India and Canada have launched ten joint initiatives worth USD 17 million in the Science and Technology sector as part of an agreement signed between them in 2005.

Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal and Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade David Emerson made a joint statement in Toronto on 15th June 2008. "Our governments understand the need for establishing international research partners and the critical role played by Science and Technology in the new economy. These joint projects will enhance the collaboration between our scientists and commercialize their discoveries," the statement said.

Eight of the joint initiatives are in the field of Agriculture, Environment, Food Processing, Health IT, energy, aeronautics and watershed management, and two are related to partnership-development activities, Sibal said. Under the latter, the University of Toronto in collaboration with Tata Institute of Fundamental Research will undertake projects of mutual benefits.

Projects:

1. An Intelligent System for Aboveground Storage Tank Bottom Assessment
2. In Situ Repair of Ocular Tissues to Restore or Improve Sight
3. Mobile Asset Application to achieve Pollution Control
4. Design and Development of an Aircraft Integrated Development Environment Tool for a New Generation Regional Transport Aircraft
5. Next Generation of Interoperable GeoPortal (iGP) Solution for the emerging Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) market
6. Rapid Diagnostics to improve Animal Health
7. Livestock & Canine Business, RFCL Ltd., New Delhi, IndiaApplication of Biofuels for Aviation
8. Indigenization of Broadband over Power Line Technology to Connect Adjoining Villages in India using Existing Power Lines

Canada India Foundation (CIF) will actively involve in the partnership-development activities. The focus will be to develop low cost and affordable technology that benefits rural masses, Sibal said. India will be benefited by Canada's excellence in the field of infrastructure, IT, Agriculture, Biotechnology and special technology in gaming activities, he said.

The minister met Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade; key leaders of Indo-Canadian business and cultural Organisations. "The Canadian portion of both projects and partnerships is funded through the International Science and Technology Partnerships Programme and is delivered by International Science and Technology Partnerships Canada (ISTPCanada) - an arm's-length organisation," Minister David Emerson said.

International Science and Technology Partnerships Canada Inc. (ISTPCanada) was incorporated with the primary objective of strengthening Canada's science and technology(S&T), business to business relations and ultimately overall economic, trade and political relations.

The joint activities will lead to an increase of commercially viable research and development initiatives, and assist in the Organisation of scientific seminars, conferences and workshops, Sibal said. Co-operation between the countries in the sector has made substantial progress since the signing of an overarching agreement in November 2005.

Areas of co-operation included biotechnology, health research, medical devices, nanoscience and nanomedicine, sustainable and alternate energy and environment technologies, information and communications technology, and earth sciences and disaster management. In March 2008, aerospace, bio-pharmaceuticals, photonics and synchrotron science were added to the list, Sibal said, adding that efforts are being made to enhance the current trade of USD 3.7 billion by five times in the next five years. Canada, in addition to India, has Science and Technology agreements with five other countries and the European Union.

Global Innovation & Technology Alliance (GITA) is a unique public-private-partnership model of executing Government programmes of bilateral R&D involving industry. GITA is established as a not-for-profit society promoted jointly by the Department of Science & Technology and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to manage India's Bilateral R&D programmes; Supporting Commercialisation of bilateral R&D projects; Facilitating Technology Transfers/ Joint Ventures. Currently GITA is managing India's S&T cooperation programmes with Canada, Israel, ASEAN countries and Taiwan.