IISc Bangalore

A Center of Excellence (CoE) has been established by a collaboration between Nokia and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). As part of this collaboration, IISc Bangalore will host a robotics lab that will carry out cutting-edge research projects on developing next-generation networks and using AI to address pressing social issues. Along with faculty and other resources, IISc will contribute its internal expertise in algorithms, drones, and robotic systems. In accordance with the official statement, Nokia will contribute its “expertise in next-generation network innovations and leverage Nokia Bell Labs’ technical expertise in robot orchestration, robot network controller, and human-robot interaction to aid the research and development of the end-to-end use case technology solutions.” In this collaboration, students will use drones to remotely manage agricultural orchards in order to encourage water conservation and prevent direct interaction between humans and pesticides. They will also look into drones, which will gather situational information using a 5G-enabled wide-area network, enabling first responders to save lives by swiftly reaching the impacted areas during disaster assistance. They will also look into using drones for things like predicting crop fires. The CoE will receive three years of funding from Nokia to support the initial stage of the partnership between Nokia and 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.