The Indo-Italian Joint Committee established under the Scientific and Technological Cooperation Agreement re-launch cooperation in the sectors of science, technology and innovation. The original agreement was signed between Italy and India in 2003.
The Indian delegation led by Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Science and Technology, Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, while the Italian delegation was led by Vincenzo De Luca, Director General for Cultural and Economic Promotion and Innovation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
On 19 October 2016, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome hosted a meeting of the Joint Committee which approved several initiatives in bilateral scientific R&D projects of significance with the aim of facilitating the mobility of researchers who will be jointly selected and co-financed within the framework of the 2017-2019 Indo-Italy Executive Programme of Scientific and Technological Cooperation.
Information and Communication Technology, energy, environment and sustainable agriculture, health care, biotechnology and medicine, nanotechnology and advanced materials, physics and astrophysics and technology applied to the cultural and natural heritage, are the areas agreed upon by the two countries for joint projects.
The Committee expressed appreciation for the launch of the next phase of cooperation established between Italian and Indian researchers in the India-Trento Programme for Advanced Research (ITPAR). Secretary, DST will also inaugurate two Indian experimental beamlines at the Synchrotron facility in Trieste for the ELETTRA ‘XRD2’ and ‘XPRESS’ accelerators which is funded by DST at a cost of 6 million Euros.
The Committee further discussed a new scientific and technological cooperation programme on applied science, aimed at developing technologies and processes to be applied in industry. Joint workshops are to be alternatively held in Italy and India, starting from 2017. An Indo-Italian Innovation Forum will be established to promote and connect the world of research with the world of business and investment.