Bangalore, the next Silicon Valley? Now, the community has always been divided on this one. With its early mover advantage and it being home to probably the highest technology companies in India , some say Bangalore is ‘the’ contender to become the next Silicon Valley. A certain section of the community is very clear that Bangalore does not have what it takes to become the Silicon Valley of India.
As was pointed out in this post on The Next Silicon Valley – Pune or Chennai or ? , Bangalore has become the hub for IT service companies and it is too late for the city to change to a creator of new products. The reason is well founded to a certain extent and there are probably many more reasons to ponder if Bangalore really has the where wit-halls to take on the Silicon Valley.
One crucial factor where Bangalore (which is true for all other cities as well) seems to losing the battle is Infrastructure. The city has been expanding at a break neck speed with IT companies, hotels, shopping malls etc without paying heed to proper planning. The traffic management has deteriorated, public transport has not scaled up accordingly and as some say, the city is nearing saturation.
Things might change for good soon though for Bangalore. The true Silicon Valley has lent a helping hand to Bangalore city which could change the fortunes of Nemma Bengaluroo. San Francisco has chosen Bangalore to its be its Sister City in a bid to promote co-operation and understanding between the two cities.
San Francisco has singed 7 MOUs in areas of health care, water and sanitation, education and research, art, museum and culture, trade and commerce and fashion.
The Sister City arrangement is seen as a symbiotic relationship wherein,
Bangalore will benefit from San Francisco on solid waste and traffic management, while the former will pitch in to help the latter bring down its high cost of public healthcare.
San Francisco has a mandatory goal of 75% recycling of waste and Bangalore could definitely use their expertise in improving its waste management system. Another area that Bangalore could really benefit is the kind of entrepreneurship mind set that San Francisco could bring in it via cultural and education exchanges.
Bangalore needs to break out of the IT Services stigma and make giant steps in becoming an R&D and a technology hub. San Francisco is looking to reduce it exceptionally high health care costs by possibly patterning with the Biocon.
The alliance could very well be the breakthrough that Bangalore needs to become the next Silicon Valley.
What are your thoughts on this alliance? Would this Sister city arrangement with the real Silicon Valley prove to be the stepping stone or Bangalore has gone too far to accommodate entrepreneur minds?
[…] We could do with a better and robust enforcement system in place, and it is only apt that the IT Hub of India has taken the […]
[…] its helping hand to India in small but subtle ways.Recently, San Francisco choose Bangalore as its Sister city to help the city with waste and traffic management.India could definitely use an extra […]
There is more to a city being next Silicon Valley than San Francisco City govt signing up MOUs as part of sister city programs. Sister city programs are a joke that hardly changes basic fabric of a city. It is usually and excuse for staffers to travel and trade jokes and good food. Bangalore is should be proud to be Bangalore instead of trying to be like Silicon Valley. We just need to do obvious things like fix infrastructure, improve safety and security, make it livable for ALL its people, encourage entrepreneurial activities, and job opportunities. Trust me last thing you want is to be like Silicon Valley where things are incredibly expensive, schools/classes are being cut, jobs are being lost, you need two incomes to survive. Hey, but the weather is great and possibly the only commonality between the two.
What the city and the state need to do is elect able CM’s. When S.M.Krishna did loads of good work, to my sheer disgust, he was voted out in the next elections. Though I hail from a pro-BJP family, Krishna’s work spoke for itself. So, what we basically need to do is recognize and reward good work and elect them back to power.
We probably don’t need to go look at San Francisco (though we could), just looking and learning from our neighbouring states will be of immense benefit. Gujarat (infrastructure), TN (infrastructure), Maharastra (in particular Mumbai, Power) etc.,. What would be great is if the politicians move their (you know what) and get the work done rather than squabble over what returns they get.
similar thoughts here:-) But frankly, expecting govt to wake up and realize the potential of bangalore city is a lil too much.
So, we sure can use SFO to atleast help the ministers realize the importance and lend a helping hand to foster growth
Maximum turbulence comes from Right wingers and right wing supporters ! Get real. Cities grow because of entrepreneurship and inspite of politicians and gods.
I’m sure Bangalore is gonna be the next silicon valley. Only thing thats taking it back is it unstable government, we have had 15 chief ministers in the past 30 years. I’m gonna do everything possible to help my home city.
Thats an interesting angle Vishal!!! Yes, a stable government is a must for any sustanaible growth to happen.But then, lets just say that asking something from the govt is asking too much. SFO recognizing bangalore as a sister city should act as an eye opener.
Glad to see ur enthusiasm for the city