Finnish telecommunications equipment manufacturer Nokia has announced a partnership with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru to establish a Center of Excellence (CoE) to facilitate research in the fields of networked robot.
“The lab will promote interdisciplinary research related to robotics and advanced communication technologies in 5G and Artificial Intelligence (AI). CoE will also develop use cases in industrial automation, agriculture and disaster management,” Nokia said in a statement.
The center will facilitate engagement and collaboration between academia, startups and industry ecosystem partners to research and develop these use cases, it added. .
Research projects undertaken by the CoE will include the design of advanced robotics, AI and automation solutions built on top of next-generation telecommunications networks and their applications to solve problems social related topics.
Professor Govindan Rangarajan, Director of IISc, said, “Next generation communication technologies like 5G and 6G will make a huge contribution to the growth of the Indian economy.”
He added, “The partnership will allow us to explore new frontiers for cutting-edge technological research to benefit society as well as provide state-of-the-art training for our students. to help them become technology leaders for decades to come.”
In August 2020, the two units signed an agreement to establish a CoE in Networked Robotics, and since then, a core team has worked tirelessly to set up and equip the hub.
“We want India to drive global innovation in an era of convergence, where a few years from now, augmented reality (XR) and physical-digital fusion will allow us to create create, collaborate and communicate in ways like never before,” said Nishant Batra, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Technology Officer at Nokia.
He added that there is “significant untapped intellectual capacity and capacity in India”, and the partnership will “create exciting possibilities for industry and society”.
Nokia said it will fund CoE for three consecutive years to maintain the early stage of the partnership between Nokia and IISc.
