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WAVES Summit 2025: Paving Way for Tech Pluralism
At the World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting announced the opening of the Indian Institute of Creative Technology (IICT). The globalization of media, the relationship between creativity and technology, and upcoming developments influencing entertainment all came together at the WAVES Summit this year.
Industry experts, veterans from every sector of the industry, including well-known artists, prominent content producers, tech innovators, and business executives, transformed the event into a major hub for the media and entertainment ecosystem. The event saw an impressive turnout and underlined India's status as a growing global media and entertainment powerhouse with a lively mix of exhibitions, panel talks, and business-to-business partnerships.
In a star-studded event held at the Jio World Convention Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially snipped the ribbons commencing a festival of creativity, technology, and storytelling. He stated in his inaugural speech that WAVES is a wave of creativity, culture, and global connectivity rather than merely an acronym. With that said, here are some of the major technology related shows that ensued during the summit.
Creative Technology Launched as a National Center of Excellence
In a strategic partnership with FICCI and CII, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is establishing the IICT as a National Center of Excellence, similar to IIT and IIM. Through fostering talent, driving innovation, and advancing global standards in the AVGC-XR domain, the institution seeks to revolutionize the creative economy.
With plans to become a national center for the animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, and extended reality (AVGC-XR) industry, the institute has already began to build and partner with a few major tech and media companies to work together on IICT. NVIDIA, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Star India, and Adobe are some of the big names on the list for this initiative.
With an emphasis on innovation, R&D, policy development, training, and incubation, IICT is well-positioned to generate countless opportunities for young Indian technologists, entrepreneurs, and innovators. According to reports, "this historic initiative signals the government's firm commitment to scaling India's soft power and creative economy on the global stage."
According to reports, "this historic initiative signals the government's firm commitment to scaling India's soft power and creative economy on the global stage."
“India is not just a nation—it is a civilization of stories, where story-telling is a way of life”, said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, as he delivered the keynote address at WAVES 2025, the pioneering global media and entertainment summit.
Quoting the celebrated American writer, Mark Twain, Shri Ambani referred to India as “the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of traditions.”
Emphasizing that storytelling is deeply woven into the fabric of Indian life, he stated, “From our timeless epics to mythological tales, storytelling is our heritage. Content is king—and good stories always sell. This timeless principle is the foundation of global entertainment.”
In a stirring and visionary speech titled "Building the Next Global Entertainment Revolution from India," Ambani envisioned a time when India will emerge as the global hub for the entertainment sector. He celebrated the WAVE Summit as a historic stride in that direction and attributed this development to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's audacious vision.
“People say Media & Entertainment is India’s soft power—I call it India’s real power,” said Ambani, affirming the country’s rising influence in global culture and creativity.
He recognized that technology and geoeconomics were two tectonic movements that were changing the creative scene. With 85 percent of the world's population living in the Global South, its economic power is growing along with its influence in content production and consumption. Simultaneously, advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence are transforming the entire entertainment value chain, from the production of content to its dissemination.
Highlighting India’s unique strengths, Ambani said that the country is poised to lead the entertainment revolution, powered by three pillars; Compelling Content, Dynamic Demography and Technological Leadership. “India’s digital revolution is not just a story of scale—it is a story of aspiration, ambition, and transformation,” he declared.
Roundtable on Technology’s Role in OTT and Content Creation
The event included a high-level roundtable on "OTT & Digital-Driven Democratization of Content Creation and Consumption." The Roundtable, which was organized by Primus Partners, AWS, and Rolling Stone India, brought together more than 100 prominent figures from the fields of technology, policy, film, and venture capital. It represented a singular fusion of innovation, creativity, and business with the goal of influencing the next stage of India's digital entertainment sector.
The Hon'ble Minister of Culture, Heritage & IT, Government of Maharashtra, Shri Ashish Shelar, released the report "Press Play – India's OTT Story Goes Global" to kick off the Roundtable.
Rolling Stone India, Primus Partners, and AWS collaborated to write the report. Along with reaffirming the state's commitment to fostering digital innovation and creative business, the Minister also stated that the government would launch a Marathi OTT. The discussion focused on the changing role of public-sector broadcasters in building ecosystem partnerships for equitable digital growth and increasing the footprint of multilingual programming in India. Particularly in India's AVGC industry, the presenters focused on how AI, AR/VR, cloud, gaming, and immersive media are transforming content creation, delivery, and monetization. Future-ready infrastructure development, youth skill development, and job creation were prioritized.
Netflix Brings Immersive Experience to the Show
OTT service Netflix displayed a massive With areas devoted to programs like Squid Game, Heeramandi, and others, the enormous immersive pavilion combines technology, storytelling, and pop culture.
the Netflix pavilion to delve deeply into their preferred television series and films. Fans who enjoy an immersive experience at the WAVES Summit Netflix Pavilion are seen wearing VR sets in images posted by the firm on their Instagram stories. Fans of Squid Game who attend the summit will have an amazing time because Netflix is now enabling them to see the show in real time using their virtual reality equipment. If virtual reality wasn't enough, Netflix also allowed viewers to voice-over their favorite scenes from the series.
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The WAVES Summit 2025 is a vision for the future of entertainment in India, not merely an event. This summit is expected to revolutionize the media, film, and technology industries with its impressive lineup of speakers and captivating schedule. The WAVES Summit 2025 provides a platform unlike any other, regardless of your background—whether you're an established name in the entertainment industry, an aspiring creative professional, or someone who is enthusiastic about India's expanding influence in international media.
