TCS partners with IIT Kharagpur to launch advanced research centre

India’s largest IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur) on Thursday partnered to set up an advanced research center focused on digital health, robotics, and intelligent systems.

The centre is located in the IIT Kharagpur Research Park in New Town, Kolkata and will house three labs specialising in Sensing and Communications, Edge Computing and Analytics, and Robotics and Visual Computing. Over 150 TCS scientists will work on cutting-edge projects, leveraging edge computing, embedded systems, and Al, the company said in a statement.

The centre will also feature a customer experience centre where TCS clients from various industries can gain insights into original research concepts. Additionally, workshops will be held to foster collaboration between TCS scientists, industry experts, and IIT Kharagpur faculty to solve industry problems.

This partnership aims to drive innovation and address some of the most pressing challenges in healthcare and automation, the statement said.
Dr Harrick Vin, Chief Technology Officer, TCS, said that one of its focus areas is to co-locate the company’s research and innovation labs in academic institutions to enable a more efficient exchange of knowledge and talent. 

“At IIT KGP, we are funding several research programs; co-innovating with them will lead to vastly improved outcomes for both parties,” he said.

Professor Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director, of IIT Kharagpur, said: “The Advanced Research Center will strengthen our strategic collaboration with TCS, underscored by their presence in the newly established IIT KGP Research Park, Kolkata."
The centre will create opportunities for research interdisciplinary collaborations, empowering the next generation of technologists and researchers to shape the future, he added.

Besides this research centre, TCS has also set up a research and innovation lab at the IIT Madras Research Park in Chennai. This lab too focuses on areas like digital health, robotics, and intelligent systems. TCS has also collaborated with IIT Bombay on various research projects, particularly in the fields of data science and artificial intelligence.

The announcement comes days after TCS signed a three-year extension for the SPARSH portal, India's central system for automating defense pension processes for over 3 million defense pensioners. TCS will maintain the hardware and software and provide updates. Since its launch in October 2020, TCS has reduced processing times from 12-18 months to 14 days, with initial payments processed within five to seven days.