IISc joins hands with Nokia to unveil Center of Excellence for Robotics, AI and 5G

On 8th July 2022, Nokia and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) inaugurated the Nokia Center of Excellence (CoE) in Networked Robotics at IISc Bengaluru. Along with promoting inter-disciplinary research involving robotics and advanced communication technologies in 5G and Artificial Intelligence (AI), the CoE will also develop use cases across disciplines such as industrial automation, agriculture and disaster management. The center aims to facilitate engagement and cooperation between academia, start-ups and industry ecosystem partners to research and develop these use cases. 

“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”, says Professor Govindan Rangarajan, Director at IISc. 

From launching and enabling rapid growth of 2G/GSM technology in India, bringing high-quality 3G services, pioneering 4G/LTE technology to preparing the nation for 5G services, Nokia has been an integral part of India’s remarkable progress in technology and connectivity over the last two decades.

As part of this initiative, Nokia will fund the CoE for a period of three years to sustain the first phase of their partnership with IISc.
“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”, says Nishant Batra, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer at Nokia.