Nokia, in partnership with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has announced the opening of the Nokia Centre of Excellence (CoE) in networked robotics at the IISc Bengaluru. The CoE will promote inter-disciplinary research involving robotics and advanced communication technologies in 5G and artificial intelligence (AI). The CoE will also develop use cases across industrial automation, agriculture and disaster management. The centre will facilitate engagement and cooperation between academia, start-ups and industry ecosystem partners to research and develop these use cases.
The research projects undertaken by the CoE will include the design of advanced robotics, AI and automation solutions built upon next generation telecom networks and their applications for solving societally relevant problems. The agreement for setting up the CoE in networked robotics was concluded in August 2020, and since then a core group has worked tirelessly to set up and equip the centre. Nokia will fund the CoE for three consecutive years in order to sustain the first phase of the partnership between Nokia and IISc.
Commenting on the launch, Nishant Batra, chief strategy and technology officer, Nokia, said, “We want India to drive global innovation in an era of convergence where a few years from now, extended reality (XR) and digital-physical fusion will allow us to create, collaborate and communicate in unprecedented ways. There is substantial untapped intellectual capability and competence in India, and our collaboration with a prestigious institution like IISc will enable exciting possibilities for industry and society.”
Meanwhile, Professor Govindan Rangarajan, director, IISc, said, “Next generation communication technologies like 5G and 6G will contribute enormously to the growth of India’s economy. Our collaboration with a world-class company like Nokia will enable us to explore new frontiers for advanced technology research to benefit society as well as provide state-of-the-art training to our students to enable them to become technology leaders in the coming decades.”
