Wadhwani Foundation signs pacts with AICTE, IITs to boost innovation

New Delhi: Not-for-profit tech organisation Wadhwani Foundation on Tuesday said it has signed agreements with technical education body AICTE as well as four IITs and other premier institutions to set up a network of innovation hubs across the country.

The agreements have been signed with AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education), IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, IISc Bangalore, and C-CAMP to establish Wadhwani Innovation Network Centers of Excellence (WIN-COEs) to accelerate the commercialisation of academic innovations.

These partnerships aim to transform academic and laboratory research by Indian faculty, students, and researchers into real-world applications, Wadhwani Foundation said in a release.

"Currently, less than 1 per cent of higher education institutes in India are engaged in research. Their participation in India's Gross Expenditure in Research and Experimental Development (GERD) is just 9 per cent," according to the release.

The WIN-COEs aim to accelerate home-grown research and discoveries to create an ecosystem that provides inclusive and equitable solutions from emerging technologies, while also fostering collaborations between industry, universities, research institutions, and the government, the release added.

Ajay Kela, President & CEO of the Wadhwani Foundation, said, "Emerging technologies like advanced AI, synthetic biology, and quantum computing hold immense promise for inclusive and equitable solutions.

"Establishing WIN COEs will amplify such solutions and catalyze their application in real-world scenarios, setting India on a trajectory of scientific economic progress." TG Sitharam, Chairman, AICTE, said, "This collaboration advances innovation and entrepreneurship in top institutions, empowering young minds to lead the nation with groundbreaking ideas and a visionary spirit."