The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur has partnered with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), an IT firm providing services, consulting, and business solutions, to set up an advanced research centre in areas of digital health, robotics and intelligent systems leveraging edge computing, embedded systems, and AI. The advanced research centre will be located in the institute’s research park in New Town, Kolkata. The centre will feature three laboratories where over 150 TCS scientists will explore “cutting-edge technologies and push the boundaries of innovation”, a statement issued in this regard said. The laboratories will be in the domains of — sensing and communications, edge computing and analytics, and robotics and visual computing. Researchers will have access to state-of-the-art equipment at the centre enabling them to accelerate innovations in cutting-edge technologies such as edge computing, embedded systems and AI. This new centre will serve as a testament to TCS’ rich history of collaboration with the academia to create business and societal impact, it added. The centre will anchor TCS-funded research programmes that will be launched in partnership with academic partners, including IIT KGP. The TCS Research Centre at IIT KGP will also boast of a customer experience centre where TCS clients across industries such as mining, agriculture, mobility, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail can gain exclusive experience of original research concepts by TCS, the official statement added. Workshops held at the customer experience centre will be open to external participation where TCS scientists, industry subject matter experts as well as the IIT KGP faculty will collaborate to find solutions to industry problems. Building on the strong relationship shared by TCS and IIT KGP, this centre will serve as a pioneer for setting up similar labs in the future, it said. Professor Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, said: “The Advanced Research Centre will strengthen our strategic collaboration with TCS, underscored by their presence in the newly established IIT KGP Research Park, Kolkata. This partnership represents a significant leap forward in harnessing cutting-edge technologies to address some of the most pressing challenges in healthcare and automation.”
