Organised by the Karnataka Science and Technology Promotion Society (KSTePS) and the Department of Science and Technology, Government of Karnataka, in collaboration with the IISc Quantum Technology Initiative (IQTI), the inaugural edition of Quantum India Bengaluru (QIB) 2025 concluded on August 1 with resounding success, spotlighting Karnataka’s growing leadership in quantum science and technology.
The media was not allowed to attend sessions on the first day of the two-day event on the theme “Building a Quantum Ecosystem: Qubits to Society.”
After the inaugural sessions wherein the Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah, who has unveiled the Karnataka Quantum Roadmap, ’outlining the State’s strategic vision for quantum leadership, this journalist wished to attend one among many parallel sessions on quantum in healthcare, but a bouncer stopped at Hall 2 for scanning the barcode of the pass given to the media.
After scanning, the message popped up: “Sorry, you are not allowed in this gate.” Hence, the journalist was barred from entering the hall. The journalist tried to enter the other Hall 1; the bouncer at the door got the same message after scanning the media pass.
Since the journalist is representing the media that was the media partner for this event, on request the event curator, MM Activ, provided their batch (entry pass) to attend the session. On the second day of the event, however, this issue was not there; when the journalist showed his pass for scanning while entering the hall, the permission was granted. The question is on whose instruction the media was barred from attending the sessions.
The concerned government officials who always look for better promotion of the government activities and initiatives should ensure that such things don’t get repeated in the future.
Built on five pillars of talent, R&D, infrastructure, industry enablement, and global partnerships, the Karnataka Quantum Roadmap adopts a phased, outcome-driven approach and focuses on aligning academia with industry, scaling indigenous hardware capabilities, and building a robust startup ecosystem.
