New Delhi: At the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2022, the Bengaluru Science and Technology (BeST) cluster was officially launched as a collaborative effort of more than 50+ organisations, including major academic institutions such as the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

As per the officials, the Bengaluru Science and Technology (BeST) cluster initiative is a result of the collaboration of over 50 organisations including business partners, start-ups, civil society organisations, government agencies and major academic institutions such as IISc Bengaluru.

Earlier, the proposal for funding this initiative was taken by the PI Prof. Govindan Rangarajan (Director, IISc), co-PIs Prof. Ambarish Ghosh (Professor, IISc), and Dr Taslimarif Saiyed. The request was approved by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India soon after.

On November 16, 2022, the BeST cluster was formally introduced by the Honorable PSA, Prof Ajay Sood, at the plenary session of the Bengaluru Tech Summit 2022. The announcement was made in the presence of Prof G Padmanaban, former Director of IISc, and Shri S Gopalakrishnan (Kris), Co-Founder, Infosys.

Prof. Sood emphasised Bengaluru's immense technological potential and the state of Karnataka's leadership in scientific and technological breakthroughs during the event. He believes that the BeST cluster will clear the way for such efforts to succeed in the future.

Referring to the initiative, he stated that the science and technology cluster is an ecosystem where scientists, engineers, social scientists, and entrepreneurs from academia, government labs, and industry come together to discover and work on problems that are significant to society.

Science and technology (S&T) clusters are being created as official umbrella organisations allowing S&T organisations in various locations to collaborate more successfully while maintaining their autonomy. The Office of the PSA supports these initiatives to create an Atmanirbhar Bharat through S&T.

At the launch, Co-Lead Dr Taslimarif Saiyed stated that Bangalore is a city of opportunity, innovation, and science. The BeST Cluster launch may signify a turning point for Indian science and technology, and perhaps for the entire world.

In order to identify and address issues with solutions that are first locally relevant and then scale up nationally and internationally by fostering global competitiveness, we aim to bring stakeholders with shared ecosystems together. This bottom-up pyramid concept will serve as the foundation for "BeST" activities.

Bangalore Tech Summit 2022 provides the right environment for the BeST Cluster, according to Co-Lead Prof. Ambarish Ghosh. He added that we need to take into account the impact on sustainability and being globally competitive in addition to the immediate social and economic impact at a city scale.

The Bengaluru Science and Technology (BeST) Cluster has established teams to work in the areas of OneHealth, Digital Health, Precision Agriculture, Urban Transportation, Monsoon & Climate Change, Quantum Technologies, Active Matter & Robotics, and Jet Engine. 

Additionally, it has identified Health & Wellness, Urban Life, and Futuristic Technologies as the sectors for work. A Section 8 corporation is being established to serve as an independent catalyst for this collaboration, offer administrative support, and raise and manage finances.

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