Bengaluru: The government on Monday announced that Bengaluru ITE.Biz and Bengaluru India Bio, Karnataka’s flagship events, would be held at the same venue from November 16 to 18. The logo for the joint event was unveiled on Monday.

Minister for IT and Biotechnology Priyank Kharge said the time had come for the State to come out of the shell of ‘IT services’ and focus on R&D and startup technologies. “India has been riding the information super highway for two decades, with Bengaluru leading the way,” he said.

The minister spoke about how the startup cell had given space for startups to seek guidance and financial aid. “Before the startup cell, 27 startups were registered with the government. This number of startups has now gone up to 3,500,” he said. The department also plans to start centres of excellence in Internet of Things and artificial intelligence in the coming days.

Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said that with both events going to be held together, the government can focus its energy on one event instead of two.

Krishnakumar Natarajan, chairman of MindTree, said the event would make Karnataka the leader in the convergence space of IT and biotechnology.