startups in the country since 2007, will encourage product design from India, said executive chairman Paul E Jacobs. “We really want to see a local ecosystem for product design,“ he said.
Modi also met Apple chief executive Tim Cook to discuss the Make in India initiative, apart from Tesla's Elon Musk.
The Silicon Valley visit comes at a time when Modi's advent as prime minister has served to boost investor confidence.
No comments:
Post a Comment