Nokia partners with IISc to set up networked robotics center of excellence

New Delhi: Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia has partnered with Indian Institute of Science to set-up Nokia Center of Excellence in networked robotics at IISc Bengaluru.

The Center of Excellence (CoE) will promote inter-disciplinary research involving robotics and advanced communication technologies in 5G and Artificial Intelligence (AI), a joint statement said on Friday.

It will also develop use cases across industrial automation, agriculture and disaster management. The center will facilitate engagement and cooperation between academia, start ups and industry ecosystem partners to research and develop these use cases, the statement 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," Nokia chief strategy and technology officer Nishant Batra said.

The agreement for setting up the CoE in Networked Robotics was concluded in August 2020, and since then a core group has worked to set up and equip the center.

Nokia will fund the CoE for three consecutive years in order to sustain the first phase of the partnership between Nokia and Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

"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," IISc director Govindan Rangarajan said.

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.

Nokia has been present in India since last 22 years and deployed all technologies that have been used for mobile communication starting from 2G in 2000, 3G in 2011, 4G in 2012 and gearing up for commercial 5G.