Excited to create partnerships with firms in San Francisco to help improve cyber security for Indian govt: Piyush Goyal

By Reena Bhardwaj
San Francisco [US], September 7 : Union Minister for Commerce Piyush Goyal said that creating partnerships with companies in the San Francisco bay area will help India achieve cyber security goals faster and added that he is excited about some of the offers that he received from the entrepreneurs and tech companies there.
"Creating partnerships with companies in the bay area will help us get there faster. Excited about some of the offers that we have received from the bay area entrepreneurs and tech companies which will help us back home in India," Piyush Goyal told ANI after holding meetings with different leaders from IT security companies in San Francisco.
"Each of the meetings here has been amazing in terms of the depth and breadth of the work that our Indian Entrepreneurs are doing and Chaudry's company Zscaler has done some commendable work on Cyber security." Zscaler is an IT security company headquartered in San Jose, California.
This comes as the Indian-American billionaire and the CEO of US-based company Zscaler, Jay Chaudhry on Wednesday said that they have come up with some initiatives where the company can help improve cyber security for the Indian government.
"Clearly the world is grappling with serious concerns around cyber security. During the course of the visit, I met atleast three very enterprising companies that are providing solutions to cyber security. Jay has also offered to support any efforts that we may want to do in India to have a greater understanding of the threats that cyber crimes and cyber attacks can potentially have on govt and govt systems," Goyal added.
Speaking upon the importance of Cyber security as a major factor in improving National defence, the Zscaler CEO said that they have come up with some initiatives where they can help improve cyber security for the Indian government. Jay Chaudhry said that the goal was to explore what more we Indians who successfully run US businesses can do for India.
He commended Indian leaders like Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union minister for information and technology and Union Minister for Commerce and Piyush Goyal for their progressive and new ideas.
"We have made significant investments in India. We opened the Zscaler office first in Banglore before opening it in the US 40 per cent of our employees are in India, probably the highest by any US-based company. We are hiring aggressively and looking at what more and more can be done in India," he added.
The India-US start-up SETU, which stands for Supporting Entrepreneurs for Transformation and Upskilling, will act as a bridge between American and Indian companies, Union Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal said.
"One of the key takeaways is that the Bay Area is very bullish on India, very excited about the potential that India, Indians and Indian startups and Indian businesses have to offer. Very excited about the talent available in India. They see huge potential in the large market that India is, 1.3 billion aspirational Indians," Goyal said after the meetings.
"There were suggestions about mentorship. We've launched the SETU programme where we are looking at supporting entrepreneurs through transformation and upskilling initiatives. We're also looking at a programme that the startup advisory council had initiated in India in which mentorship is being initiated particularly in tier-2, tier-3 and tier-4 towns and remoter areas. A lot of good suggestions have been brought to the table," he said.
The start-up will help entrepreneurs in upskilling, transforming and leveraging the success stories of the Indian diaspora in the US, Goyal said after launching the start-up in San Francisco.
He said one of the main reasons some good start-ups failed to take off was the lack of mentorship. Urging entrepreneurs in the US to participate in the initiative, the minister said it would serve as an opportunity for them to give back to the country by supporting bright minds in India.
Encouraging investments in India, the minister said that apart from getting a competitive place to do business, companies also get a large billion-plus market of 'aspirational Indians'. Highlighting the huge market potential of the country, Goyal said there are benefits of economies of scale and the availability of a large talent pool.
Talking about the initiatives taken by the government to encourage investment in India, Goyal said the government would launch 5G services in October and gradually roll it out across the country. He said, at present, about 20,000 villages in remote areas of India have weak 4G connectivity. However, the government has sanctioned USD 2.5 billion to install 4G towers and systems in these areas. Simultaneously, the government was laying down fibre optics for broadband connectivity.
These initiatives by the government would open up more opportunities for investors from the US and the Bay Area in remoter parts of the country, Goyal said. Goyal is on a six-day tour to the US for various programmes, which include the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) ministerial meeting in Los Angeles.