Microsoft CEO meets Modi, says India's digital transformation inspiring

Hyderabad: Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and said India's digital transformation is inspiring.

After the meeting, Mr. Nadella tweeted, "It's inspiring to see the government's deep focus on sustainable and inclusive economic growth led by digital transformation and we're looking forward to helping India realize the Digital India vision and be a light for the world."

On Wednesday, the Microsoft CEO met Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union minister for communications and electronics and Information Technology, and discussed cyber security, India Stack, and India's start-up ecosystem. Mr. Nadella also met External Affairs minister S. Jaishankar where they discussed delivery, governance, and security in the digital domain.

Microsoft signs MoU with ISRO

Microsoft is collaborating with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to fuel the growth of space technology start-ups in India. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Thursday and it seeks to empower space tech start-ups across the country with technology tools and platforms, go-to-market support and mentoring to help them scale and become enterprise ready.

The collaboration seeks to strengthen ISRO's vision of harnessing the market potential of the most promising space tech innovators and entrepreneurs in India. Through this tie-up, the space tech start-ups identified by ISRO will be onboarded onto the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub platform that supports start-ups at every stage of their journey.

Through Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, space-tech start-up founders in India will have free access to tech tools and resources they need to build and run their businesses. This includes technical support to build and scale on Azure, best-in-class developer and productivity tools, including GitHub Enterprise, Visual Studio Enterprise and Microsoft 365, and access to smart analytics with Power BI and Dynamics 365.

S. Somanath, ISRO chairman, said this collaboration with Microsoft will greatly benefit space tech start-ups in their analysis and processing of vast amounts of satellite data for various applications, using cutting-edge methods like AI, Machine Learning and Deep Learning.

Anant Maheshwari, the president of Microsoft India, said, "Space tech start-ups in India are playing a significant role in advancing the country's space capabilities with the power of technology. We are pleased to collaborate with ISRO to accelerate this transformation of what's possible in space. Through our technology tools, platforms and mentorship opportunities, we are deeply committed to empowering space tech start-ups in the country to drive cutting edge innovation and accelerate scientific discovery."

Microsoft and ISRO will also jointly organise knowledge-sharing and thought leadership sessions for the start-ups with space industry experts. In addition, the collaboration will support founders with go-to-market strategies, technical support and opportunities to sell their solutions via Microsoft channels and marketplace.