Nokia partners with IISc to set up CoE for robotics research

Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia announced a collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru to establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) to facilitate research in the areas of networked robotics.  

The research lab 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, said a company statement.   

The centre will facilitate engagement and cooperation between academia, start-ups and industry ecosystem partners to research and develop these use cases, it added.   

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.   

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Professor Govindan Rangarajan, Director at IISc, said, “Next generation communication technologies like 5G and 6G will contribute enormously to the growth of India’s economy.” 

He added, “The collaboration 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.”  

In August 2022, the two entities signed an agreement for setting up the CoE in Networked Robotics, and since then a core group has worked tirelessly to set up and equip the centre.  

“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,” said Nishant Batra, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer at Nokia.   

He added that there is “substantial untapped intellectual capability and competence in India”, and the partnership will “enable exciting possibilities for industry and society”.  

Nokia said that it will fund the CoE for three consecutive years in order to sustain the first phase of the partnership between Nokia and IISc.