The Center of Excellence (CoE) in Intelligent Internet of Things (IIoT) Sensors and India’s first Graphene Center, India Innovation Centre for Graphene (IICG), located in Kerala’s Maker Village Kochi, are two flagship initiatives of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Shri S Krishnan, MeitY Secretary, presided over the ceremony.
MeitY and the Keralan government established the CoE in IIoT Sensors, a special facility at Makers Village Kochi, to spur the development of sensors in the field of Intelligent IoT systems, covering a wide range of applications of intelligent sensors in networks, devices, and sensor systems.
In the meantime, Tata Steel Ltd. and India’s first Graphene Center, IICG, have founded the organization with the goal of promoting R&D, product innovation, and capacity building in the field of graphene and 2D material systems.
The technical partners for establishing these centers in Makers Village Kochi are the Center for Materials for Electronics Technology (CMET)-Thrissur and the Digital University Kerala (DUK) (previously IIITMK). The specialists from these organizations will set up a full-fledged facility at these centers for R&D, incubation, innovation, skill development, capacity building, testing, and certification.
Speaking to the group about the role IIoT sensors and graphene technologies play in promoting digital transformation and economic growth, Krishnan stated that the primary goal of establishing these centers in the nation is to create a full ecosystem for startups working in the fields of IoT sensors, graphene, and 2D materials. The full solution, including materials for product/system development, will be offered at these centers in their respective fields, he continued.
Krishnan also introduced the yearly flagship program of Maker Village, Hardtech 2024, at the inaugural event. This program would bring together industry leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, academic institutions, and R&D organizations that are involved in electronics hardware design and manufacture.
At the launch, there were also representatives from the central and local governments, including Dr. Rathan U. Kelkar, Secretary, Electronics and Information Technology, Government of Kerala, Prof. Saji Gopinath, Vice Chancellor, Digital University Kerala, Shri N Sainathan, Chief New Materials Business, Tata Steel, DG CMET, and Shri Bhuvnesh Kumar, Additional Secretary, MeitY, and Shri Rajesh Singh, Joint Secretary & Financial Adviser, MeitY.
